Google’s Ad Preference Manager: One Small Step for Google, One Giant Leap for Privacy

Google’s new “Interest Based Advertising” (IBA) program represents the company’s first foray into what is generally called “Online Behavioral Advertising”: In order to deliver more relevant advertising, Google will begin tailoring ads delivered through AdSense on the Google Content Network and YouTube.com, based on a profile of each user’s interests created by tracking their browsing activity across sites that use AdSense - but not search queries or other user information. Google is sure to be attacked for crossing a “line in the sand” drawn by some privacy advocates between contextual and behavioral advertising, but those whose first priority is advancing consumer privacy should applaud Google for excluding sensitive categories and for putting the new Ad Preference Manager, with its persistent opt-out plug-in, at the core of the company’s new IBA program.It’s no accident that Google is now leading the pack of third party ad networks by developing innovative solutions that respect consumer privacy. Google risks alienating some advertisers and publishers with its bold empowerment of users, but was willing to take those risks because of its incentives as a consumer-facing company and able to do so because of its leadership in the marketplace. Uncomfortable as this reality may be for those who fret about antitrust issues and indeed for Google itself, the simple reality is that sometimes it takes “big dogs” to make self-regulatory systems truly effective.Google’s approach is precisely the kind of innovation that would be discouraged by pre-emptive government regulation. Worse, those who would freeze privacy protection in place would also freeze in place much of the Internet itself, precluding development of new business models that would compete with Google, allaying concerns about competition and benefiting consumers.