Targeted content: consumers say it’s “creepy”
Posted on April 28th, 2008 by Raj Gajwani
A new Harris Interactive study reveals that 60% of American Internet users find it “creepy” when websites target content to users based on their personal profiles. As the Wall Street Journal puts it:
Conventional wisdom holds that customizing a Web site for individual visitors is a good way to boost business. Turns out all you’re doing is creeping people out. Nearly 60% of people surveyed in a Harris Interactive poll said it made them uneasy when a site tailored content or advertising based on the person’s online activity, Reuters reports. The survey also found that privacy policies did little to diminish peoples’ concerns and that young people were less concerned about privacy.