Behavioural Targeting: The Fire and The Fury

Behavioural Targeting - the saviour of internet publishing or the death of privacy? Our panel debates the benefits, drawbacks, options and threats created by this new path for advertisers. Behavioural targeting. On the one hand, it means we should see advertising more relevant to us as individuals when we visit a website, and that can only be a good thing, both for consumers, the ad industry and advertisers. On the other, it also means that more of our data will need to be gathered to ensure advertising is targeted correctly, and a lot of consumers and privacy groups are concerned about the level of potential intrusion and what else the information might be used for. There’s been a lot in the media about the Phorm behavioural targeting system trialled by BT and set to be tested by other major ISPs. Detractors believe it’s a privacy infringement (and the fact that BT trialled without informing subscribers has come in for a lot of flak, too), but proponents are confident that the data collected is sufficiently anonymous not to cause any privacy concerns. What’s the real deal? So, what are the issues? How will greater behavioural targeting affect advertising, publishing, privacy and consumers? We've assembled a panel taken from varying sides of this debate to talk about the latest developments, concerns and successes of behavioural targeting in online advertising. Chair Guy Phillipson, CEO, IAB http://www.iabuk.net Panel Nick Barnett, UK Commercial Director, Phorm http://www.phorm.com Baroness Sue Miller, Liberal Democrat Member, House of Lords http://suemiller.org.uk Rupert Staines, VP Europe, Specific Media http://www.specificmedia.com Ian Brown, Research Fellow, Oxford Internet Institute http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk Location Bath House, 96 Dean Street, Soho, W1D 3TA Upstairs Room