Survey urges transparency in behavioural targeting

Improve Digital research suggests that 62.5 per cent of publishers believe that consumer acceptance of behavioural targeting will be encouraged if companies are open with them about using their data.

In the second part of the 'New Rules of Revenue' survey undertaken by the company, 52.2 per cent of respondents said that external parties should be able to use a publisher's audience data to better target advertising campaigns.

However, the transparency message continued with 90 per cent of publishers saying that if digital marketing is to reach its potential, the sector must ensure that it provides comprehensive information that is easily understood by people outside the industry.

Use of data must be balanced with privacy issues.

According to the survey, 93.1 per cent of publishers stated that the protection of their data was important or very important when working with multiple ad networks.

Despite this, 77.5 per cent of publishers agreed that it was a significant problem to monitor which third party is collecting what audience data through cookies.

Nic Peters, managing director at Improve Digital UK, said: 'Behavioural targeting is a valuable tool for online advertisers and publishers alike because it enables relevant ads to be served to a pre-defined target audience, which increases the value of inventory.

'Therefore it also significantly enhances the online experience for consumers, who see adverts that relate to their interests.

'However, this is not well understood, with the result that behavioural targeting is often viewed in a negative light.

'Organisations must therefore be rigorous about being transparent in their actions, as well as ensuring they use audience data to deliver tangible benefits back to consumers.

Back to top