A few months ago, Facebook announced that it would make their user profile and demographic information, available for the purpose of advertiser behavioral targeting. Last week, MySpace announced that it too was going to make its user profile information available to better target advertising.

There is no argument here that if the option of blind advertising on a promise of impressions versus, big box representation in an area where those dabbling will find your ad pertinent to them were raised as door number one and door number two, I would go with door number two.

We have spoken often here about examples of traditional big money advertisers getting smarter about where they spend their money and with who. Advertisers are looking for partners who can bring proven results to the table. Result ladened with demographic detail to ease any doubts an advertiser may have about where and how to advertise.

Given the obvious potential of behavioral targeting, I think anyone with an already strong and continuously evolving database, should look at mining their data for the purpose of getting to know their users and converting that message to commercial revenue.

As newspapers and niche magazines are fighting for the same commercial clients we see moving to other networks, it wouild make sense that they review the types of data they are collecting in house. I assure you that the industry and consumer insight these publishers have on store and at the local level, would be difficult for others to gather.

Already, publisher sites collect user information at the point of registration. Adding a few more profile questions during registration and tracking user activity via IP, could provide great insight of those using the site. After doing this activity enough times and consistently, newspapers and magazines too could participate in the targeted advertising space. Unlike many other sites, the newspaper does have a unique relationship with the locals of the metropolis it represents. So asking a few additional questions when a visitor signs up for service, should not be seen as a challenge. However, if a publishers feels leery about the self-service behavioral targeting methodology described above, they too can engage the aid of a third party agency that specializes in this practice.

In the end, behavioral targeting could aid newspapers and niche magazines keep a share of the advertising dollars, which seem to be slipping to other mediums, quarter over quarter. The approach could also be used as a methodology to further product retention. Collecting user data and tracking the activity types, while on a publisher’s site, would provide further data on what their online visitors and readers want. Meaning, no more guessing on re-design and functionality aspects.

written by Beverly Crandon \\ tags: behaivioural targetting, Magazines, Newspapers