In Mobile Ads, A Vast Potential to Micro-Target

march 11, 2009  09:59 am
As more consumers adopt the use of smartphones for web browsing, the digital marketing industry is developing new ways to serve highly tailored ads to users, the New York Times reports. Mobile users can be sorted by demographic makeup and even by income; if the user downloads an application that uses a GPS tracker (like Urban Spoon), then there is potential for ads to be served based on exact location and travel patterns as well. Some privacy advocates have expressed concerns about the tracking, but the Times notes that "as long as advertisers don't use personally identifiable information, there is no current regulation or law" against such tracking.