Addressable ads seen as monster cookies that Congress will devour

Addressable advertising could be a short-lived phenomenon if it follows a scenario developed by Sidney Hill in E-Commerce Times. Hill placed addressable TV ads into the same container as Internet cookies: a moldering, nasty spot sure to raise the awareness and displeasure of subscribers and eventually drive Congress to action, he suggested.

"Things are different on TV," wrote Hill. "Cable and satellite providers use your home address to send content to your television, and according to the reports on their plans for addressable advertising, they will be sharing that information with the data aggregation companies, which in turn can pass it on to advertisers."

While cable presents this as something that consumers want--targeting their interests with advertising--Hill sees a less happy ending.

"Once addressable ads start showing up in large numbers, Congress is likely to start looking at them in the same way it's now scrutinizing the collection of data from website users. At some point, it's likely that users will be given the choice of opting out of the system," he wrote.

For more:
- E-Commerce Times has this story

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