Predictive advertising targets consumers on purchase data

A web of e-commerce sites and merchandise manufacturers intends to mark ads across the Web using predictive modeling based on consumers' past purchase behavior. For advertisers, it may be an attractive offering, but for consumers it may raise privateness concerns.

executive director from aCerno, the web, said they spent two years edifice the web designed to share data across retailers on a single cookie to provide continuous mold across all the sites.

"We gathering all of [an e-commerce site's] users and behaviors, all anonymously, to then mark all of those users across all of the Web to drive them back to all of the member sites to create more dealing," said white avens Zucker, VP of sales and marketplace at aCerno.

Last fall the web opened to advertisers and agencies, when aCerno began using anonymous data gathered in user cooky to serve targeted ads across publisher sites and ad networks. It's a alteration from the behavioral marketing model where users are targeted based on recent search behaviour. ACerno alternatively categorizes section based on predictive modeling and lucifer advertisers to an audience segment.

"We're able to take those same audiences, package them up, customize those section for brand advertisers, make deals with agencies, [and buy] CPA deals with mark sites," said Zucker.

Behavioral targeting competitors, such as AlmondNet, say using purchase data is too late to reach consumers through ad. But it may have another use. "If person has already purchased, that info may be used to upsell and offer a complimentary product," said Roy Shkedi, CEO of AlmondNet.

ACerno spent two years edifice the web while operating in stealing mode. It now has 375 online multi-channel retail and merchandise manufacturer Web sites in its web. Since last fall it's begun purchasing for 450 advertisers using the purchase data from the network's e-commerce sites. As a blind network, members are unknown even to each other. ACerno refused to publicly name retailers or advertisers.

ACerno buys ads from portals, major publishers, and ad networks. It buys on the top ad networks ranked by comScore, and matches ads in real time based on cookie data at the time the ad is called up.

Consumers concerned about privacy are likely to worry about being targeted by such a network, if they are aware they are being targeted. Zucker said privacy policies on e-commerce sites are very specific about cookies and what can be done, and consumers are becoming more savvy about Web practices. "The ad network thing is something that's a lot newer to the sites. We are working with [members], and coaching them. We go to great pains, as do the retailers, to make sure customers realize that we are only working with anonymous bits of data," he said.

Privacy appears to be a priority for aCerno. Tom Sperry, the company's CEO and chief privacy officer, sits on the board of the Network Advertising Initiative. ACerno is also listed as a participating network on the NAI Web site. ACerno's parent company, I-Behavior, is a database marketing solutions provider and behavioral targeting firm for multi-channel marketers and advertisers.