• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, March 9, 2012

Tag management companies have begun stepping up services for collecting and blocking data from ads and analytics platforms. Tealium now supports a feature that blocks the ability to gather data. It recognizes Web browser headers when consumers activate the do-not-track options, preventing tags from collecting data.

"The vendors might not support it, but since we are the middle layer, we can offer this feature," said Ali Behnam, Tealium co-founder.

Other companies offer the feature as well.

TagMan intercepts the browser do-not-track signal. The technology then gives the brand the option per tag whether to honor that signal for their Web visitors, according to TagMan cofounder Chris Brinkworth.

Brinkworth said TagMan is addressing its clients' needs for privacy controls by focusing on changes around information and compliance in pending legislation in the U.S. and laws in the European Union. At the same time, the company is working to tighten integration with tags and data providers, both first- and third-party data.

Search engine executives assert that collecting information helps to provide the ability to serve up more relevant query results, but 68% of people using search engines do not want companies to target advertising because they don't like having their online behavior tracked and analyzed, according to recent study results from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

The study finds that three-quarters of participants using search engines believe collecting information to personalize search results is unacceptable.

Aside from offering a feature to prevent the collection of data from ad and analytics tags on Web site pages, Tealium signed a deal with Webtrends to support its Web analytics tags through snippets of codes known as tracking pixels.

Measuring Web site business requirements can change daily, especially for analytics. Tealium created the ability for marketers to swap analytics tracking tags without the help of IT departments and the need to wait for release cycles. The automated system replaces tags placed on each page of a Web site, previously a big chore for the IT department, as marketers change the brand's priorities and business requirements.

Webtrends will rely on Tealium, but some companies such as Adobe are offering analytics platforms and have built their own solutions.

Tealium says it can integrate its platform with almost any tag. The types of tracking pixels range from retargeting to affiliate marketing to Web analytics and personalization, Behnam explains. The company works with more than 250 businesses to integrate their options by clicking on a logo, filling out some information and hitting 'publish.'