Behavioural targeting (BT) has been around for while so I wont go into a great deal of depth apart from pointing to a couple of nice primers that should get the unenlightened (including myself) up to speed.

There is a great article called "5 Step Plan for BT Beginners" which really paints a nice picture of BT. With respect to the auto manufacturers and how they are making good use of BT here is another article that talks about Pontiac's strategy with their new G5 and finally an article on reviewing your ad network which also touches on BT.

The international automotive industry is offered services by a number of online media buyers which include;

• DoubleClick
• Accipiter with their VIBE service

I had cursory glance at Carpoint the ads are contextual and at the time of writing were dominated by imported small to medium cars.

This begs the question; are the local manufacturers in need of BT?

A number of barriers have presented themselves to local auto manufacturers. Their current product strategies which have their foundation built upon maintaining a 25% market share for large cars is under threat. Bill Tuckey wrote a fantastic piece in the October 2006 edition of the Australian "Motor" magazine.

Some interesting facts (among others):

• The Toyota Avalon sold less than half of their original target.
• The Mitsubishi 380 is selling one third of the projected target.
• VFACTS new vehicle registration ending September 2006 large car segment is down 273,232 sales compared to this time last year.
• Holden and Fords market share is down 2.7 and 1.9% respectively.

Possibly more than any other local companies, Ford, Holden, Mitsibishi and Toyota are in a lot of strife, and need a flawless marketing strategy. Unfortunately local companies don't have access to real BT technologies that could offer that ever so slight advantage in targeting and subsequently establishing an online dialogue with a potential large car buyer before they are swayed by the competition.

True BT services are not offered in the Australian marketplace. Apparently, local companies such as Platform 9 provide a low tech version of the North American model (and elsewhere). Instead of understanding how users move through a given network of websites and creating a library of profiles using tracking technology, Platform 9 create profiles based on seemingly simple assumptions.

Say for example you want to make use of inventory that was focused towards golf fanatics, the platform 9 model may suggest that golf players will use a movie site such as Hoyts.com and place your banner there. Compared to the true model of BT, with improved targeting technologies for advertisers and yield management for publishers, this appears to be a relatively unfocused method since Hoyts.com would attract a broad demographic, not just golf players.

Privacy concerns have arisen with a class action in the US (where else…) against Microsoft and a number of other BT companies including Atlas Solutions.

A variety of blog posts are now opening the debate as to whether BT is ethical or not and some commentators argue that the public need to be educated on these new methods of advertising. Other commentators raise even more questions.

Jury is out for me. I see the value from a marketer's perspective, especially in the case of the Australian auto manufactures, but at the same time feel that the consumer needs to be educated on what it all means and possibly introducing some level of transparency at the end-user level.