WHAT EXACTLY IS ONLINE BEHAVIOURAL TARGETING?

It’s not surprising that many people are still confused about what is, and what isn’t, behavioural targeting. Some companies use the expression ‘behavioural’ to describe anything from the time of day people access a website (daytime behaviour) to the amount of times they visit them (heavy/light usage behaviour). With behavioural targeting being a highly popular online advertising technique, it isn’t surprising that some organisations are hoping some of the behavioural shine will rub off on them - but, in my view, it’s misleading and confuses everyone even further.

Essentially, behavioural targeting is taken to mean the ability to use previous web activity to automatically adapt website content (editorial or advertising) to make it more relevant for individual users. More specifically, behavioural advertising is about showing more relevant ads to users after they have viewed specific content or clicked on certain ads. As Crimtan is a behavioural advertising company, we will focus on that aspect here.

But wait – it’s not that simple! For purists, only behavioural advertising using pre-defined user profiles developed over time and held in a database counts as ‘behavioural’. When users are ‘retargeted’ with ads after just one exposure to a web page or ad it isn’t strictly ‘behavioural’ as no profiles of user interest or purchase intent are developed. However, as retargeting involves using cookies to deliver relevant ads I am sympathetic to the view that it should be considered as a part of behavioural targeting.

One other thing to note is that ‘proper’ behavioural profiles can also contain inferred demographic or location data which isn’t strictly ‘behavioural’ but allows advertisers to further refine targeting to specific groups of individuals.

So, in an attempt to de-mystify this confusing topic, here then is our cut out ‘n’ keep guide to behavioural advertising. If you can come up with any better definitions, or think we have missed anything, we would love to read your comments. To help interested web users even further, we have added a glossary at the end to explain the more technical terms. And in case any advertisers want to know where Crimtan fits in – our technology is capable of delivering campaigns using any of the techniques described here.

RETARGETING

This is the ability to show specific ads to people who have visited a certain website, seen a certain ad or searched specific terms online. It can take three forms

1. Website Retargeting.
An advertiser puts a ‘tag’ on one or more pages of their website. When a user visits that page, a cookie with an anonymous ID is sent to the users web browser and stored there. This cookie can only be seen and read by the website or a technology partner (often an ad network) that sent the cookie. Whenever a user visits a web page, the servers delivering the page content (including ads) look for cookies in the users browser. If the cookie and anonymous ID are present in the browser the user can be shown a specific, relevant ad. For example, if the user doesn’t click on an ad, a different ad could be shown next time. If the user does click on an ad and goes on to purchase the product advertised, subsequent ads could contain a message for a complementary product. If they didn’t purchase after clicking on the ad they could be sent a different ad - perhaps an offer. Alternatively, as it is possible to identify uses who clicked the ad and then purchased the product, it is possible to exclude them from future campaigns.

2. Ad Retargeting
This is similar to Website Retargeting except an advertisement carries a tag identifying a type of campaign or specific creative (say Car or Nokia-Apps). When a user visits a page containing this advertisement, a cookie with an anonymous ID is sent to the users web browser and stored there. The advertiser can then retarget users who have seen the ad in the same way as ad retargeting.

3. Search Retargeting
When a web user arrives at a site via a search engine after having typed a specific keyword (or phrase), an anonymous cookie ID is associated with that specific search query. Advertisers can then retarget these users with products and services relating to the search query.

AUDIENCE PROFILE TARGETING

This is a much more advanced form of targeting whereby web user interests, demographics, location or indications of purchase intent are stored as anonymous profiles in databases so that advertisers can select specific pre-defined groups of similar users and target them with advertisements that will be relevant to them. This can be done in two ways.

1. Website Profiling
Web pages carry a tag identifying certain characteristics of the page content (say travel, male or HD TV). When a user visits a website he receives a cookie with an anonymous ID (as with website retargeting). As the user browses the website, each page’s individual characteristics are stored against their anonymous cookie ID in a profile database. Each cookie ID eventually has a variety of characteristics stored next to it, so that advertisers can buy users grouped together by pre-defined characteristics.

2. Network Profiling
This is similar to Website Profiling, except a number of different websites are collected together to form a network of websites. Just like Website Profiling, pages are then individually tagged according to their content and, when any website in this network is visited, an anonymous cookie ID is sent to the user. With Network Profiling, more users receive a cookie with an anonymous ID, more characteristics are gathered more quickly and relevant advertising can be shown on any website the user visits across the whole network of websites.

Search terms can also be used in Website and Network Profiling to enhance user profiles. If web users arrive at a site (or sites) via a search engine, characteristics suggested by the search term can be added to the user’s anonymous ID profile.

ADDITIONAL DATA LAYERS

Certain companies specialise in supplying additional anonymous user data, gathered both online and offline(such as age group, gender, location and other known interests), which can be added to existing web user data to enhance anonymous user profiles.

While all the types of targeting described here can be conducted anonymously using only non-personal data, it is possible to combine this anonymous data with data known about an individual – for example if they have registered for a site and given personal details. By law, a web user has to give their prior consent for a company to use their personal data for Behavioural Advertising (or any other service).

GLOSSARY

Tag: A small piece of code, usually JavaScript, contained on a web page. This code effectively asks the server for a cookie or associates an existing cookie with a specific characteristic.
Cookie: A small file of letters and numbers downloaded on to your computer’s web browser when you access certain websites. Cookies allow a website to recognise a user’s computer. A cookie itself does collect information.
Web Browser: The software you use to access the internet and display websites. Common browsers are Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome.
Anonymous ID: The string of numbers or letters stored on your browser’s cookie that identifies your PC. As only the website that issues the ID can read an ID It is anonymous as you cannot be identified unless you also give that website your personal details.
Server: The computer hardware and software that stores and delivers (serves) content, such as web pages, over the Internet. The content of a web page can be supplied by a number of different servers in different locations and is assembled to create a finished web page in your browser.
Ad network: A company that connects a number of websites and enables advertisers to advertise across them using only one point of contact.
Characteristics: Indicators within page content that point to a users lifestyle interests (e.g. eco-friendly, travelling, DIY, cooking) or intent to purchase something (e.g. a hire car, a DVD, a camera). Page content can also indicate specific age groups or whether the user is likely to be male or female – allowing an inferred demographic to be added to the profile
Non-personal data: Any information that does not enable the user to be personally identified.
Personal data: Information you have supplied that, either by itself or in conjunction with other information, can uniquely identify an individual. (e.g. name, address, email address or telephone number).