The European Union may crack down on targeted advertising following concern into the personal privacy aspects of such programs.
The Article 29 working party has an ongoing investigation into privacy online, and has previously forced Google to limit its data retention of web searches in Europe to 18 months.
According to a Reuters report, Gabriele Loewnau, a senior legal adviser for the German Federal Commissioner for Data Protection said that targeted advertising was a “hot topic” that will be part of the work program for the EU next year.
Targeted advertising is this regard is different to regular contextual advertising in that it is not simply advertising that displays in context to the web site, but advertising that is displayed based on user habits, including browser habits and online purchases. Facebook’s new advertising program delivers ads based on user interests and those of their friends, potentially meaning that they may also be a target of any future EU crack down.
Wow .. whats happening over there across the pond ?
What if Websites respond by changing their ad supported models to optional subscription based models in Europe?
Something has got to give. Companies are demanding more ROI for their elaborate ad campaigns. Many sites are competing for their budgets.
Perhaps the answer lies in an easy to use browser based solution, that would allow even non techies to set preferences, and have the sites they visit inform them of what they will be missing as a result.
I dont get it. Targeted advertising is more profitable and would help in changing character of of advertising from disruptive to useful. The solution is not to ban targeted advertising but to give complete control to user on how his private information flows. If advertising isnt targeted, they have got element of redundancy in them.
Where’s a chair!
Where’s a chair!
If those foul-breathed, greasy-haired, gay-loving, slack-jawed, snail-eating, garlic-smelling, tree-hugging, deodorant-hating, profit-hating socialist do this we are pulling out of that God forsaken crappy land that they are soooo proud of!
http://fakestev...er.blogspot.com
EU commission has been proactive and forward looking in its regulations and a lot consumer oriented.
http://tekno-wo...ld.blogspot.com
Duncan, who’d you vote for today? Do you think if Rudd gets in, he’ll build the world class broadband network he’s promised for this vast land?
… and many users in Europe are wary of making all their personal habits available online, maybe less so in Britain, where in any case kids are being warned about what they post now in facebook or myspace might work against them with future employers.
Highly targeted advertising is a marketeer’s wet dream, but not necessarily what users crave.
Time to come up with other business models which don’t rely on advertising, maybe providing services people would want to pay for. Now, that’s a real challenge
I think Europe is making a mistake by regulating before there is any proof that these targeted ads are creating any kind of problem. They can regulate giving it some time. Both ways, targeted ads are kinda creepy. And, Big G will start data mining Reader habits, gmail, search history, orkut, docs, and million other services. Scary but interesting.
Europe is obviously in the forefront on this issue.
All that online data is on private hands of Google Facebook and the like, which also means that the ownership of such data can change hands overnight.
As societies, I think we have to think what data retention threshold is low enough so that it can even get to the “wrong” hands.
They’ve finally lost their mind with regards to privacy concerns. When an ad is shown to you – and only you – and that is considered an invasion of privacy, they need to wear thier tinfoil hats to the EU meetings. I’m the biggest privacy advocate, but with the proper balance of security and privacy concerns….
MA *may* fire Duncan. But he’s got nothing to be worry about, yet. Because wild speculations are just that.
Stop spreading FUD.
How ridiculous! All advertising is targeted. Vogue magazine does not carry adverts for beer. The superbowl is not sponsored by a female clothing manufacturer. Why should ‘I watch the superbowl’ be considered any less personal than ‘I buy online’?
Targeted advertising is about providing a defined audience with adverts which are relevant to their needs. The internet is able to make better use of technology to refine this audience, which in turn provides a benefit to both advertisers *and consumers*, with adverts which are genuinely more useful to both.
As a consumer who has just purchased a motorcycle, I’d be very happy to receive advertising which would help me find accessories for that motorcycle, rather than untargeted adverts for a web TV service not available to me in my native UK, or even ‘contextually targeted’ advertising, trying to sell me another motorcycle.
Seems that is the step towards behavior marketing, possibly they might be going vertical side, I like this model.
I think the problem is not the targetted ads themselves, but the methods used to determine demographic, browsing habits etc.. by Google. This data should be opt-in, AND retrospectively opt-out.
Let people choose what they use the internet for. Some people forget that it’s not all about sales and the bottom line. For some it’s an information/entertainment source and the personal data collection without consent is immoral.
The internet needs checks and balances, but for **** sake, as soon as governments start interfering, it’ll open the floodgates for overbearing control of information, eventually leading to a digital police state.
The EU is notorious for passing ridiculous laws and sticking their beak in where it’s not wanted. This issue should be dealt with by internet users, who bring their concerns to the website/company in question.
WTF. Techcrunch attacks Google.
Forget it. I don’t think Techcrunch can beat Google. Google is waaaaay too powerful… They banned adsense account on Techcrunch for life.
It seems no one pay attention to TOS.
— advocacy against any individual, group, or organization
— adult, or mature content
— Sticking ad relevant images next to Adsense blocks.
I don’t know what happen to Techcrunch. Maybe aging process or heading to retire. :/
The problem with personalized advertising is that it’s effective. Privacy or not, it’s what the advertisers want, so companies are going to find ways to make it work. The performance of these ads, and the rates paid for that performances means that this is how things are going to go in the future- it’s unavoidable.
*Pops a zit* There’s more where that come from, EU.
I prefer to keep my personality private that have any advertiser know all my habits…
The compromise between privacy and personalization can be found via technology — specifically through the mass adoption of a standard solution for identity proxy which enables “anonymized personalization”. Demoxi was formed earlier this year through the acquisition of technology assets developed over the previous 11 years at a cost of more than $20 million. The product is currently in public beta and extends the OpenID framework with an implementation of public key infrastructure. Utilizing the Demoxi Idenity clients, content producers and advertisers can know “about you” without knowing your exact identity.
This isn’t about targeted advertising, it’s about data collection and privacy controls. Media companies continue to mine user data without users knowing about it. Give users 100% control over their profiles and all the legislation is for not!
Problem (opportunity) is … folks like Google are far past the point where they can open up what they know about you and allow you to manage it.
Hey there, my name is Sarah; I am a PR major at the University of South Florida. Our teacher gave us an assignment to contact an influential blogger, like yourself, and basically pick their brain if you will. How did you start and how easy was it for you to make a name for yourself and get people to respond to your blogs. Also, if I had a cause I wanted to get your attention on and have you as an influential blogger help spread interest on, how would I do it? Thank you!!
If this happens, smart publishers will simply move offshore and ignore on-shore regulations.
The Nazi’s used public records and identify persons they exported to concentration camps.
When data falls into the wrong hands it has consequences.
Their sole motivation is $$$$ for shareholders – not your privacy or safty