New “Do Not Track” Registry List Gaining Momentum

Last night I picked up on an emerging story that has devastating consequences for small businesses who run advertising supported websites (as in :: YOU). Privacy groups are pushing for a “Do Not Track” list based on the U.S. “Do Not Call” list.

For those of you not familiar with the Do Not Call list, it was founded because of widespread consumer complaints about the telemarketing industry who were calling homes at all hours of the day and night, including dinner time and weekend mornings. Consumers were sick of it, and thus the Do Not Call list was born. Today, telemarketers must not call consumers on the list or risk severe penalties with the FTC (Federal Trade Commission).

The proposed “Do Not Track” list is rather different. Already established privacy groups have identified a new cause – they want to stop tracking of site visitors on websites – tracking that doesn’t even identify a user’s name, email address, or any other personally identifying information. From the AdAge article:

However, consumer-privacy advocates charge that collecting such information in order to target ads creates “a privacy imbalance that has deprived Americans of the right to control their personal information.” Privacy advocates say current standards for collecting such data, such as the Network Advertising Initiative, don’t do enough to safeguard consumers against the potential pitfalls of data collection, and that most consumers don’t understand how such data is being used. Some studies show many consumers falsely equate the existence of a site’s privacy policy with a promise that the site will not collect or use consumer data.

I see several problems with this thinking:

1. Consumers aren’t propelling this initiative, special interest groups are
2. Consumers actually prefer relevant ads to irrelevant ads
3. Consumers prefer free advertising supported content to paid content
4. Consumers who hate ads can and do use ad-blocking software already

Regardless of these common sense issues, let’s think of the technical and geographical implications of this initiative. How the HECK can one body regulate something like this on the internet? How do they expect to get Russian spammers to comply with something like this?

My biggest fear is the potential impact on the affiliate marketing industry that relies on tracking technology to match referrals with commissions. Even the largest, richest super-affiliate would not be able to continue to do business if this were enacted. Smaller affiliates would be wiped out. Online merchants also depend on affiliates to drive revenue, sometimes more than 80% of their revenue comes from affiliates. And you can forget about launching your own information product and having other site owners promote it for you.

I’m all for privacy online – but a Do Not Track list would be not only next to impossible to implement, but would crush small businesses who do make money online. I don’t think these advocacy groups realize that although they are targeting large ad networks like AdSense or Tacoda, the biggest losers would be small publishers, who would neither have the resources to comply nor be able to continue without the revenue that comes from tracking internet users. And nobody can afford to put out quality content for free.

What do you think? Is it a problem for you to see relevant ads? Do you feel like it is an invasion of your privacy? Would it be worth the consequences to small businesses to be able to opt out of tracking?