The Pontiflex Blog

The New York Times Tackles Retargeting

August 30, 2010 at 11:28 am Jessica Ling Leave a comment

The New York Times published a story today about online privacy that addresses many of the issues with retargeting. The article is similar to the WSJ series on the same subject, focused primarily on the perspectives of web users, who are increasingly “creeped out” by ads that are tailored to past browsing behavior. NYTimes hones in on the retail sector, citing major advertisers like Zappos, eBags, and Art.com as using behavioral targeting to serve ads to people based on the specific products they’ve looked at.

The article also questions what happens when users are targeted by things other than pairs of shoes. Julie Matlin, an interviewee for the piece, describes being retargeted by a dieting service she once used. She said, “They are still following me around, and it makes me feel fat.”

As the debate continues to swirl in both the broader press and on Capitol Hill, one thing is certain: building trust with consumers needs to be done transparently. People don’t hate ads, if they are useful and relevant… but they do seem to hate being tracked and followed without their permission. By using opt-in ads that allow people to sign up for the marketing messages they want to receive, advertisers can protect the privacy of online users while achieving quality engagement and interaction.

It’s called having your cake and eating it, too… and it’s delicious.

Entry filed under: Online Advertising, Privacy. Tags: .