ChoiceStream

According to consumer advocacy guru Jim Brock of Privacychoice, it is possible for behavioral targeting to survive in spite of recent scrutiny and calls for regulation. The only thing required according to Brock is more transparency so consumers know just what information they’re giving up and how advertisers and marketers are using that information to market goods and services to those consumers based on the information captured via those transparent means. Noting that “Behavioral targeting is the realm of advertising networks,” Brock believes this technology will require complete transparency by all parties, otherwise it will fail. Brock’s group has created a single-stop Web site that allows everyone active on the Web to see what’s going on behind the scene at their Web site, or one they are visiting. A realist, Brock is convinced that behavioral targeting is helpful. But it remains to be seen how consumers, regulators and privacy advocated and the ad industry as a whole will come together to assure consumer privacy and the need of advertisers will be respected and supported in the future.View full article