What is Behavioral Targeted advertising?

Behavioral Targeting is an internet marketing technique which makes use of cookies to monitor and find out the preferences and tastes of prospectors who visit different websites. Usually Google and other search engines make use of behavioral targeting. It is a very efficient technique and it is used by online publishers and advertisers to make their campaigns more efficient because people can see ads even when they visit neutral sites (such as news sites).

You have to admit, when you, as an advertiser, know exactly what a certain person or groups of persons are searching for on search engines or what web sites they visit, you can make you marketing plan a lot more efficient.
But this method has its disputers, as the advertiser has to know personal information about the person in order to target their message. The largest search engine, Google, which claims to protect very careful the visitor’s privacy, actually shares with advertisers a certain amount of information about the behavior of their users. Many people who use search engines on a daily basis can be targeted by companies using behavioral targeting on the basis of shared personal information.

This method is being used more and more frequent and many times you are not even aware of it. You may have noticed sometimes that when you have searched for a specific thing that may be happening in another part of the world and in the corners of the page you see ads belonging to companies near you which sell the same or similar products or services. You might have thought of it as a coincidence, but in fact it is part of a well planned marketing campaign. This is only possible if the displayer of the ad has information about your personal preferences and browsing habits, as well as other info, such as the place you live in.

Many people do not agree to this technique as they consider it as a breach of their intimacy. It is their right to have their internet browsing history and habits kept secret and, most of all, away from the eyes of internet marketers.

Google tried to explain their operating methods by stating that the information they share with the displayer of the ad is not stored for further use and it is only used that time alone.

Because of these issues, although it is a very efficient online marketing technique, the use of behavioral targeting remains a controversial method, however targeted advertising is effective.