Commentary

Could Opt-Out Be The New Opt-In?

by Steve Smith , Staff Writer, August 28, 2009

The digital advertising industry pays a lot of lip service to consumer "opt-out" but we rarely see evidence of ad networks or publishers making these options very visible. We've all probably popped a blood vessel or two trying to discern the "unsubscribe" link at the bottom of e-mail newsletters and offers. But what if advertisers saw the opt-out process as the opportunity to initiate a conversation with the consumer?

That is the sort of thing that retargeting vendor FetchBack is exploring in its new program to tag all of its ads with links to an opt-out page. In early June the company started adding a small tab on its ad units labeled simply "ad info." Anyone curious could click through to see that FetchBack was the company behind the ad. The landing page asks, "Wondering why you saw a display advertisement, provided by FetchBack?" and then proceeds to outline quickly what retargeting is about, how a browser cookie works, and which original Website planted the cookie for this retargeting effort. Users then have the opportunity to opt out altogether.

When comparing a sample of interactions with this enhanced ad unit to previous untagged units, FetchBack reports that there was "little to no effect" on op-out rates. CEO Chad Little tells me that there was no pushback from advertising clients either when the company informed advertisers of the new program.

While the sample base was limited, Little feels that the early results should give the industry some reassurance that greater transparency is not going to kill the golden goose. "We're not talking about a massive influx of people. We shouldn't have grave concerns. It is not like the Do Not Call list."

But the most surprising part of this early test was the interaction that the opt-out offer initiated with the user. "We did not expect that," says Little. Some users were asking details about the offer in the ad or looking to contact customer service for the company. "That is where the unexpected value came into play," he says. "It opened up a line of communication."

He senses that marketers have been making a mistake by thinking of the opt-out process as a negative to their business. Previously, a target of a retargeting campaign had no idea why they were seeing an ad that seemed vaguely familiar following them from site to site. There was no opportunity to do more than land right back at a retailer's site. But the opt-out page offers up a more intimate back channel of exchange. Oddly enough, the opt-out offer was an opportunity to engage the consumer on a different level.

Clearly standards need to be established for how to tag ads. One imagines that the nature of the label on an ad invites a certain type of user to click through. "Ad Info" would likely grab people differently from "Ads Powered By..." or "Opt-Out." And this process is much simpler for retargeting than for some broader behavioral targeting efforts. Retargeting can identify a single familiar source for a consumer being cookied. The complexity of some ad networks and exchanges, let alone the tagging process itself, may make it harder to be as transparent with consumer across other BT campaigns.

Nevertheless, what is clear from the FetchBack experience is that there is an unexpected opportunity in the privacy discussion to engage the consumer in honest exchanges even at that point when they seem poised to reject you. "The landing page is such an opportunity to add value," says Little.

FetchBack is starting to play with new ideas for crafting a landing page off these ad info labels that offers more information about both the client involved and the retargeting process. Google did a good job in crafting an "Ad Preferences" page that includes videos explaining the behavioral targeting process.

But what if ad networks started seeing client-specific opt-out landing pages as a way to talk to consumers more directly? What if an industry-wide opt-out option on all ads or publisher pages actually helped add to our knowledge about consumers, their concerns with privacy and advertising? What if a thoughtful transparent landing page turned a knee-jerk, don't-cookie-me consumer response into an intelligent conversation about what this interested consumer really wants from the vendor?

behavioral targeting

6 comments about "Could Opt-Out Be The New Opt-In?".

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Jeffrey Chester from CDD, August 28, 2009 at 12:51 p.m.
Consumer groups, as you know, believe opt-in is required. But how would FetchBack's consumers react if it's opt-out information accurately reflected what it says to its marketing clients? Here's how FetchBack explains itself to marketers:
"With FetchBack, you target your customers at the most granular level possible...FetchBack allows you to Retarget prospects and customers based on what sections of the site they visited (keyword targeting) where your prospects are located (geo-targeting), past purchase behavior (loyalty programs), and if they abandoned their shopping cart...FetchBack's Smart Pixel tells FIDO what products a visitor viewed while on your website. As your customer visits various websites across the internet, FIDO recognizes your customer, remembers what products they viewed while on your website and within a fraction of a second dynamically generates an ad featuring those products."
http://www.fetchback.com/targeting.html
http://www.fetchback.com/dynamicads.html
Reply

Howie Goldfarb from Blue Star Strategic Marketing, August 28, 2009 at 1:14 p.m.

Steve great post!

I think I really need to take a primer course for online digital ad serving. I have been curious how all this technology interacts with browsers like Firefox that have ad blocking and no scripts software. Does the Ad Server know an Ad has been blocked or is it a recorded success when they are billing their client with a Hogan's Hero's "I know nothink" response to ensure higher revenue. Because it seems all this BT technology really means nothing if the ads don't show on a screen.

Edward Boettcher from AudienceScience, August 28, 2009 at 1:28 p.m.

I think this article is very insightful. I believe the industry is missing some fantastic opportunities to engage with the Customer. At the risk of shameless self promotion I invite you to read some interesting and perhaps controversial concepts I recently outlined on how Customer engagement will change in the future in my recent blog post "Learning to Love Opt-in" at my blog "The Product Messenger"
http://www.theproductmessenger.blogspot.com/

Anthony risicato, August 28, 2009 at 1:30 p.m.

The issue really stems from the not always clear opt-in process around email, behavioral and affiliate marketing. I don't think it is unreasonable to allow consumers a simple and easy say in how their habits are used. With that said, the offline marketing industry guidelines seem applicable to online re-targeting.

The advantage of other mediums, like Mobile, is that the opt-in (and out) process is affirmative, mandated and crystal clear. You get information that you are interested in getting, *because* you asked for it.

.//A.

Mark Zagorski from eXelate, August 28, 2009 at 2:31 p.m.

Great article, Steve. It addresses a position which I think we have ignored too long -- "why not let them know"?

It seems pretty clear that the more transparent that we are with consumers -- the higher the trust level, and in the end, the better the consumer interaction with the brand.

At eXelate, we have built total consumer transparency into our model, allowing them to see exactly what data we have collected on them, as well as the ability to manage that data / easily optout. (You can take a look at www.exelate.com under the "Consumers" tab)

Like FetchBack, we have seen minimal consumer opt out, and are confident that by being transparent in how we deal with consumers, we are benefitting from inreased interaction and a higher quality data pool.

Mark Zagorski
eXelate

Shelly Kramer from V3 Integrated Marketing, August 28, 2009 at 5:56 p.m.

Fascinating post, Steve. And the commentors here add huge value as well. Am definitely reconsidering how I think about handling this issue in the future and appreciate you opening the door on this one.