The fine line between targeting and privacy

eMarketer this week announced that 41% of internet users interviewed pay more attention to advertising that is personalized toward them. At the same time, however, the article explains that 57% of those surveyed in a TNS Global and TRUSTe poll indicated they were worried about advertisers using their browsing history to serve them relevant ads. In an industry that expects $1.1B worth of behaviorally targeted ads in 2009, and one of the toughest economies the US has faced in years, what is an advertiser to do?

It is clear that behavioral targeting is the most effective technique to use, so increasing this type of advertising must be the right move right? Not so fast - 41.7% of those surveyed said they would sign up for an online registry to ensure that advertisers are not able to track their browsing behaviors even if it means that they would receive more ads that are less relevant to them! And evidence suggests that these types of lists are very effective. For example, “Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter announced this week that the telephone privacy law is still effective for Hoosiers after seven years. The “Do Not Call” law, which took effect on January 1, 2002, prohibits most telephone solicitors from calling phone numbers on the list. It is estimated that the Do Not Call legislation has stopped a total of 4,352,496,468 telemarketing calls to Indiana consumers from the laws inception to December 31, 2008.” (http://www.fox59.com/pages/landing/?Do-not-call-list-continues-to-prove-effe=1&blockID=177824&feedID=1295” Can advertisers afford to lose 7+ years of reaching these potential target consumers?

But how can advertisers afford NOT to use behavioral targeting during these times of economic crisis when advertising expense has to do more to bring in customers? They can not. Perhaps the best thing to do then is to just continue along the path they are currently following. Use personal advertising, but follow the rules, don’t take unnecessary risks, and generally just tread lightly until more and more internet users realize the value to them of such personalized ads.

Unfortunately either way there is a great risk to advertisers – either risk losing potential customers for the long-term because of aggressive tactics that compromise privacy concerns, or risk not stretching advertising dollars far enough today and as a result not having a long-term to worry about at all. A this point, it seems advertisers will just have to make a bet, and decide which option for them is the lesser of two evils.