Previous
Behavioural targeting as part of your online advertising strategy- it�s no longer a fledgling tec
Added: (Mon Jul 02 2007)
Behavioural targeting as part of your online advertising strategy - it�s no longer a fledgling technology and it could be the future of advertising, argues Phil Coote, COO of Adviva
Behavioural Targeting. Two words that could well define the future of internet advertising. In basic terms, the principle is simply the better you understand the user, the more accurately you can target them. But where do we draw the line in collecting and collating the data? And who�s going to draw it?
Behavioural Targeting is no longer a fledgling technology. The first stage of BT was simply looking at a user�s behaviour and targeting them based on what they were doing right now. Often, networks and ad servers would label a simple �retargeting� system as Behavioural Targeting � simply tagging a user and driving them straight back to the advertiser�s site as quickly as possible. For example, if a user had looked at an insurance website in the last few hours then they are a prime target for an insurance ad. Simple stuff. However, the second stage has moved things on a lot further and this is where it gets complicated.
The question now is to understand the user enough to predict what they haven�t even done yet. By looking at all the independent threads of information collected on a user�s behaviour the aim now is to predict what products they may be interested in. The spate of recent acquisitions in the market is partly driven by the knowledge that the more interaction you have with the user, the clearer and more defined the profile you can build. The better the profile, the more likely you are of being able to predict what someone may want or do next.
In essence, this is all very similar to what advertising has been doing for years � think Lifestages, Empty Nesters, etc. The key difference now is the accuracy and complexity of analysing the volumes of information now available.
And this is what�s frightening people. Few people consider that the ad they are viewing on a website is there because it�s based on a understanding of the profile of the person that is likely to be reading that site's content. You don�t read a magazine and think �they�re watching me�. The closer we get to knowing the user, or more importantly, thinking we know the user, the more concerned the user is bound to be. The traditional argument has always been to keep the data anonymous, but what if the health insurance site you visit quotes a higher price because you were looking at health websites last week. Does just being anonymous count?
Judging by the average users understandable concern over privacy, there�s no doubt that the use of Behavioural Targeting is going to be one of the most important topics within online advertising in the next few years. One thing is for sure, it would be a shame for the online advertising industry as a whole if it became regulated not by companies and industry bodies taking a stand on what is acceptable and what isn�t, but by being forced to by a growing number of concerned and confused web users.
<-- google -->
Submitted by:
Joanna Burton