Privacy issues, what privacy issue? Hugo Drayton, Chief Executive Officer of Phorm dismissed the privacy fears that have been levelled against his company even before it launches its behavioural advertising tool, writes Peter Williams…

Phorm – launch is soon– is just one example of how digital advertising is rapidly changing both the internet and the traditional world of advertising. The last few years has seen a tremendous growth in search and while it will continue to grow its share of the advertising, the market remains steady. The other area of advertising which is predicted to take off and which promises to be equally controversial is mobile: while there is no doubt it is coming it is still in its infancy and concerns remain over formats.

Behavioural advertising models, according to Drayton, are much misunderstood. The Phorm model is not sinister. It is an anonymous process which does not hold data. And it is a trend which is here to stay. Proof? Well the big IT companies (Google, Yahoo etc) are buying up specialist behavioural targeting companies so they must think there is something in the technology. And if you are still sceptical, would you have said two to three years ago that online advertising would have overtaken TV advertising? It has happened because of a multitude of factors but particularly because of the availability of the internet.

But while the internet continues to grow, the audience is no longer as homogenous as it was. Instead the audience is fragmenting and becoming harder to reach. So in a big and complex world, the idea of a technology which will send information to users depending on their previous interest sounds like an answer to an advertiser’s prayer. The internet currently has a long tail of small sites which are an unexploited commercial opportunity, but by using emerging technologies those backwaters are capable of bearing commercial fruit.

The Phorm model works by the ISP gathering data which publishers can tag via an exchange. It promises to offer a breadth and targeting opportunity which has not existed before.

Think of it, says Drayton, as a search engine for people.

One comment which may be of particular interest to information professionals is a final thought which Drayton left with the audience: if the Phorm models works for driving targeted and behavioural advertising on the internet, then it is perfectly possible that you can do the same for content. Drayton, an ex-newspaper man said he stood by the need for the editorial process (i.e. the editor making a judgement on what his or her readers want to see). But there may also be room for content sent to people determined by their previous search behaviour. The world of content and information may never be the same again.