Online behavioral advertising (also called targeted online
advertising) means |“||the tracking consumer’s online activities
over time — including the searches the consumer has conducted,
the web pages visited, and the content viewed — in order to
deliver advertising targeted to the individual consumer’s
interests. This definition is not intended to include “first
party” advertising, where no data is shared with third parties,
or contextual advertising, where an ad is based on a single
visit to a web page or single search query.||”| As they browse
the web, blog, join social networks and play online games,
consumers are providing advertisers with reams of data.
Advertisers and marketing firms can generate still more
information when consumers sign up for email promotions or buy
products online. Most online activity is monitored via cookies
(small text files that can store data), which are placed on that
user’s computer when he or she visits a website. The information
can be used to create behavioral advertising