Q: What is behavioral targeting?
A: Behavioral targeting or BT is the process of using your interests and behaviors, as evidenced by the places you go and things you do online, as tools to help companies show you ads that are more likely to be relevant and interesting to you. Using BT, companies can focus their spending on reaching people who have a greater than average likelihood of being interested in their products and services.
Q: BT companies maintain that my privacy is retained because they don't collect PII. But then how do I know if I am shopping for a Mercedes?
A: The information about your shopping habits is associated with a cookie on your PC, not with your identity. The BT companies know that the browser on the computer has been used to visit the Mercedes site or whatever it is that alerts them to the fact that you may be shopping for a Mercedes. But the info is associated with the cookie. Not with your name or other PII. Truth is, they are tracking your browser, not you. It is simply Assumed that "you" are the shopper because you are using the computer.
Q: What pages do BT companies track me on?
A: It depends on what kind of BT companies. BT is most closely associated with ad networks. They are aware of the pages you visit IF they control the ad units that you see on those pages. So suppose you went to two pages on a car site. One for a hybrid sedan, and one for a Hummer. If the BT company only serves the ads on one of the pages, then they only "know" that your PC visited that page. The way BT mitigates this partial view is to aggregate info across all the pages that you visit where they are serving the ads. With hundreds of pages they develop a fairly accurate profile. The newest areas of BT relate to ISP-based tracking. These companies put an appliance in the stream of traffic at the ISP, so they can "see" every page you visit. The exceptions would be HTTPS or shopping pages, where they generally don't track. Some BT companies, however, track only those pages. The third source of potential BT info are the toolbars that you may have signed up for at some point. The user agreements of these toolbars in some cases actually allow the portal to know everywhere you go. So they are another potential source of info.
Q: What happens to BT if I delete my cookies?
Most BT systems will have to start all over tracking that computer. Since behaviors are "stored" on cookies, deleting them deletes the past actions tracked. The BT systems rely on having literally millions of pages in their networks, so profiles rebuild relatively quickly if you are a moderate or heavy web user.
Q: I don't like the sound of this.How can I opt out?
By visiting the website of the Network Advertising Initiaitive (NAI) and opting out of the networks. As of this wriitng, sixteen networks, which represent the vast majority of tracking, allow you to opt out by ticking the boxes next to their names. There are networks that are not members, however.
Q: How do I opt out of nonmember networks?
A: Good question. Some may offer opt outs on their websites. To my knowledge, however, networks are not required to offer opt out. If this is incorrect, please leave a comment to this post with an appropriate citation and I will immediately correct the post.
Q: Does BT represent 1 to 1 marketing? That is, am I being marketed to as an individual?
A: No. Most BT platforms classify your behaviors into "buckets". You are viewed as a member of that "bucket." Many of your online behaviors are irrelevant to marketers.
Q: Are my online searches part of a BT profile?
A: Generally, no. Ad networks, which are the primary behavior targeters, do not have access to your search results. The major web portals, however, do track search as part of their on site behavioral targeting. The exception is Ask.com, which does not participate in BT.
Q: I've been hearing a lot about ISP based targeting. How is it different?
A: The key difference is that the tracking of behavior is done at the ISP, so they can monitor ALL of your web site visits, though they don't monitor pages within online stores, or any visits you may make to adult sites.
Q: Am I at risk of medical profiling if I visit health sites?
A: This is one of the major questions around BT today. The NAI has put forth standards so ihat its members will agree NOT to track your visits to health content of a "sensitive" nature. Though defining sensitive is rather complicated and what you consider sensitive may not fall into the NAI definition. But major illnesses like cancer will be a part of that standard. Also, because BT does not track PII, your behaviors will not be associated with your name. However, privacy advocates view this as a major potential area of risk.
Q: Do individual web sites have their own BT, or is it all done through ad networks?
A: Some sites have their own BT systems. But mostly it is done by ad networks. The portals in particular have their own systems, though because some of the pages on their sites have ads from ad networks, the networks may also track some of your behaviors on portals.
Q: I see how advertisers benefit from BT. How do I benefit?
A: This is an area of controversy. Proponents of BT say that consumers benefit from more relevant advertising messages. Opponents question the value of targeted advertising as a consumer benefit. Most consumers say that they prefer targeted advertising. But as to whether that is a benefit to you? Your call.
Q: Does BT track my mobile web surfing?
A: Until recently, no. Mobile browsers couldn't handle cookies well. But there are mobile solutions available today. Personifi, for example, offers mobile BT.
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