Google to Launch Questionable Targeted Ad Program

by lisa ~ March 12, 2009

Google began showing advertising to Web users based on the types of sites they visit and the pages they view yesterday. Rather than an invasion of privacy, this new system is promoted as a way for users to receive ads that are more relevant.

Susan Wojcicki, VP of Product Management, wrote this for The Official Google Blog: “Keyword advertising has been so successful because it’s useful to users, advertisers and publishers - everyone’s interests are aligned. We believe that interest-based ads will create the same virtuous cycle, by giving users more relevant ads, while generating higher returns for advertisers and publishers.”

InformationWeek rejects this spin. It reminds readers that this is the same practice the Federal Trade Commission calls “behavioral advertising,” wherein advertisers track users’ online activities in order to target advertising.

Although it has done very little to notify users that their usage habits are being monitored, Google does at least allow them to opt out of this new program.

As it competes with Facebook for advertisers, will Google respect users’ privacy concerns? Or will it be tempted to capitalize on this data in more invasive ways?

To visit Google’s Privacy Center, click here: http://www.google.com/privacy_ads.html

To see the complete InformationWeek article, “Google Begins Behavioral Ad Targeting,” click here: http://www.informationweek.com/news/internet/google/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=215801919&subSection=All+Stories

Lisa Tibbitts (Lisa.Tibbitts@Me.com) is a New York-based corporate communications professional with an MBA in marketing. Follow her on http://twitter.com/FinancialPR.