AdChoices, launched in 2012, attempted to provide transparency into behavioral advertising.
Kelly Scott Madison, along with the help of research firm ORC International, conducted a Media and Privacy Survey (MPS) which was cited in a New York Times article titled, “Key To Opting Out of Personalized Ads, Hidden in Plain View” by Alina Tugend:
“The Digital Advertising Alliance, the organization behind AdChoices, likes to boast that the AdChoices logo is seen more than a trillion times every month and that it is ‘a great, effective program that’s one of its kind,’ said Lou Mastria, executive director of the organization. He added that there have been eight million unique opt-outs since AdChoices began.
But a study this year by the advertising agency Kelly Scott Madison found that while 26 percent of web users said they were familiar with the AdChoices logo, only 9 percent of those understood what it meant.
‘I think the intent of AdChoices was really good, and the purpose was very well intentioned, but the consumer education piece never happened,’ said Kay Wesolowski, digital media director of Kelly Scott Madison.”