One can only take so much
Battered by bad press, recent Congressional probes and the loss of ISP clients, CEO Bob Dykes of NebuAd has decided to step down.
Following his departure, President Kira Makagon was chosen to lead the company. Dykes will move on to a CFO position at VeriFone, but continue to chair NebuAd.
The stigmatized behavioral ad firm also stated it would explore more "conventional" behavioral advertising models, such as those enacted by established names like Tacoda, AlmondNet and Revenue Science, reports ClickZ.
Using a technique called deep-packet inspection (DPI), NebuAd's technology is able to inspect and sort data as it travels across the internet. The company partners with internet service providers (ISPs) to serve advertising against internet users' web activity.
NebuAd's capacity to violate user privacy was scrutinized in a series of Congressional hearings. The House Committee on Energy and Commerce discovered seven ISPs tested the service without telling customers their web-surfing data was being tracked for the purpose of serving ads to them.
ISPs defended their activities by listing meager attempts by which consumers could have protected their data if they wished. Embarq, for example, insisted it had changed its privacy policy — a document any consumer can peruse when he wishes.
Another concern was the "Opt-Out," rather than "Opt-In," stance ISPs were taking. That is users had to find out about NebuAd, then opt out if they wished to be excluded. Privacy advocates said the only reasonable way to protect users was if ISPs first informed them of the program, then enabled them to opt in.
Last July Dykes testified before the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. In a discussion about opt-in versus opt-out practices, Subcommittee Chairman Edward Markey said, "You have to get the consumer to say yes. Do you support 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, openly welcoming the comparison.
After a similarly negative response from the Senate, Dykes maintained that NebuAd was compliant with the law. Subsequent committees failed to prove otherwise, reports PC Magazine, but ISPs nonetheless distanced themselves from NebuAd as the hearings progressed.
Among them was Charter Communications, its largest potential client. Prior to the privacy fracas, Charter openly revealed to the press its intention to pilot a NebuAd program.
Despite Dykes' departure, and its decision to pursue well-trod paths in the behavioral advertising field, NebuAd stated that "servicing Internet service providers" shall remain its priority.
