Senate Testimony Highlights Significant Progress in Delivery of Self-Regulatory Program for Interactive Industry

NEW YORK--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--While there have been calls for the interactive marketing industry to speed up its self-regulatory program in the face of increasing pressure from Congress and the US Federal Trade Commission, the account given in a Senate Commerce Committee hearing this week by US Senators, the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and numerous industry leaders – as well as by the head of the body responsible for enforcement, The Council of Better Business Bureaus - makes it clear that the program is gaining attention in Washington.

“Evidon provides a much more sophisticated monitoring platform than we have in any of our other [advertising self regulation] programs”

The testimony also made clear that the program’s adoption is gaining speed, as hundreds of companies – not just a few – are already on their way to becoming compliant, including many of the largest players in the digital ecosystem.

“GroupM is working with Evidon to advance compliance in all of our offerings and agencies,” said GroupM COO John Montgomery. “Hundreds of leading companies are already compliant or in the process of complying.”

Throughout the hearings, key Senators expressed favorable views of the industry self-regulatory effort now advancing under the leadership of the Digital Advertising Alliance (“DAA”), with Senator John Kerry (D-MA) characterizing the DAA’s effort as a “terrific” step forward. Senator Kerry has been among Congressional leaders calling for a consumer privacy “Bill of Rights” with umbrella protections for consumers both online and offline. He and Senator John McCain (R-AZ) have been circulating draft language that may become a Bill they would co-sponsor.

Enforcement of the Industry Self-Regulatory Program

Of course, recently announced enforcement efforts by the Council of Better Business Bureaus will be crucial to the success of the industry initiative, and the man at the helm of the BBB’s National Advertiser Review Council (NARC) pointed to the technology at the backbone of the enforcement effort.

"Evidon provides a much more sophisticated monitoring platform than we have in any of our other [advertising self regulation] programs,” said C. Lee Peeler, NARC President and CEO.

The BBB co-sponsored and participated in a webinar on the industry self-regulatory program on March 14, along with the Federal Trade Commission and Evidon. To access the webinar content, please go to: http://blog.evidon.com/2011/03/18/watch-the-cbbbevidon-webinar-with-the-ftc-now/

FTC Enforcement

Chairman Leibowitz’s opening statement summarized the FTC’s recommendations in its recently-proposed privacy policy framework. He highlighted a recent settlement with Chitika, Inc., which involved an opt-out mechanism that allegedly expired after 10 days, as the agency’s first action involving abusive behavioral advertising practices.

Regarding the FTC’s recommendation for the establishment of a “Do Not Track” (“DNT”) mechanism for online behavioral advertising, Chairman Leibowitz specified that his agency is pressing for a private sector solution that will allow Americans to choose whether data may be collected by third parties. He characterized the industry self-regulatory initiative as a “promising effort” that is headed in the right direction.

“Adoption of the industry self-regulatory program has begun to accelerate significantly,” said Scott Meyer, Founder and CEO of Evidon. “We’re working with more than 30 brands now, as well as every one of the agencies and third parties essential to the OBA ecosystem now, and we expect adoption to continue upwards.”

About Evidon

Selected by the Digital Advertising Alliance to power its online behavioral advertising self-regulatory program, Evidon (formerly Better Advertising) enables a more trusted environment for everyone in the online ecosystem. It gives businesses an easy, standard way of providing evidence of compliance with industry guidelines, and consumers more transparency into and control over how their information is used online. By empowering consumers and earning their trust, businesses build their brands, participate in OBA with confidence and generate Evidon results. For more information, please visit: www.evidon.com.