• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, February 26, 2009

By 2020, behavioral targeting spend will surpass search spend, according to OMMA keynote Jeff Hirsch, president and CEO of AudienceScience -- formerly known as RevenueScience.

(In case you’re wondering, Hirsch insisted the company is still very much focused on revenue and the science of generating it for itself and its clients.)

Either way, if behavioral targeting is not part of your strategy, then you’re not going to survive in this space, Hirsch warned.

That said, more companies have experience in the field than even they might know. Frequency capping, which has existed “since the beginning,” is a bonafide form behavioral targeting, he assured.

With regard to full disclosure of data collection and data ownership, Hirsch had some important advice for vendors selling behavioral targeting technology: “Tell it like it is.”

Added Hirsch, “The need for industry standards is imperative for this business to thrive … We have to make sure the government doesn’t step in and play a role in that.”