• AdAge, Wednesday, November 9, 2005 12:45 PM

An Ad:Tech panel Tuesday said that privacy has become a major watchword once again for Internet advertising companies as search providers rely more heavily on personal data to deliver relevant ads to users. Two biggies in particular, Microsoft's AdCenter and Yahoo! Search, have the ability to combine keyword data and user demographic information collected from registration data, which could be problematic if search providers start displaying ads that indicate knowledge of a consumer's personal buying history. One panelist pointed out that consumers are fine receiving car ads when they're in-market, for example, but search guru John Battelle noted that privacy policies in general are still "very unclear." He said the system should be transparent, allowing consumers to view the data a marketer has access to and edit it. Most panelists agreed that combining search and registration data is the future of search marketing, although marketers will have to steer clear of personally identifiable information and take baby steps moving forward.

Read the whole story at AdAge »