Google Inc. and its latest behavioral advertising tool are causing a furor among its competitors.
The recently launched “remarketing” or “retargeting” functionality is a type of tracking device that reaches out to those who have browsed a product or company’s site—it identifies those who have inadvertently “window shopped” online.
Basically, the technology monitors habits of those who use the Internet, hence “information mining” valuable information about consumer preferences and consumer sentiment.
The mechanics behind Google’s latest tool is scientific, but not unique to the Mountain View, Calif.-based company. Google’s latest initiative targets consumers once they have made initial contact with an advertisement that is part of Google’s paid search listing. Advertising networks such as Microsoft Corp.’s Media Network and Adconion have been using similar data-collection techniques as Google for years, providing a means for advertisers to reconnect with individuals who engage with their Web promotions.
Individuals who navigate the Web are predicted to click on a campaign if they are exposed to repetitive page impressions. This, in principle, is related to all marketing strategies—be it the more traditional forms of displays such as billboards, television, or print newspapers. However, the know-how today appears to be more intrusive.
As the world’s leading search engine by market share, Google claims to have a reach of over 80 percent of Internet users worldwide. The bulk of the success behind its advertising is that the ad itself needs to be displayed on a Web site that provides a window for the Google Ad Network.
However, controversy stems from privacy issues. First, there is the user’s concern about personal preferences and information captured by Google. The data collection process is continual, whether it be the Web sites that are being visited or the keyword typed that pre-empts pattern of consumer behavior. The level of surveillance is implicit to the user—Google is already in the business of identifying certain words used in Gmail accounts, videos viewed on the YouTube, as well as the key word tendencies of those using its search engine.
“It’s kind of like the Wild West out there with behavioral advertising, where clearly the technology is miles ahead of our ability to regulate all the things that are going on,” said Conrad MacKerron of the San Francisco-based As You Sow Foundation, which advocates for corporate responsibility, according to an interview with the San Jose Mercury News. The foundation will offer a shareholder proposal at Google’s annual meeting on May 13 asking for stronger privacy rules for personal data collected for behavioral ads.
Secondly, online media companies dispute the ownership of consumer data available to Google. Other Internet search portals are also developing similar models as Google. Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo! Inc., meanwhile, is in the middle of beta testing to perfect its real-time ad bidding technology on its Right Media exchange, and now aims to match an advertiser with a consumer in 50 milliseconds or less before a Web page loads.
Although Google’s new technology is exclusive to the United States and Europe, major Australian media companies with a strong Internet presence have publicly declared their intent to block Google’s ad-serving tool on their sites. Rupert Murdoch’s News Limited, Fairfax Media, Yahoo7!, and Nine will be blocking Google’s data tracking devices—otherwise known as cookies—by disabling its ability to monitor Internet users and their Web whereabouts.
Interestingly, a U.S. national poll last year analyzed by scholars at University of California-Berkeley’s Center for Law & Technology revealed that 66 percent of adults did not prefer tailored advertising online. A higher percentage of those surveyed were against the methodology upon hearing about the new tracking techniques.
The recently launched “remarketing” or “retargeting” functionality is a type of tracking device that reaches out to those who have browsed a product or company’s site—it identifies those who have inadvertently “window shopped” online.
Basically, the technology monitors habits of those who use the Internet, hence “information mining” valuable information about consumer preferences and consumer sentiment.
The mechanics behind Google’s latest tool is scientific, but not unique to the Mountain View, Calif.-based company. Google’s latest initiative targets consumers once they have made initial contact with an advertisement that is part of Google’s paid search listing. Advertising networks such as Microsoft Corp.’s Media Network and Adconion have been using similar data-collection techniques as Google for years, providing a means for advertisers to reconnect with individuals who engage with their Web promotions.
Individuals who navigate the Web are predicted to click on a campaign if they are exposed to repetitive page impressions. This, in principle, is related to all marketing strategies—be it the more traditional forms of displays such as billboards, television, or print newspapers. However, the know-how today appears to be more intrusive.
As the world’s leading search engine by market share, Google claims to have a reach of over 80 percent of Internet users worldwide. The bulk of the success behind its advertising is that the ad itself needs to be displayed on a Web site that provides a window for the Google Ad Network.
However, controversy stems from privacy issues. First, there is the user’s concern about personal preferences and information captured by Google. The data collection process is continual, whether it be the Web sites that are being visited or the keyword typed that pre-empts pattern of consumer behavior. The level of surveillance is implicit to the user—Google is already in the business of identifying certain words used in Gmail accounts, videos viewed on the YouTube, as well as the key word tendencies of those using its search engine.
“It’s kind of like the Wild West out there with behavioral advertising, where clearly the technology is miles ahead of our ability to regulate all the things that are going on,” said Conrad MacKerron of the San Francisco-based As You Sow Foundation, which advocates for corporate responsibility, according to an interview with the San Jose Mercury News. The foundation will offer a shareholder proposal at Google’s annual meeting on May 13 asking for stronger privacy rules for personal data collected for behavioral ads.
Secondly, online media companies dispute the ownership of consumer data available to Google. Other Internet search portals are also developing similar models as Google. Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo! Inc., meanwhile, is in the middle of beta testing to perfect its real-time ad bidding technology on its Right Media exchange, and now aims to match an advertiser with a consumer in 50 milliseconds or less before a Web page loads.
Although Google’s new technology is exclusive to the United States and Europe, major Australian media companies with a strong Internet presence have publicly declared their intent to block Google’s ad-serving tool on their sites. Rupert Murdoch’s News Limited, Fairfax Media, Yahoo7!, and Nine will be blocking Google’s data tracking devices—otherwise known as cookies—by disabling its ability to monitor Internet users and their Web whereabouts.
Interestingly, a U.S. national poll last year analyzed by scholars at University of California-Berkeley’s Center for Law & Technology revealed that 66 percent of adults did not prefer tailored advertising online. A higher percentage of those surveyed were against the methodology upon hearing about the new tracking techniques.
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