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US industry presents icon for online behavioural advertising
Date: 29/01/2010
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The coalition of associations that announced the Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising in July 2009 has presented the icon that will indicate adherence to the Principles.
The coalition comprises the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A's), Association of National Advertisers (ANA), Direct Marketing Association (DMA), Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), and the Council for Better Business Bureaus (BBB) ("Coalition").
The icon is the result of a collaborative effort between WPP and the Future of Privacy Forum ("FPF") based on consumer research and testing. FPF, a think tank focused on advancing responsible data practices, worked with leading academics and coalition member companies to conduct consumer research to ensure the creative symbol and language successfully delivered on the goal of informing users about behavioral advertising practices.
Consumer research demonstrated the effectiveness of three phrases in communicating and disclosing key aspects of online behavioral advertising. The three phases are: ‘Why did I get this/these ad(s)?', ‘Interest Based Ad(s)', or ‘Ad Choice(s)'. In addition, the icon, when used in conjunction with these phrases, is an effective symbol for communicating information relevant to online behavioral advertising.
Participating companies will use this wording and link/icon when engaged in online behavioral advertising to indicate their adherence to the Principles and as the link that provides consumers with easily accessible disclosures about data collection and use practices associated with online behavioral advertising. The wording and link/icon will appear on Web pages where data is collected either in or around advertisements or on the Web page itself in all instances when and where online behavioral advertising occurs. The wording and link/icon will provide the enhanced notice outside a website's privacy policy that the Federal Trade Commission called for in its industry guidelines.
The FPF has released the results of their research study, which tested the effectiveness of using new icons and key phrases to provide web surfers with more transparency and choice about behavioral advertising practices. The study also measured comfort with behavioral advertising with and without transparency and choice. Among the findings, applying transparency and choice increased the percentage of those who were comfortable with behavioral advertising from 24% to 40%. The same study also found that approximately 30% are neutral about behavioral ads with or without transparency and choice.
Source: BBB, DMA, additional content by WFA
The Coalition is working on finalising the technological specifications for implementing the Principles. WFA will keep all members up to date on the outcomes and implications of these developments. For more information please contact Malte Lohan [email protected]
