Regulators will need to examine the privacy implications of the new Yahoo and WPP alliance. When the display ad leader–Yahoo--links up with the global ad agency holding company powerhouse–WPP--data collection issues must come to the fore. Under the deal, explains Reuters, “WPP advertising agencies would, through its 24/7 Real Media arm, develop a proprietary advertising media trading platform that takes advantage of Yahoo’s Right Media exchange.” WPP’s “brands” include Ogilvy, Cheskin, Dentsu Y&R and many, many others.
WPP’s 24/7 says the following about its “comprehensive” targeting:
“Whoever you want to reach, we have targeting down to a science.
- Behavioural. We can serve ads based on your customer’s browsing behaviour.
- Demographic. We can target campaigns based on a number of demographic criteria such as race, age, income, sex, employment, education, and home ownership.
- Technographic. We can target based on browser, browser version, bandwith or operating system.
- Retargeting. We can flag visitors to a site based on what they did on their last visit, and then “retarget them†when they return.
- Geo-dem. We can overlay geographic data such as country, state or zip code with demographic information.
- Daypart. You can tell us what hour of the day or day of the week that you’d like an ad to be viewed.
- Content. You can choose specific sites, sections or positions on a page for ad placement.
- Keyword/search. We can serve ads based on specific words that are entered into a search engine by your customer.
- Custom. We can develop a comprehensive targeting strategy that is customised for whatever your marketing goal may be.”
Mind over our data: It was 24/7 that just announced it was also using “psychographic targeting through a partnership with Mindset Media…[that] will enable brand advertisers to target consumers with specific personality traits that drive buyer behavior and brand affinity across a broad range of consumer goods and services.”
From MediaPost’s coverage (excerpt):Â “ The multi-year deal will pair Yahoo’s Right Media ad exchange with the targeting prowess of WPP’s 24/7 Real Media, giving WPP agencies a more effective system for buying mass quantities of display inventory worldwide… WPP’s GroupM…will be able to access the platform directly through 24/7 Real Media and plug in various targeting options-… Ryan Jamboretz, director of corporate development at GroupM…said “[T]his only improves the product by allowing us to do things like behavioral and retargeting on a larger scale.”
source: Yahoo, WPP Partner to Buy, Sell Rich Media More Effectively.  Tameka Kee. Online Media Daily. May 15,2008.
