Poll finds Web users oppose targeted ads

WASHINGTON – As Washington policymakers consider stronger online privacy protections, a new poll has found that nearly 7 out of 10 Internet users don’t think advertisers should be allowed to target them based on their Web-surfing habits.

The use of behavioral targeting to deliver online ads has been drawing increasing criticism.

The Federal Trade Commission this month backed the creation of a do-not-track mechanism for Web browsers, similar to the popular do-not-call registry designed to prevent telemarketing calls.

The mechanism, which public interest groups and privacy advocates have been calling for, would allow people to block companies from tracking their online activity.

And last week, the Commerce Department called for an online privacy bill of rights and a new government office to oversee privacy efforts. Both the Commerce Department and the FTC prefer that Internet companies voluntarily agree to stronger privacy protections for consumers, but some in Congress want to force them to with legislation.

Only 30 percent of users favored allowing companies to send them targeted ads, and 67 percent opposed the practice, according to a USA Today/Gallup poll. The rest had no opinion.

The numbers shifted a bit when respondents were asked whether the use of such ads was justified to allow free access to websites – 35 percent said it was, 61 percent said it wasn’t.

Younger Internet users were less opposed to targeted ads than older people. Still, just 34 percent of respondents 18 to 34 years old said they wanted advertisers to track them. Only 26 percent of those 55 and older supported the practice.

The poll showed that Internet users want more control over the ads they receive, even though 90 percent of respondents said they paid little or no attention to them – even those targeted to their past online activity.