(8 November 2007 4:00 pm)

MUMBAI: US internet company AOL has launched a consumer-awareness programme that will give them enhanced notice and information about behaviourally targetted advertising.

When fully implemented, the programme will deliver millions of public service banner ads across AOL's owned-and-operated and third-party networks, which together reach more than 91 per cent of the US online audience.

AOL also announced an improvement to the current opt-out process by expanding the use of patent-pending technology developed by TACODA, a leading behavioural targeting solutions company that AOL acquired earlier this year.

The goal with this programme is to engender greater trust for targeted advertising by communicating with consumers in a more visible way, and by providing them more information about their choices.

Banner ads providing enhanced notice and choice are already appearing on sites in the TACODA network. When fully implemented by the end of this year, the programme will extend to AOL's entire display advertising network by the end of 2007.

AOL's display ad network is the largest in the world, with a combined reach of more than 91 per cent of online consumers in the US across more than 7,000 websites. The network includes AOL's owned-and-operated sites as well as Advertising.com's and Tacoda's third-party networks.

The expanded use of the Tacoda opt-out technology will help better preserve consumer choices. Today, users who opt-out of behavioral targeting by using an opt-out cookie risk having their preference lost if they later delete their cookies.

Tacoda leverages a web cache technique to preserve a consumers' opt-out choice even if they delete their browser cookies, something other opt-out systems cannot currently do. AOL is also exploring opportunities to license this technology on a royalty-free basis for use exclusively in consumer privacy protection programs.

AOL chief privacy officer Jules Polonetsky says, "We want to make the opt-out process as simple and transparent as possible. We urge the industry to join us in ensuring that users who take steps to minimise the data they provide have their choices maintained."