New Tool Allows Consumers To Manage Behavioral Targeting Preferences

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Spam compliance company UnsubCentral will unveil a new service Thursday that enables marketers to allow Web users to manage the types of behaviorally targeted ads they receive.

The new program, dubbed PreferenceCentral, will allow brands to collect information directly from consumers about whether they want targeted ads, and if so, for which types of products. The program is designed to work in conjunction with the soon-to-debut behavioral targeting icons, which will carry metadata that includes information about the advertiser and links to the company.

The PreferenceCentral platform can be included in the icons' landing page for marketers; consumers who click on that link would be able to visit a marketer's page where they can let the company know their preferences regarding behaviorally targeted ads. The tool is slated to launch in the third quarter.

The icons are a key component of Madison Avenue's attempts to convince lawmakers that online ad companies can adequately inform consumers about behavioral advertising, which typically involves tracking people as they surf the Web and serving ads targeted based on sites visited.

"This is a tool that will help brands comply with the online behavioral advertising principles," says PreferenceCentral Privacy Officer Steven Vine about the new product. He adds that the company developed the tool in response to requests of clients that use UnsubCentral to ensure their email lists comply with the federal Can-Spam law.

Vine says that companies will be able to integrate the platform with the online networks that serve behaviorally targeted ads. Consumers also will be able to sign in and create ad preference profiles under their own names, or will be able to have information stored on cookies that aren't associated with their names.

UnsubCentral's new offering comes as an increasing number of companies are allowing consumers to manage their online marketing profiles. Last year, Google introduced Ads Preference Manager, which lets people edit the interest areas Google associates with their cookies. Yahoo and BlueKai also allow consumers to edit their ad preferences, and mobile ad network JumpTap will do so by the end of June.

2 comments about "New Tool Allows Consumers To Manage Behavioral Targeting Preferences".
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  1. Mike Einstein from the Brothers Einstein, April 29, 2010 at 8:56 a.m.

    I'm still waiting to meet the guy who prefers any kind of ad.

  2. John Grono from GAP Research, April 29, 2010 at 6:25 p.m.

    Mike - sadly, he died in a spam attack back in 2002.

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