2010 Will Be a Decisive Year for Ad Privacy and Regulation

It was a busy year for the digital ad space in terms of regulatory scrutiny, both in the U.S. and in Europe. As increasing amounts of user data are leveraged for behavioral ad targeting and audience segmentation, regulators on both sides of the Atlantic have turned their attention to the legality and necessity of tracking users' online behavior.
 
The practice of data collection for online ad purposes is far from new, and behavioral targeting firms and publishers have been selling those insights to advertisers for years. In 2008, proposed network-level deep-packet inspection technology drew the attention of regulators, as privacy advocates and consumers expressed concerns about their ISPs monitoring their every online move in order to target them with ads.
 
Although that technology, provided by firms such as Phorm and NebuAd, was eventually abandoned by ISPs after overwhelming criticism from privacy advocates and concerned consumers, regulators have taken the opportunity to continue their probe into the online ad business more widely.
 
Following a series of hearings...