It took
more than a century for telephone consumers to get the Do Not Call registry to
opt out of unwanted calls from marketers and salespeople. Far less time has
elapsed for the debut of an app that allows consumers to opt out of targeted
mobile ads.
At its
annual conference in San Francisco in late June, the Digital Advertising
Alliance (DAA) introduced its new AppChoices app, which will enable people to
just say no to receiving targeted ads on their mobile devices.
“The app
will prevent people from seeing ads that are targeted based on the apps they
use, the mobile equivalent of online behavioral targeting (which segments
audiences based on the types of web content they view),” according to an
article in Advertising Age. Those ads
sport a small, blue, triangle-shaped icon in the corner.
The app
doesn’t interfere with any mobile data collection based on the device’s
location, just the receipt of ads. Right now the DAA is making it available to
the advertising industry for evaluation and comment, but expects to roll it out
to the public sometime this fall.
Assuming
consumers latch onto AppChoices in droves like they did with Do Not Call, such
an app could impact the marketing efforts of retailers trying to reach certain
demographics through mobile media. Colleges and universities could also be
hampered in recruiting enrollees, especially as more students turn away from
other media channels in favor of mobile.
