Americans Don't Want Targeted Ads

itwbennett writes "A survey by the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology at the University of California Berkeley School of Law and the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania finds that US residents do not want to receive Web advertising tailored to their interests. 66% of those surveyed said they don't want tailored, or targeted, online ads and when asked if online ad vendors should deliver targeted ads by tracking customers' behavior across multiple Web sites, 86% of the 1,000 respondents said no. 35% of respondents said executives of companies that use personal information illegally should face jail time, and 18% said those companies should be put out of business. 'While privacy advocates have lambasted behavioral targeting for tracking and labeling people in ways they do not know or understand, marketers have defended the practice by insisting it gives Americans what they want: advertisements and other forms of content that are as relevant to their lives as possible,' the study said. 'In high percentages, [US residents] stand on the side of privacy advocates.'"

Comments

And....

[Drakin020]

Do you think the Marketers give a rats ass?

Re:And....

[MrMr]

targeted are a way better - atleast its some interest to them
That's a common mistake, the problem is the targetting always seems to work like this:
Hey you bought a PC yesterday; so you're in the PC buying demographic; so we'll serve you a dozen ads for the last thing you will need for the next couple of years...

Re:And....

[Korin43]

I'd like it if advertisers would allow us to give them information that they can work with. I mean.. I told Hulu that I'm a 20-something guy. You'd think they'd realize I'm not worried about my "inadequate lashes" or wrinkles..

Bullshit

[nedlohs]

Americans don't want their web usage tracked.

They likely do want targeted advertisements. But the dislike of tracking wins out. Of course 90% of them signed up for a supermarket discount card and pay for everything with a credit card so they don't really care, they just think they do.

I'd rather see an ad for a video game than for tampons. Of course I'd prefer not to see an ad at all, but that's irrelevant.

I'd also prefer that any random web advertising company can't see all the things I've purchased and web sites I've visited.
 

Re:Jesus, what balls...

[mcgrew]

What sort of a psychotic, delusional dream world must whoever this quote was mined from live in?

The same dreamworld all the sociopathic CEOs and marketers live in. The world where they think it's OK to use up 1/3 of my TV screen with an ad while I'm actually watching a show; the world that has almost nothing but "paid programming" on Sunday morning TV, the same world where they think annoying me will get me to buy their crappy product, the same world where it's OK to annoy you with blinking, moving ads when you're on the internet trying to read.

The same world where the people responsible for ruining the economy are rewarded with bailouts; the same world where a CEO who ran his business to the ground is rewarded with a golden parachute and an even better paying job at the next company he'll ruin.

The same world where the former head of NASDAQ is arrested for a sixty billion dollar Ponzi scheme.

The world that is run by sociopaths who don't give a damn about anything but themselves and their money.

The title misses the point

[tommy]

The article isn't so much about targeted advertising as it is how the user's data is obtained. What the article actually says is we don't want to be tracked across multiple sites. It doesn't mention targeted advertising using data acquired on a single site.