Behavioral Targeting Not Online Ad Panacea

With announcements from Tacoda, aQuantive, 24/7 and others forming behavioral ad networks, one might think behavioral targeting could become the contextual ad-killer. Not so, according to mOne Group Planning Director Andrea Ching who is not convinced reaching a financial trader in the sports section is as valuable as reaching that same trader in the finance section. "There's nothing that substitutes for reaching someone in a relevant context," she said.

Adding to Ching's caution, Reuters Media Sales VP of Media Walker Jacobs said the contextual approach will always trump the behavioral approach, "We need to control the excitement about it. I don't know if it's the Holy Grail of online advertising."

In terms of its pricing, Ching thinks publishers charge too much for the service and ING Online Marketing Head Tom Lynch agreed saying, "The value is certainly TBD." So while the cheerleaders try to get the crowd excited for the kick-off, it's still pre-game on the behavioral targeting playing field.