London – It’s a move for transparency, at the very least. Revolution magazine reports Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble as brands in support of US trade bodies and technology firms that will release a set of guidelines for tracking users’ web activity in order to target ads.
The guidelines, backed by Google, Microsoft, Disney, Verizon, Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble and the Interactive Advertising Bureau, is focused on making behavioral targeting more transparent. The guidelines also include measures on safety and security of data storage.
Under the guidelines, companies will have to inform users when they are being tracked, what the tracking means, as well as install options to refuse tracking. This may take the form of a uniform link of icon that will redirect traffic to a disclosure page.
The creation of guidelines is scheduled to take effect next year. Recent events have moved the US Congress and Federal Trade Commission to impose regulations on the industry, thus the imposition of guidelines. The United Kingdom initiated its own guidelines as early as March 2009. The US info campaign has created 500 million online ad impressions in support.
