Behavioral targeting has become a hot button issue recently, as industry enthusiasm for delivering customized experiences and improved marketing metrics runs up against consumer privacy concerns and calls for greater transparency around emerging tracking and targeting techniques. Here are the survey results:
71% of online consumers are aware that their browsing information may be collected by a third party for advertising purposes, but only 40 percent are familiar with the term “behavioral targeting.”
57% of respondents say they are not comfortable with advertisers using that browsing history to serve relevant ads, even when that information cannot be tied to their names or any other personal information.
91% of respondents expressed willingness to take necessary steps to assure increased privacy online when presented with the tools to control their internet tracking and advertising experience, suggesting a need for added education, transparency, and choices for behavioral targeting.
64% would choose to see online ads only fro online stores and brands that they know and trust and 44% of respondents would click buttons or icons to make that happen.
42% of consumers say they would sign up for an online registry to ensure that advertisers are not able to track browsing behaviors, even if it meant they would receive more ads that are less relevant to their interests.
The division posts a serious dilemma for BT practictioners and industry privacy advocates, because consumers say they want more relevant advertising, but don’t want to be tracked in order to get it.
For the TRUSTe behavioral tracking study, TNS conducted an online survey among a randomly selected sample of American adults whose households belong to TNS’s online consumer panel. In total, 1015 interviews were completed between February 1 and 5, 2008. The data were weighted by region, market size, age, gender, and household size, composition, and income to reflect the demographic composition of the online adult population in the continental U.S.
