Online Interest-Based Advertising Accountability Program: PredictAd

ONLINE INTEREST-BASED ADVERTISING ACCOUNTABILITY PROGRAM

FORMAL REVIEW

Case Number: 04-2011 

COMPANY:

PredictAd

CHALLENGER:

Online Interest-Based

Advertising Accountability Program

DECISION DATE:

November 8, 2011

SYNOPSIS

Under the Consumer Control Principle, a company is required to set an opt-out cookie

with a minimum expiration date of five years from the date on which a consumer

exercises choice.

COMPANY STATUS

PredictAd (PredictAd or the company), a browser add on, provided predictive search

suggestions and delivered ads based on its predictions¹. PredictAd appears to have

engaged in the collection and use of data for online behavioral advertising (OBA)

purposes as defined in the cross-industry Self-Regulatory Principles for Online

Behavioral Advertising (Principles):

Online Behavioral Advertising means the collection of data from a

particular computer or device regarding Web viewing behaviors over time

and across non-Affiliate Web sites for the purpose of using such data to

predict user preferences or interests to deliver advertising to that computer

or device based on the preferences or interests inferred from such Web

viewing behaviors.  (Principles at 9-10, Definition G.).

OBA PRACTICE AT ISSUE

One of the cornerstones of the Principles is “consumer control.”  (Principles at 14,

Principle III.). A third party must provide the consumer with an easy-to-use mechanism

that allows the consumer to exercise choice regarding the collection and use of data from

his or her device for OBA purposes.  The practice at issue is whether the company was

providing consumers with choice as required under the Consumer Control Principle.

The obligation of a third party to enable a consumer to exercise choice is explained in the

Principles as follows:

A Third Party should provide consumers with the ability to exercise choice with

respect to the collection and use of data for Online Behavioral Advertising

purposes or the transfer of such data to a non-Affiliate for such purpose.  Such

choice should be available from the notice described in II.A.(2)(a); from the

industry-developed Web page(s) as set forth in II.A.2.(b)(i); or from the Third

Party’s disclosure linked to from the page where the Third Party is individually

listed as set forth in II.A.2.(b)(ii). (Principles at 14, III.A.).

BASIS OF INQUIRY

On August 22, 2011, the Online Interest-Based Advertising Accountability Program

(Accountability Program) tested the functionality of the consumer choice mechanism

provided in the company’s privacy policy using five Internet browsers: Chrome, Firefox,

Internet Explorer, Opera and Safari.  While the opt-out request was successfully

processed in each test, the opt-out cookie delivered to each of the browsers was set to

expire one month from the date of the test.  This expiration date falls short of industry

standards.

The Principles are built on consensus standards: “The cross-industry Self-Regulatory

Program for Online Behavioral Advertising was developed by leading industry

associations to apply consumer-friendly standards to online behavioral advertising across 3

the Internet.” (Principles at 1).  The industry standard for the duration of an opt-out

cookie is five years from the date of the request².

Repeated tests of the choice mechanism continued to find the short expiration date,

demonstrating that the problem was persistent and was not corrected by the company

during the month that testing was repeated.

COMPANY’S POSITION

In response to the Accountability Program’s inquiry, the company acknowledged that the

opt-out cookie delivered to the consumer’s browser contained an expiration date that did

not meet the industry standard minimum of five years.  The company reported that

PredictAd was no longer an active brand and was no longer providing services to its

partners³.

The company stated that it would nonetheless change the expiration date of the

PredictAd legacy system to the five-year time frame that is the industry standard.

DECISION

All companies have the obligation to monitor their data collection and advertising

practices to ensure compliance with the Principles, including ensuring that their notice

and choice mechanisms are fully compliant with the Principles at all times.  The

Accountability Program finds that PredictAd was not compliant with the Consumer

Control Principle because it failed to ensure that its consumer choice mechanism

contained an expiration date consistent with the industry standard minimum of five years.

Upon notification by the Accountability Program, the company changed the opt-out

cookie’s expiration date to five years from the date of the request.  The Accountability

Program has conducted subsequent tests on the opt-out mechanism on all browsers

previously tested and found the expiration date for the opt-out cookie to meet the fiveyear minimum as required by the industry standard.

CONCLUSION

The Accountability Program’s goal is to ensure that companies engaged in OBA comply

with the Self-Regulatory Principles.  The Accountability Program’s monitoring and

complaint processes are designed to identify areas of possible non-compliance, to make

companies aware of potential non-compliance and to work with companies to rectify non-

compliance.  PredictAd has implemented the Accountability Program’s recommendations

and the practice at issue has been resolved.

COMPANY’S STATEMENT

Predictad is no longer an active brand/service and not proving services to its partners.

The core technology has been moved and the brand has been frozen. Nevertheless, in

order to assist with the process, the PredictAd legacy system has been updated, and

cookies now contain and expiration date of five years.

DISPOSITION OF CASE

Practice voluntarily corrected.

1 According to its CEO, PredictAd’s core technology is now being used by another company.  SeeCompany’s Position below.

2 As the Aboutads.info web site explains to consumers who wish to exercise choice, “Opt out cookies storing such preferences that are placed by companies participating in the Program have a minimum five year lifespan, and remain in effect for the user’s browser unless these opt out cookies are deleted (as can happen if users deletes all of their cookies using browser tools).”  See also Chitika, Inc., FTC Docket No.

C-4324 (June 7, 2011) (requiring Chitika to provide a five-year opt out). 

3 But see http://www.predictad.com/sites/bloggerinstall.aspx (last visited October 30, 2011)