Most consumers want ‘privacy guaranteed’ seals on digital ads, study finds

Nearly three-quarters (74%) of consumers say they would like digital ads to contain visible seals guaranteeing that brands are not tracking them, according to a study released today by ad tech company Perion. Even more respondents—87%— said they have noticed when an advertisement tracks them. And nearly half of respondents have issues with tracking: 46% find it suspicious, 41% think it is creepy and 40% are annoyed by it. “Currently, consumers have no ability to know in advance if they are being targeted. Our survey demonstrated that people truly want this capability,” Doron Gerstel, CEO of Perion, said in a statement. The uncertainty over which ads are tracking consumers and what exactly they’re after has led to a general distrust in digital advertising and explains consumers’ desire for a seal that would guarantee protection. “We're seeing so much knowledge on the part of consumers—some of it could be from what they hear, some of it could be from what they experience, but they're not forgetting about it,” said Laura Salant, chief storyteller at Undertone, a subsidiary of Perion. The study, conducted in November by online market research firm Lucid, surveyed 1,000 U.S. participants ranging from 18 to 70 years old. Behind the rankings: Ad Age World's Largest Advertisers 2021 The survey findings suggest how consumers increasingly value transparency from digital brands. The survey found that 83% of people are unhappy that they don’t know if a brand is tracking them, indicating a friction point for online advertisers but also an opportunity for those willing to be proactive. “[Consumers] are sending us a clear message here that brands that are more transparent are going to be rewarded, at least by their attention, and hopefully eventually by their loyalty,” said Salant. For marketers devising alternatives to third-party cookies, which will be phased out near the end of 2023, transparency should be a key priority if they want to win back the trust of consumers. While the decision to kill the cookie initially shocked the ad industry, the move has since ushered in a new emphasis on privacy-compliant tracking mechanisms, surfacing long-needed conversations about bad identifiers and user consent. Through Google’s FLoC alternative, for example, consumers will be grouped into cohorts based on interests, with the option to opt out. Digital advertisers looking to develop other solutions have also made efforts to return some level of control to consumers, such as in the case of SWAN—an anonymous identifier that purportedly lets people choose what ads they see on the web. Perion, which commissioned the survey, has its own plan: Undertone’s Smart Optimization of Responsive Traits (SORT), which allows advertisers to display the visible seals that respondents were asked about in the survey. Other findings from the survey, such as 53% of consumers saying they favor brands who protect their privacy, reflect how privacy overall should be a top priority for brands looking to strengthen digital engagement. Moreover, as Congress clashes with Big Tech over how the companies use and misuse their data, marketers should expect the public to continue to eschew previously accepted tracking behaviors. “When you think about communication between brands and consumers, it really needs to be two-way. You really need to listen,” Salant said.

Most consumers want ‘privacy guaranteed’ seals on digital ads, study finds

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