Have you been wondering why once you have browsed for new refrigerators online, you are served up an advertisement for refrigerators on every site you visit, even on non-appliance websites?
The explanation is the proliferation of Online Behavioral Advertising or OBA. OBA is defined as “tracking a consumer across time or across sites for purposes of serving an advertisement based on perceived interest.”
Advertisers have long lamented, “ I know that I am wasting one-half of my advertising budget – I just don’t know which half.” The hope for OBA is to more efficiently target those users who have an interest in, or are preparing to purchase, an advertiser’s products by customizing ads to those buyers at the right time.
OBA is driven by consumer data collected through various sources, including gaming, Internet browsing activities, and FitBits, to name a few. The benefits of OBA are obvious. The risks may not be as obvious. Leading the pack is the risk of data breaches and the attendant privacy concerns.
The development and use of OBA data permits the creation of programmatic advertising buys – automated purchases of online advertising space that matches advertisers with their target audiences. It is these phenomena that have contributed to the complexity of online advertising supply chain contracting.
These risks no longer require simple standard “contract review” skills. The legal and regulatory authorities that govern both collection and advertising content are many and overlapping, and the legal duties can extend to advertisers, agencies, and publishers. Consult an attorney who will understand your market, your marketing dollars, and your advertising objectives before entering complex advertising agreements.