MEDIA TALK: 'Do not track' feature threatens data mining

Do you think most internet users will adopt the option not to be tracked?

Antony Yiu (pictured left), regional director, North Asia, iProspect: Yes, because it will be set as a default option on Internet Explorer 10. The appeal of maintaining privacy always outweighs the benefits of receiving targeted web content in users’ minds.

Gaetano Squillante (pictured right), head of digital strategy, Havas APAC: Unless Microsoft sticks to it as a default setting, I don’t think the majority of users will turn the option on.

So it’s bad news for online advertising?

Yiu: It goes against the current trend of audience buying; it negatively impacts the overall effectiveness of online advertising and will result in too much wastage.

Squillante: It will reduce efficiency and ROI. However, the IE 10 footprint will be small at launch, so it will not have a major impact until later on.

Will remarketing suffer the most?

Yiu: If that were the only area impacted, we would not see a roaring backfire from the advertising community. ‘Do not track’ impacts the entire online ecosystem of online advertising.

Squillante: Absolutely—remarketing will not be possible. Though there is a grey area that states websites are not legally obliged to obey. This could lead to a messy situation including browsers forcing cookie blocking software.

What will this mean for online measurement firms?

Yiu: The impact varies significantly based on how they collect the data. Effective Measure, for example, will see a big impact as it collects data using cookies and rich internet applications.

Squillante: Companies like ComScore use software that track the kind of website people visit at the OS level, not the browser level. Due to this these companies will probably not be affected in the data they provide.

Will ROI become more difficult to measure?

Yiu: Yes, but only to an extent. The thing is that ‘Do not track’ makes it hard to do any sort of optimisation to improve ROI.

Squillante: Overall ROI will still be tracked, but ‘Do not track’ will impact attribution and hence the ability to optimise media plans.

What should be done in response to this situation?

Yiu: Lobbying groups have formed in the US. But remember that ‘Do not track’ only sends a signal to the websit that users prefer not to be tracked. It’s up to the publishers to upload or not.

Squillante: Designers, developers and website owners will need to educate users to turn the feature off for a better experience.