Behavioral Targeting: A Tricky Issue for Marketers†

Brandweek, October 21, 2008 — These days, countless users are wishing their social networking sites would simply pay attention to their online travels so they could serve up an ad for something they would—gasp—actually want to buy. After all, that's the whole idea behind behavioral targeting, isn't it? The footprints left behind a user's daily wanderings through the Web (or, in the case of social networks, personal and lifestyle details) are analyzed to later match her up with ads for products or services she's likely to want. It sounds so promising—in theory at least—that behavioral targeting is what many consider the wave of the future.

Facebook Set to Introduce Major Ad Play†

Social Network Could Unveil 'SocialAds' at NYC Event Next Month

Advertising Age, October 24, 2007 — The invitation, sent to advertisers and agencies in New York, arrived carved onto a Lucite brick.

You are invited to a discussion with Mark Zuckerberg and the Facebook executive team as we unveil a new way of advertising online."

Behavioral Targeting: Not Quite Ready For Prime Time

MediaPost Publications, July 25, 2007 — THE PROGNOSTICATORS SAY 2008 IS supposed to be the year behavioral targeting hits it big in the U.S.--reaching the $1 billion mark in terms of online ad spend, according to eMarketer.

But at the Behavioral Marketing Forum Tuesday, it was clear that obstacles exist ranging from definition to education.