• The New York Times, Monday, August 30, 2010 11:44 AM

The New York Times takes look at "personalized retargeting" -- or the practice of delivering ads to consumers, which feature specific products they've recently viewed online. While the technique -- and the technology that facilitates it -- has been around for years, The Times suggests that its mass-marketization by Google and Microsoft has many consumers and industry watchdogs feeling uneasy.

"It is a pretty clever marketing tool," a mother of two from Montreal tells The Times. "But it's a little creepy, especially if you don't know what's going on." Still, that hasn't stopped retailers from Zappos to Diapers.com from employing the technique. According to The Times makes clear, retargeting relies on a form of online tracking that has been around for years and is "not particularly intrusive."

Read the whole story at The New York Times »