Introduction to online behavioural advertising

Guy Phillipson, chief executive, Internet Advertising Bureau

The ‘father’ of advertising and retail tycoon, John Wanamaker, once famously said: “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.”

We’ve heard it quoted it to us many times before and it has rung true for the decades after his death in 1922. Until the internet that is. Today’s online space offers brands a communication tool like no other: an interaction with users that is unrivalled in any other media. It has changed marketing and the way we communicate forever. Behavioural advertising (or targeting) is helping foster this change, giving campaigns greater edge and a reach to the users that are more likely to be interested in the marketer’s messages.

From painters to politicians, we all need to tailor what we ‘say’ to the audience we wish to connect with. At the same time it is offering web publishers a signiicant model to achieve a better return on the investment they make in their online content, services and applications.

The UK Government’s Digital Britain project highlighted an important debate about how we access the internet and how the content we value and enjoy is provided. It’s a debate that will continue as we spend and do more online. The Government’s final report mentioned the importance of behavioural advertising as one of several business models to help convert “creativity into value.”

The report also said that behavioural advertising needed to be handled carefully. For many the pace of change on the internet is empowering – they can’t get enough. For others it is too fast. Whichever camp you fall into, a careful balance is required: delivering a message more relevant and interesting to users whilst addressing concerns and safeguarding privacy. It is a learning curve for us all, and many businesses are built
upon this balance.

I therefore welcome this guide for the industry. It is timely: we need to correct the myths and misperceptions about targeted advertising, show marketers and web publishers its significant benefits and learn from overseas markets. Above all we need to demonstrate to users, industry and policy-makers that we are transparent, listen to concerns and take privacy seriously, and deliver the measures to give them all the confidence and comfort needed to embrace this change.

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