eBuzz - No More Ad Targeting at Yahoo!

No More Ad Targeting at Yahoo!

The Washington Post reports that

Last week, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce asked Yahoo and 32 other Internet companies to provide more information about the surfing data they collect from Web users and how the data are used to customize advertising.

As many media companies struggle to make money from their Web sites, members of Congress and the industry appear to be in the early stages of a high-stakes negotiation over what kind of advertising ought to be allowed.

Yahoo!'s response has been an announcement that it will allow users to shut off targeted advertising on its websites, a move that comes as a congressional committee continues to air concerns about consumer privacy.

Company officials say that offering more privacy options will attract enough users to offset the loss in ad revenue from the move.

While that sounds like putting a good face on a move that probably wouldn't have happened without Congress' intervention, it is in fact a forward-looking and necessary step, as privacy issues are becoming more and more important to people in general and legislators in particular.

Search marketing firms using PPC now need to think in terms of targeting that does not cross any lines into personal privacy issues — another step in the long and ongoing process of learning how to work with the internet. It may take more creativity; but the end result will be interactions that companies and consumers alike can use to meet their online needs.

And that's our take on the news today!

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