Online advertising data raise privacy concerns

Online advertising data raise privacy concerns
From:http://www.electronics-in-china.com/buy-computer/
Key words: products, consumer, comapny
The reach of online advertising is growing as consumers, especially younger ones, move online for content and consumption. But how to gauge the success of online ads.

It's not just about measuring mouse clicks that result in purchases via the Internet, said Andrew Lipsman of U.S.-based ComScore, which studies ways the Internet is used

"If you are trying to measure your ad campaign in clicks, you are completely missing the impact," said Lipsman, senior manager. The bigger impact is building a product's brand online and affecting consumers' behaviour off-line, he said from Chicago

The average number of online ads viewed by an Internet user in the United States is 1,762 a month, Lipsman said. This number doesn't include any online ads seen on mobile phones. No Canadian statistics were available from ComScore.
"People are beginning to understand how these online ad exposures do have a brand-building impact. And as they begin to see the value in that and get out of the mindset it's all about direct response and purchasing something online right now, more dollars will begin to shift online.

Meanwhile, online advertising has raised concerns about consumers' privacy. The Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic, based at the University of Ottawa, has asked the federal privacy commissioner to investigate the practice of online profiling of Internet users for targeted advertising. It says its research suggests that some Canadian Internet service providers may be doing this or preparing to do so.

In the United States, Congress is asking 33 cable, phone and Internet companies to provide information on how they collect data and track consumers' web habits for targeted advertising. Among the companies that are part of the inquiry are AOL, AT&T, Verizon, Google and Microsoft. Some American Internet service providers already have caused controversy for doing trials that monitored all aspects of customers' Internet activity, said Eric Goldman of Santa Clara University in California's Silicon Valley.

www.1topsupplier.com