Google Ad Plan Gets Mixed Reaction
Google riled privacy watchdogs on Wednesday when the Internet giant announced that it was venturing into the "interest-based advertising" space. The company said the technology uses information about the Web pages people visit to make the online ads they see more relevant but some argue the real headline is that Google has finally entered the behavioral targeting business -- a practice that has sparked congressional hearings as well as FTC examination. The consumer protection agency released self-regulatory principles for online advertising last month and the Network Advertising Initiative offered its own code of conduct in December.
In a blog post, Google Deputy General Counsel Nicole Wong explained the product has consumer-friendly features to provide meaningful transparency and choice and is "not only consistent with industry groups' privacy principles, but also goes beyond their requirements." Read more about those safeguards here. But the Center for Digital Democracy's Jeff Chester said the move amounts to "the most powerful interactive ad company expanding its data collection and targeting activities whenever we search, view videos or read blogs." He said Google should have adopted an opt-in approach for the new ad service rather than making the default an opt-out scheme.
The Progress and Freedom Foundation's Berin Szoka had a different view, calling the company's announcement groundbreaking because the tracking will be based on a profile of each user's interests created by Web browsing habits -- but not search queries or other user information. Google's program offers "precisely the kind of robust opt-out that privacy advocates have always demanded," he wrote. Szoka said he hoped Google's endeavor will shift the policy debate over user privacy back to an emphasis on the layered approach by supplementing consumer education, industry self-regulation, state laws, and FTC enforcement with technological tools to aid privacy-wary consumers.
Join the Discussion
The National Journal Group has the right (but not the obligation) to monitor the comments and to remove any materials it deems inappropriate.
Comments powered by Disqus