AOL seeks to demystify the targeting blackbox.
AOL announced today that it wants to educate consumers on the benefits of targeted advertising a day before the FTC convenes to discuss the subject of online privacy and online ad targeting.
Sorry guys, but targeted ads don’t provide me any utility. This conversation is linked to a previous post concerning intent based advertising. Google‘s contextual system does in fact provide a bit of a service as it provide ads that are relevant to information I am seeking. Just because I like watches doesn’t mean I want to be hawked watches when looking for a new car.
I’m interested to see how they plan to pitch us on the virtues of targeted ads.
On another note, a privacy advocate group is pushing a national do-not-track list.
THE AD-VOCATE 
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