The Technology Policy Institute has a new study designed to help its corporate backers undermine the growing call to protect consumer privacy online. Look who funds the TPI (and look for the failure of the study to acknowledge the funders and the conflict of interest) :
Category: Behavioral Targeting
Video Metrics: “gauged by the millisecond” [Annals of Social Media Marketing]
The Obama Administration’s use of social media and analytics should trigger a serious debate. How much information on citizens and others do we really want the government to have? As part of the discussion, consider this excerpt from social marketing company’s RockYou’s pitch to advertisers and others [our bold]. This about the Feds tracking as you watch government-funded videos:
“…Social Video Ads and Cross Platform Video Distribution on the RockYou Ads Network…Looking at the landscape of online advertising – on social networks and beyond – it’s obvious that video advertising is the medium of choice for brands and marketers who have a story to tell…Video metrics go far beyond impressions. Audience interactions (views, stops, rewinds, sharing) are gauged by the millisecond and response can be measured, in real numbers. Advertisers who can combine that data with behavioral or demographic profiling, to reach exact targets, get amazing results.Â
Google’s New YouTube Policy: Expanded Data Collection & Privacy
On May 6 2008, YouTube announced that “Starting today, signing up for YouTube means signing up for a Google Account that gives you access to YouTube, as well as other Google services such as iGoogle, Reader and Docs…So why are we doing this? We feel that by jointly connecting accounts, you can take greater advantage of our services both on YouTube and on Google, especially as we start to roll out new features in the future that will be powered by Google technology.”
But as search engine online guide ISEdb.com explains it [excerpt]:
One of the advantages for Google once users sign up with a Google account would be a significantly better targeting for its advertising both in and outside YouTube (Google Docs, AdSense advertising, Google News and Finance, etc.) thanks to the personal information gathered on the search giant’s servers. This is particularly important in light of the recent introduction of behavioral targeting for AdSense, which keeps track of the user’s interests to try and display to him or her messages that are most likely to attract his or her attention…Like many other popular search engines, Google collects search data for its users for the previous 9 months in order to achieve better targeting, with governments — particularly the EU court — pushing for such a limit to be reduced to 6 months or less. However, there is no restriction for the gathering of non-search related data including YouTube and Gmail among others.
Online Behavioral Profiling & Targeting of Individuals Based on their Political Interests: Privacy Safeguards Are Required for Interactive Marketing
This week an online marketing company called Resonate Networks “announced the first online ad network built for political and public affairs advertising.” According to the company, “Resonate’s ad network is powered by its proprietary Attitudinal Targeting platform that, for the first time, provides public affairs and political advertisers with the ability to identify, persuade, motivate and organize like-minded audiences online and drive them towards an actionable step—whether it is joining a campaign, contributing to a cause, or supporting an initiative.” Resonate’s platform, they say, was “[D]eveloped by world-class research and online industry experts, Resonate’s Attitudinal Targeting platform incorporates extensive and proprietary algorithms, data modeling and analysis to map Web users’ attitudes and issue positions against their online behavior. Attitudinal data that advertisers can leverage include…Targeting highly influential individuals with a history of taking action related to an issue of interest…”  “It’s really drilling down to people’s beliefs and where they stand on issues,” Resonate’s CEO told MediaPost.
Resonate told the Washington Post’s Cecilia Kang that the company’s approach doesn’t raise any privacy concerns. But they are wrong. How citizens and others are tracked, analyzed, profiled and targeted based on their political views is a privacy (and consumer protection) issue. Both Congress and the FTC need to look closely at the growing role online profiling and targeting is playing in the political and policy arena.  Â
Financially backed by well-known political campaigners from both parties, Resonate also explains that it “has developed one of the most advanced engagement models available, with the ability to not just understand who is influential, but where you can find influentials who care about specific issues.”  Here are excerpts of its pitch to corporate advertisers:
“For the first time, corporate advertisers and agencies have the power to precisely pinpoint and reach web users whose attitudes and issue positions make them most receptive to certain messages and calls-to-action…Micro-Targeting Means Higher-Performance Campaigns: Resonate Networks delivers higher concentrations of your target audiences, translating into greater exposure for your campaign among the right mix of people…Message Segmentation: The success of your campaign may require reaching different audiences with different messages: A supportive audience may receive a direct response offer, while others who are unaware of your products or their benefits may receive an educational message designed to nurture their interest over time. Reduced Budget Waste:Â Resonate offers the ability to reach web users that are pre-disposed to your message or product based on their attitudes or beliefs. Conversely, Resonate can help avoid those who hold opposing or conflicting beliefs.”
In addition, Resonate says that it uses “Rich Attitudinal Data:
- Resonate targets campaigns based on layers of detail on a range of audience attitudes, including:
- Issues and issue positions
- Engagement/influencer status
- Ideology
- Media consumption
- Religiosity
- Partisanship
- Vote history”
Alain Heureux, IAB Europe, and the Battle Over Online Marketing and Privacy: Worried about Article 29 Working Party and Calls for Regulation
We recently met Mr. Heureux in Brussels at a EU conference on consumers in the digital age. He is a most capable representative of the European online advertising industry. But Alain’s job is also to help prevent the enactment of privacy safeguards that would protect European consumers and citizens when they use digital and interactive media. Here are excerpts from a recent article on Mr. Heureux in New Media Age [26 March 2009]:
In the battle to protect online advertising from intervention by politicians, Alain Heureux is on the front line. The president and CEO of IAB Europe spends half his time on what he calls public affairs, concentrating on the regulatory agenda in Brussels. “The three main concerns are privacy, targeting and social media, and all the links between…“We’re very worried,†he admits. “At the moment, the revenues from targeting and profiling are not so big, so if you damage them you might not damage the entire industry immediately. But marketers want to move away from traditional techniques to targeted, efficient forms of marketing, and that shift can only happen with the use of technology and data. So there is a risk of damaging the future of marketing and media.â€
Heureux’s concerns include the Article 29 working party which, although it has no power to introduce legislation, carries considerable weight in Brussels. It’s currently working on a paper which would define a person’s IP address as personal data, making it subject to the same data protection regime as other personal information. He’s also worried about the upcoming EU elections, wondering if one of the current commissioners might campaign on a privacy and data protection platform.
“Someone could position themselves as the messiah of data protection,†he says. “You’d get a lot of sympathy from consumers’ associations and citizens who are a little bit scared about all this data stuff, so it would be easy to take that great role and use it politically. That’s why these elections are dangerous, the threat is very much present. 
Heureux takes the view that the only way to stop regulators passing new laws is for the industry to regulate itself. And while he acknowledges that Brussels is open to the idea of self-regulation, he sees one of his biggest problems as managing its expectations.
“Regulatory affairs take time, but the regulator wants everything now, not in a year’s time.†…“We need to create room for self-regulation but I’m worried about who will take care of enforcement. It’s not clear that the SROs [self-regulator organizations] will do it, because they’re under-resourced and under-funded, so it won’t be easy to extend self-regulation to include new techniques and practices.â€
Despite these concerns, Heureux acknowledges with a smile that the current economic situation is helping the cause of self-regulation. He sees companies becoming more pragmatic and open to compromise with their competitors, while regulators are more concerned about the effect of new legislation on jobs and business.
“behavioral targeting on steroids” is how one major interactive advertiser describes rush to create “goldmine of information” on consumers
Excerpt from a column written by Domenic Venuto of Razorfish.
“Data is now sexy. Very sexy. At the same time that publishers were looking to capture market share online they realized they sit on a gold mine of information that isn’t used anywhere near its potential… Suddenly publishers turned their attention to data. They became interested in building unified customer databases, repositories that captured a 360 degree view of the customer and consolidated behavior across brands and distribution channels. Whatever the phrase, it is behavioral targeting on steroids. All efforts focused on consolidating information about a user’s online activity with their offline behavior…Publishing aside, financial companies, CPG and retailers are also extremely focused on data. They collect data from every customer interaction—television ads, mailers, Web visits, call center calls, deposits, coupons—and connect the data dots between customer touch points to understand the effects of each interaction on the acquisition and retention lifecycle.”
Google Tells Advertisers it has the “Largest Global Network” for “Pinpoint targeting”
Google says that in the Ad Age Ad Networks and Exchanges Guide. Here are some excerpts:
The Google Content Network can efficiently and effectively meet your advertising needs. Not only do we have the largest global network,1 but our product and engineering teams have developed a range of solutions—from contextual targeting to real-time reporting—that help you and your clients create, launch and optimize campaigns that deliver results.
Connect with your audience, large or small
- Consumer behavior is shifting toward niche sites.3 With sites spanning broad and premium niche, the Content Network gives you access to hundreds of thousands of sites and millions of consumers.
- Select your audience based on their interests—whether they’re sports enthusiasts or social activists—and our targeting technology will find them across the Content Network.
- We give users the ability to edit the interests we think they have, providing a new level of transparency for users and better targeting for you…Broad reach. Pinpoint targeting. Efficient prices. Better ROI. The Google Content Network…
Network Reach
As the largest ad network in the world, and fourth largest in the U.S., the Google Content Network reaches 75 percent of international Internet users and 76 percent of the U.S. online audience.*
*Source: comScore, February 2009
“Microtargeting at scale”–a look at one Behavioral Targeting Online Ad Network
We urge everyone, including the FTC and Congress, to review Ad Age’s “Ad Network & Exchange” guide published on April 20, 2009. Much of it is online. Here’s an except from Tribal Fusion:
“We offer:
- Vertical expertise
- Deep customer insights
- Comprehensive targeting tools…Tribal Fusion works with a broad array of data sources to provide a true 360º consumer view. We aggregate data to pinpoint interests, past actions and likely future behaviors. This enables each campaign to get smarter over time, informing clients about which data points are making consumers convert.
Microtargeting at scale
Tribal Fusion can deliver personalized messaging to multiple niche audiences on an exceptional scale, combining consumer understanding with comprehensive targeting technologies and dynamic creative. The content of a single ad unit can be tailored by the geography, demographics and lifestyle of individual viewers, producing thousands of personalized ads in real time. Ad units with dynamic copy can perform six to seven times better than static ads.“
Tales of Behavioral Targeting: Barry Diller’s IAC Can “tap into rich behavioral….information” of users
The IAC Network includes sites such as Citysearch, Evite and Match.com From Ad Age, Page C46. April 20, 2009 [excerpt]:
“…we can tap into rich behavioral and declared information about our users. Translation: We know a lot more. For example, we know if a user exercises regularly, searches for expensive restaurants in New York, is looking for a new home to purchase, has dogs or attended a bachelor party. Analysis of these multiple dimensions of attributes (literally millions) delivers an unmatched level of insight into our users and what’s important to them. And we’re making that intelligence work for you.â€
Cable’s Big Six Canoe Ventures & Privacy: “We can certainly compete with a cookie”
That quote is attributed to David Verklin, CEO of Canoe Ventures, when he spoke at a recent industry marketing event. As noted by Inside the Marketers Studio, Mr. Verklin said that:
I think the TV can do a pretty good job at targeting. “We can certainly compete with a cookie.†Can tie it back to set top boxes, loyalty cards. 90% of grocery shopping happens with loyalty cards.