The online marketing practice known as behavioral advertising, which is being employed increasingly by Internet companies that want to tailor Web surfers' content, will come under scrutiny on Capitol Hill on Thursday. Executives from Google, Facebook, and Yahoo will take the hot seat alongside some of their most prominent critics at a joint hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Communications and Consumer Protection subcommittees. House Energy and Commerce Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., is preparing legislation that he hopes would give Internet users greater confidence in how information collected about them is used and would offer consumer control over that use. "That will encourage people to engage in electronic commerce more readily," he said earlier this year. At the time, Boucher had not decided what rules could be in the measure.

The rare joint session "is but one hearing along a continuum of legislative activity examining the domains of the online and offline consumer privacy and how companies handle and treat consumers' personal information," Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chairman Bobby Rush, D-Ill., said in an excerpt from his opening statement. He will point out there are no federal laws specifically aimed at behavioral advertising nor is there a comprehensive general privacy law on the books. Google Deputy General Counsel Nicole Wong, Facebook Chief Privacy Officer Chris Kelly and Yahoo Vice President of Policy Anne Toth plan to defend their business practices and tell lawmakers that high-tech advances in advertising lead to more enjoyable Internet experiences for users. Read the full preview story in CongressDaily's AM Edition here and look for more coverage in the PM Edition.