Sometimes it's all
in how you spin it

Cable provider Charter Communications is preparing a foray into behavioral tracking for ad delivery, reports The New York Times.

In a limited pilot, Charter will share clients' web-surfing behaviors with NebuAd, which will provide targeted advertising against that data.

Select Charter customers have received notification of the test, positioned as a way to enhance their online experience. The notices also contain a URL where people may opt out.

A Charter executive said most people understand online operations are increasingly ad-driven. Once the tracking system was explained to focus groups, he says, most did not have a problem with it.

The NebuAd targeting system has been compared to Phorm, which partners with ISPs to serve targeted advertising on participating websites. But Phorm's road has been rockier than its rival's, having generated ire over its compatibility with a UK privacy law called Ripa. It also failed to launch opt-out options before user outrage drove it to do so. A covert test with UK ISP BT further sullied its reputation.

A recent survey of ISPreview readers found over half would leave their ISPs if it partnered with Phorm.