Relevant Ads but No Tracking Please

Here’s the paradox: consumers want “relevant ads” but don’t like to be tracked. MediaPost reports on the latest data to capture this:

Nearly three out of four people, or 71%, [in a Truste survey] said they realize that companies track their Web browsing activity for purposes of sending them targeted ads. The majority–57%–said they are not comfortable with the practice, even when their browsing history can’t be linked to their names.

At the same time, 72% of Web users also told researchers they find irrelevant ads “intrusive and annoying,” although one key strategy for displaying relevant ads relies on behavioral targeting, or monitoring where people go online and then determining their interests . . .

I previously wrote about how overzealous BT will bring regulation that effectively hobbles it: The Ad Predicament and the End of Tracking?