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Burst Media Study Reveals That 80% of Web Users Are Concerned about Privacy Online

Otilia Otlacan | March 5, 2009

BURLINGTON, Mass. – Burst Media, (www.BurstMedia.com), a leading provider of advertising representation, services and technology to independent Web Publishers, released the results from a survey it conducted about online privacy. The survey was administered to over 4,000 web users with the purpose of better understanding how privacy impacts a web user’s Internet experience, as well as its impact on advertisers. In addition to finding that privacy is a significant concern amongst web users, the survey also revealed that concern increases with the age of the respondent.

The vast majority (80.1%) of web surfers indicated concern about the privacy of their personal information such as age, gender, income and web surfing habits. Concern about privacy is prevalent among all age segments, and increased with the respondent’s age from 67.3% among respondents 18-24 years to 85.7% of respondents 55 years and older.

“Online privacy is a prevailing concern for web surfers,” said Chuck Moran, VP of Marketing for Burst Media. “Advertisers must take concrete actions to mitigate consumers’ privacy concerns and at the same time continue to deliver their message as effectively as possible. In addition and as recently seen in the news flare up regarding Facebook’s privacy controversy, publishers need to be completely transparent about their privacy policies.”

The survey also found that most web users believe web sites are tracking their behavior online. Three out of five (62.5%) respondents indicated it is likely that a web site they visit collects information on how they navigate and interact with it.

Also of note was the revelation that personal privacy is not something people are willing to give up for more relevant advertising. Based strictly on the description “advertisements more relevant to interest,” only one-in-five (23.2%) respondents would not mind if non-personally identifiable information was collected if ads were better targeted.

To view the full copy of Burst’s Online Insights report on privacy please visit http://www.burstmedia.com/research/current.asp.

About Burst Media

An online media and technology company founded in 1995, Burst Media (www.BurstMedia.com) is a leading provider of advertising representation, services and technology to independent Web Publishers. Burst Media enables advertisers to reach finely segmented, engaged consumers as they visit Burst’s extensive number of interest-based sub-channels. Through its Burst Network and Burst Direct units, the company represents one of the broadest and deepest offerings of interest-based websites online. Burst also markets its ad management platform, adConductor™, which empowers content websites, online ad networks, and web portals to manage the complete process of ad sales and service. Burst Media is headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts, with offices throughout the United States and in London, UK. For more information, visit www.BurstMedia.com or call 781.272.5544.

Otilia is the founder and editor of AdOperationsOnline.com, launched in 2008. She currently provides online business consulting through her company, RightFit Media, and blogs about all things online at www.otiliaotlacan.com.

Otilia Otlacan

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