Yahoo Hops on the Do-Not-Track Train
Yahoo has been at work developing a header solution that will implement Do Not Track compliance across its global network by early this summer. The news follows the final report released by the Federal Trade Commission this week that, among other points, calls on companies to make privacy options simpler and more transparent to consumers.
Yahoo is hardly the first entity to show its support of Do Not Track with tangible action. In its final report, the FTC praised browser providers that have developed tools over the past year that allow consumers to limit the data collected about them. It also pointed to the Digital Advertising Alliance, which has developed its own icon-based system and has promised to honor the browser tools.
“The Commission will work with these groups to complete implementation of an easy-to-use, persistent, and effective Do Not Track system,” the report says.
Yahoo dates the development of its DNT header solution, which it says is in accordance with the Digital Advertising Alliance’s principles, back to last year. It says that the site-wide DNT tool will make it easy for consumers to express their ad-targeting preferences to Yahoo.
Crack in the Dam
Expect to see more such announcements, Gerry Corbett, chair and CEO of the Public Relations Society of America, told the E-Commerce Times.”The crack in the dam has occurred now, and my guess is that other companies will fall into place, especially with Yahoo’s announcement.”
Yahoo was smart, though, to be among the first out of the gate with its announcement after the FTC report, he added. “The company has significant challenges ahead for them, and this was a good way for it to create a positive impression about the organization.”
The general public wants to see this kind of responsiveness to this issue, Corbett said. “Yahoo’s move is going to be just the tip of the iceberg.”