I’m a few days behind here due to my vacation, but I do think that the WSJ (and I guess the US Federal Trade Commission…) have been talking about allowing the online targeted ad world to self-regulate. The WSJ’s article on this suggests that the FTC is asking for clear disclosure and the ability to opt-out of target advertisements. Of course, any given consumer could opt-out by clearing their cookies, but the thought of an active opt-out is nice.
My personal belief is that targeted advertisements are not bad nor are they intrusive. However, I clearly understand that there is a large segment of the population that feels that this is not appropriate. We’ll call this segment… “old people.” Since Congress happens to have a large number of “old people” I’m willing to bet that eventually some crotchety old person is going to get all upset and pass an annoying law that messes up the online ad market. Therefore, I’d really prefer that the FTC put out some sort of real regulation and prevent old people from destroying the entire targeted ad space.
Ok, back to my vacation. Let’s hope that the beer is London is not too warm tonight.
