By Lou Mastria
Consumers use and see the icon as a portal to privacy information – and assign trust to brands, publishers and advertisers who use it in ads, in apps and on sites.
To evaluate ongoing consumer awareness and perception around the “AdChoices” icon, the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) conducted a survey of 1,000 US adults in February 2021. Among top-line findings are that 82 percent of respondents have some familiarity with the YourAdChoices Icon and 81 percent understand the icon broadly offers them choice and control as it pertains to advertising. Such data compares favorably to other highly recognized symbols online – common on the Internet.
Source: “AdChoices | World’s Gateway to Privacy Information,” Digital Advertising Alliance-Commissioned SurveyMonkey Survey (2021).
The results of the full survey have significant implications for industry use of the AdChoices Icon and point to broad opportunities to use it for enhanced privacy disclosure across web sites, apps, ads, and other platforms.
Additionally, the survey found broad consumer interest in using the icon as an access point for all information related to data collection and use, not just information about interest-based advertising. This shows the attachment consumers appear to assign what has become a ubiquitous symbol on the Internet as thousands of brands have used it to provide access to information and show their support for responsible advertising practices set forth in DAA Principles. While this survey was conducted among a US audience, it is supported by similar findings in surveys conducted across other markets by our sister organizations, such as in the Europe and Canada and it mirrors earlier surveys DAA and others have published.
Leading up to this year’s DAA Virtual Summit 21, we are making available for distribution a white paper to all stakeholders in the digital advertising ecosystem space which summarizes the findings. You may access the white paper here:
https://
Ten years on, it’s no wonder hundreds of companies – and thousands of brands – are putting the AdChoices Icon to use. One of those trillions of impressions served recently happened to be this public health mobile display ad of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, currently led in the cabinet by Secretary Xavier Becerra, who previously served no less as California’s State Attorney General.
Interest-based advertising is a force for relevance – as well as social responsibility. Perhaps that’s why consumers lend trust in significant amount to organizations who choose to use AdChoices, both in the United States and elsewhere.
