Interest-Based Ads

Advertising targeted to individuals based on their inferred interests derived from online behavior, as opposed to contextual advertising based on current page content. Interest-based advertising (also called behavioral advertising) tracks users across websites and over time to build profiles of interests, then serves ads predicted to be relevant. This practice enables more effective advertising but involves extensive data collection and cross-site tracking. Privacy concerns include user tracking, profile building, potential for discrimination, lack of transparency, and difficulty opting out. Privacy laws increasingly regulate interest-based advertising—ePrivacy requires consent for tracking cookies, GDPR requires lawful basis for behavioral tracking, and CPRA specifically addresses cross-context behavioral advertising with opt-out rights. Organizations conducting interest-based advertising should provide clear disclosures, obtain appropriate consent, offer meaningful opt-out mechanisms, honor privacy signals like GPC, and consider less invasive advertising alternatives.