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Google Introduce Behaviour-based Advertising

Google has entered the potentially controversial area of behaviour based advertising.  It has introduced a system that will deliver ads to web users based on their previous online activities.

Google is offering users the opportunity to see and edit their profiles and it will also offer them the choice to completely opt out of the service.
 
But privacy campaigners are outraged by the move, with Privacy International calling for a parliamentary enquiry.
 
The service launches on YouTube and Google from today but advertisers will not be able to display advertisements until April.
 
Initially a handful of advertisers will be invited to take part.
 
The system uses a cookie - a small piece of text that lives inside a web browser - to track users as they visit different websites. From this information Google users will be assigned to categories based on the content of the pages they visit.
 
Whilst the system undoubtedly has huge benefits advertisers by allowing them to target their audience, Privacy International has serious concerns about the tool,  "Google might well hype their targeting system as a boon to pet owners, but the reality is that the service will track just about everything you do and everything you're interested in, no matter how personal or sensitive”.

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