Website 101: Google is Watching - Introducing Behavioral Targeting

Google has begun to roll out its “Interest Based” advertising engine (starting from March 11 2009). The new system aims to provide what Google calls “more interesting ads”.

AdSense Driven by Immediate Interest

AdSense Google’s current advert delivery system serves adverts on Google and its partner sites (Google’s Content Network). AdSense ads are flighted based on a surfer’s immediate interest. Google guesses the browser’s immediate interest based on the content of the current page being viewed.
Thus if you happen to be browsing a home improvements site and you land on a page that explains how to use a power drill, AdSense will display adverts with products and services based on home improvements and maybe even drills on special offer. This guesswork has a good chance of being correct.

But immediate interest is not abiding interest. Our surfer could be a lady executive looking to buy her husband a new drill for Christmas and the drill is only her very brief and immediate interest.

Interest Based Advertising Targets Your Abiding Interests

Core to the way the new system works is a profile of your interests. Google builds up your personal profile over time. Your profile is based on the kind of sites you regularly visit. Google then shows you ads based on your profile. This is called behavioural targeting.
Your profile is available to you at any time. Go to www.google.com/ ads/preferences to view your personal profile. You can also adjust your profile, by adding or removing areas of interest. You can also choose to opt out of having ads shown to you based on your previous browsing experiences.

This type of behavioural targeting advertising will give advertisers the capability to deliver ads that are filtered by various interest categories. Google has developed a web site that allows advertisers to login and manage their Interest Based ad campaigns.

How It Works

Let’s say you are a keen cyclist. Google’s engine will over time be well aware of your cycling interests, because you often visit sites like Cycling News and Cycling Today and Tour de France results etc. So not only will Google know that you are interested in cycling but it will probably be specific enough to know that you are a road cycling person and not at all interested in mountain biking.

Thus when your surf the net Google will consult your behavioural history and try to show you cycling based ads even when you are not browsing a cycling site.

Choice is Yours

Google Says You Have Choice and Control. This means that you can go the preferences link (above) and add or adjust your preferences using Ads Preferences Manager. You can also opt out of the system altogether.

Opinion

The way the system has been implemented seem quite fair to me. I suppose that many observers will get upset by some perceived invasion of privacy issues. No other behavioural advertising systems allow you to view the data assembled about you. Nor is there one that goes so far as to provide tools for you to adjust how it interacts with you or and even allows for you to opt out completely.

I would be surprised if the system does not quickly become something we are very comfortable and familiar with. A system that we end up relying on to deliver us interesting offers and products that we would normally have missed out on.

References:
Official Google Blog: Making Ads More Interesting (11 March 2009)

Dr Howard Rybko has been involved with computer technology
since 1984. After more than 15 years in medical software and IT
infrastructure, he established Syncrony
in 1999. Syncrony is focused on world class website design, custom software development and building of web systems based on the DotNetNuke Content Management System.