Behavioral Targeting: Google Pulls Out the Stops

(page 2 of 2)

Susan Wojkicki, Google's vice-president of product management, outlined the new targeting on the official Google blog on Mar. 11. She said it fits with the notion of Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page that ads can and should be at least as useful to people as search results and other online content. "We believe there is real value to seeing ads about the things that interest you," she wrote. "If, for example, you love adventure travel and therefore visit adventure travel sites, Google could show you more ads for activities like hiking trips to Patagonia or African safaris."

The idea is that if these ads can be targeted to people's apparent interests, they will be more useful. Viewers will consequently be more likely to click on them or otherwise respond. As a result, Google and other companies using behavioral targeting hope they will be able to charge more for such ads. As rates for display ads have dropped in recent years, many companies have been hoping that behavioral targeting would help reverse the trend.

Avoiding the "Truman Show moment,"

In the last couple of years, however, behavioral targeting has itself been targeted by privacy and consumer advocates. They worry that people's privacy could be violated and that targeting tactics could more easily woo consumers into buying products they don't necessarily need.

Google, which bought the online ad placement firm DoubleClick last year as part of a planned move into display ads, is taking several steps to avoid what some call the "Truman Show moment," a reference to the movie in which Jim Carrey's character suddenly discovers he's the star of a long-running TV show that tracks and broadcasts his every move.

For one thing, Google is labeling ads so people can click to find out more information on how the company shows ads. It also has built an online tool called Ads Preferences Manager, which lets people view, delete, or add interest categories. It's also offering consumers the ability to opt out of the ad-targeting cookie, as well as making available a browser add-on that maintains that choice even if users delete all their cookies, as some do.

Some privacy groups think that's still insufficient. Jeff Chester, executive director of the public policy group Center for Digital Democracy, said that while giving people access to their data profiles is a "step forward," he views it as the company's effort to "dodge a privacy-regulation bullet." Indeed, there are moves in Congress to set rules on behavioral targeting.

promising "transparency and choice"

Chester said he would prefer that Google and others require people to opt in to being targeted rather than be forced to find the way to opt out. He also plans to ask Google not to target anyone under 18 and to describe in more detail the methods by which it targets.

No doubt Google—already under a microscope for its dominance in search advertising—will be watched closely as it moves into this controversial new area. It will have to avoid a number of privacy pitfalls to maintain the trust of its users. Indeed, Google took the offensive this morning with a post on its public policy blog by Deputy General Counsel Nicole Wong outlining the "transparency and choice" Google says it's offering with its brand of targeting.

That won't likely mollify critics much. But some privacy advocates privately admit that they won't be able to stop behavioral targeting entirely. Clearly, Google is assuming that most people won't mind—and might even welcome—more targeted ads. "Most users prefer more relevant ads to less relevant ads," says Google's Bender. Google won't track sensitive categories such as health and religion.

It's likely that the entry of Google, whose brand carries a lot of weight with consumers, will help make targeting more pervasive—if advertisers can resist the temptation to go too far.

Hof is BusinessWeek's Silicon Valley bureau chief.