Carte blanche to
behavioral shopping data
A team of online advertising executives, spearheaded by former general manager Omar Tawakol of Medio Systems, launched BlueKai today.
BlueKai works with data buyers and sellers to aggregate anonymous shopping and research behavior across the internet. It then auctions that data — without providing personally identifiable details — to advertisers trying to hone their ad targeting abilities.
"Intent data" on BlueKai's market includes search queries for auto, travel and product comparisons.
All participating advertisers are required to adhere to the privacy standards of the Network Advertising Initiative. And users whose data is being harvested can also control what information is collected. To opt out, they can visit the website of a BlueKai data buyer, or go straight to the BlueKai website.
"BlueKai […] brings transparency to the consumer by giving them insight into what marketers know about them [and] gives them the ability to edit their online preferences," argued Tawakol, BlueKai's CEO.
Over the summer, privacy advocates and Congress critiqued behavioral ad firms for their lax attitude toward protecting users' privacy. And while the data BlueKai sells does not identify shoppers, it does require that they opt out to protect what data is collected (versus opting in to participate).
Last summer, Chairman Edward Markey of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet went so far as to compare the opt-out method to spousal abuse. "You have to get the consumer to say yes," he said when Bob Dykes, the former CEO of behavioral ad targeting firm NebuAd, testified before him. "Do you agree with that?"
"I think you're forcing me into one of those 'have you stopped beating your wife?' questions," Dykes replied.
"Have you stopped beating the consumer?" Markey demanded.
Dykes has since resigned from his post, and NebuAd is pursuing less controversial means of behavioral ad targeting.
But unlike NebuAd, which worked with ISPs to target consumers on an almost individual level based on all their surfing behavior, BlueKai derives its model from offline lead-gen.
"Like the offline world, where people buy highly qualified lists to reach their audiences, BlueKai will bring the same level of intelligence, clarity and targeting maturity to the online community," said Tawakol.
