Welcome to the world of behavioral targeting

Some interesting comments from Ofcom chief Ed Richards are being reported in the FT this morning.

He has

backed controversial behavioral advertising technology from companies such as Phorm as a way for broadband providers to fund investment in new superfast networks.

Phorm is an advocate of what is known as behavioral targeting

What is it? Well it is a method where the network or publisher creates behavioral segments based on where the user has gone and/or what they have done on various web pages.

The result being that based on previous browsing behavior the user can be targeted with segmented advertising.

The detractors claim that it is a attack on internet privacy and rights but Richards sees this as a way of funding the new superhighway

“if done sensibly and done correctly, transparently to the user and with the consent of the user.”