International Commerce International Marketing Internet Advertising Internet Economy Internet Media Internet Prod. Commentary Online Advert. Since my first column on this subject, we've covered the major events in the evolution of online ad targeting. The intent was not to cover every single method by which a site might target ads.
Some sites do it better than others.
Planners and buyers need to ask questions about how the sites on their buys target advertising. Everyone in the industry needs to ask himself how sites are acquiring the information that allows for targeted advertising. Lately, the information-gathering process has been under the microscope, given the recent concern about privacy. DoubleClick has taken quite a bit of heat for its plans to merge offline profiles with online ones. Although to be fair, other companies with plans to do the same have somehow managed to slip under the radar.