Looking to the future, Joseph Turow of UPenn's Annenberg school warns that behavioral targeting will shape the emerging confluence of TV and Internet, with video advertising (and possibly content) delivered using precise online targeting methods: "This will be television... People will get different ideas about the world through television, based on what marketers know about them and their households, maybe even individuals in their households.... Do we really want that?"

Christopher N. Olsen, Assistant Director, Division of Privacy and Identity Protection, Federal Trade Commission, notes that there are hundreds of popular mobile apps that don't provide any information at all about their data collection practices. Genie Barton, Vice President and Director, Online Interest-Based Advertising Accountability Program & Mobile Marketing Initiatives, Council of Better Business Bureaus, responds: "We're working on it."

18-24-year-olds aren't much savvier than their parents when it comes to understanding the privacy implications of online behavioral targeting, according to Joseph Turow of UPenn's Annenberg school, who emphasizes that "the next generation has to engage with the data to be concerned, cautious, and liberating about it."

"Target marketing is part of our lives, and you're not going to stop that train," according to Joseph Turow, of UPenn's Annenberg school. "What I'm against is people having no clue how it works, and no control over the data they're giving up."  On that note, Turow adds that even accepted practices for behavioral targeting can be excessively intrusive -- for example, combining data from several different sources (online behavioral data and voting records, in one case) to target online political advertising.

The purview of the Online Interest-Based Advertising Accountability Program & Mobile Marketing Initiatives, Council of Better Business Bureaus includes any and all practitioners who use behavioral targeting for online advertising, according to the organization's vice-president and director, Genie Barton, who notes that the organization is not based on voluntary membership.  Barton adds that this means the organization can exert pressure on companies which are pushing the boundaries of acceptable practices in behavioral targeting. 

eMarketer has revised its revenue forecast for Facebook in light of the company’s recent IPO filing showing slower growth than the research firm had projected. It now expects Facebook global sales to grow 64% to $6.1 billion this year, up from $3.7 billion in 2011. The firm had previously estimated its 2011 revenue at $4.3 billion. eMarketer also predicts that the social network’s share of all U.S. display ad revenue will grow to 16.8% in 2012 from 14% last year. Close on its heels will be Google, claiming 16.5% of the display ad market, up from 13.8% in 2011. …

The industry's porposals for self-regulation of data collection, including letting consumers opt out and icons showing when their data is being tracked, are a good start but aren't sufficient, according to Joseph Turow, Robert Lewis Shayon Professor, Annenberg School of Communication, University of Pennsylvania, who says that current proposals for notice practices would be ineffective. Jane Yakowitz, Visiting Assistant Professor of Law, Brooklyn Law School, adds that many consumers simply don't understand or fully appreciate the amount of data produced by Internet use that can be tracked by online marketers.

New findings from Nielsen’s upcoming U.S. Digital Consumer Report show 29% of smartphone owners use their phone for shopping. Among mobile shoppers, top activities include in-store price comparisons (38%), browsing products on mobile Web or apps (38%) and reading online product reviews (34%). About one-fifth (22%) made a purchase via mobile and the same proportion have scanned a barcode for price or product information. Almost as many (18%) have used location-based services to find a retail location. The study found only 9% of mobile shoppers have used their phone to pay at the register. But 71% of app downloaders …

Asked about how Localytics approaches privacy, he explained that 10,000 publishers have installed its analytics software in their apps. End user are notified on an opt-out basis. He says its still “early days” when it comes to privacy in mobile but that the firm takes a conservative stance. For instance, the company “double hashes” unique IDs, so there’s no way to connect back to an individual. It doesn’t collect email addresses or user names, and it “obfuscates” location to avoid showing a person’s exact location. Given the recent scrutiny around mobile privacy, Aggarwal suggests Localytics may at some point …

Christiano Ronaldo may long be known as the world’s No. 2 soccer player behind a certain midfielder for Barcelona FC, but at least now he has his own official app. Developed by self-service mobile app platform Mobile Roadie, the new offering for iOS and Android devices touts the latest news, exclusive content and images of Ronaldo. It also offers access to the Real Madrid star’s musing on Twitter and Facebook and sponsored contests. The company has also previously developed a Ronaldo-themed game app that sells for $2.99. Mobile roadie has helped create similar apps for celebrities including Katy Perry, …