Google to websites: change your privacy policy to accommodate our ads
The search giant has sent a memo to websites on its AdSense network, asking them to change their privacy policy to accommodate its new behavioural targeting technology, which tracks where people surf and serves ads to match their interests.
While context-sensitive text ads are nothing new, Google’s new “interest-based” advertising service will go beyond the article a person is immediately reading, reviewing their long-term web habits to build a profile.
The memo asks websites, using AdSense, to update their privacy policy by April 8.
Google says that due to differing privacy laws between countries, it can’t provide a template privacy policy, but it does provide links to sample text that warns users (at least those who bother to visit your privacy statement) that your site uses tracking cookies.
Learn how to opt-out of “interest-based ads” .click here
That memo in full:
Hello,
We're writing to let you know about the upcoming launch of interest-based
advertising, which will require you to review and make any necessary changes
to your site's privacy policies. You'll also see some new options on your
Account Settings page.
Interest-based advertising will allow advertisers to display ads based on a
user's previous interactions with them, such as visits to advertiser website
and also to reach users based on their interests (e.g. "sports enthusiast").
To develop interest categories, we will recognise the types of web pages
that users visit throughout the Google content network. As an example, if
they visit a number of sports pages, we will add them to the "sports
enthusiast" interest category. To learn more about your associated account
settings, please visit the AdSense Help Centre at
http://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/topic.py?topic=20310&hl=en_GB.
As a result of this announcement, your privacy policy will now need to
reflect the use of interest-based advertising. Please review the information
at
https://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/answer.py?answer=100557&hl=en_GB
to ensure that your site's privacy policies are up-to-date and make any
necessary changes by 8 April 2009. Because publisher sites and laws vary
across countries, we're unfortunately unable to suggest specific privacy
policy language.
For more information about interest-based advertising, you can also visit
the Inside AdSense Blog at
http://adsense.blogspot.com/2009/03/driving-monetization-with-ads-that.html.
We appreciate your participation and look forward to this upcoming
enhancement.
Yours sincerely,
The Google AdSense Team
Google, Inc.
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043
3/14/2009 4:54 PM
I find this very interesting. I hadn't received anything from Google. Good post.
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