Transcript

Monday August 11, 2008

Internet Companies Respond To Congress Over Ad Targeting Practices

Rising questions about data collection and privacy policies by Internet companies has drawn the attention of Congress. In response to recent letters sent out by the Congressional House Energy and Commerce committee to 33 Internet companies regarding their ad targeting practices, Yahoo was the first to respond, saying it will allow users to opt out of receiving targeted ads based on surfing history and other online activity, expanding the option it already gives to users who want to opt out of customized advertising it delivers to third party sites such as eBay. Google Inc.'s privacy policy offers opt out to third-party sites only, though the company says it conducts little, if any, behavioral targeting. Microsoft didn't respond as to its plans for answering the letter. Internet companies are implementing self-regulation in order to ward of legislators as they broaden their inquiries over whether targeting advertising could compromise consumer privacy. Meanwhile, the practice of targeting ads to consumers continues to rise as companies compete for advertisers that want to reach specific people with relevant ads.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/11/technology/11privacy.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=technology
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121821305026324671.html?mod=2_1571_leftbox
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=88218
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gOt3zwxK4nxKBdmOERj8rXQYqWcwD92EB1U80

[edited by: Vanessa_Zamora at 3:59 pm (utc) on Aug. 11, 2008]