Three fifths of US pay TV subs don’t like personalised ads

Advertisers that use viewers’ personal data to serve ads are a concern to 59% of pay TV subscribers in US broadband households, according to Parks Associates.

The research, released ahead of this week’s TV Connect show in London, found that nearly 40% of pay TV subscribers worry about the safety and use of their personal data when they use an online video service.

“These concerns are likely to grow since the US Senate recently passed a joint resolution allowing ISPs to sell collected consumerdata without requiring opt-in consent from consumers, while the FCC voted to suspend rules regulating consumer privacy data,” said Parks in its 360 View: Digital Media & Connected Consumers report.

“Additionally, Google will now allow advertisers to target YouTube ads based solely on a consumer’s search history. This practice will allow brands to push video ads to viewers who recently searched for a retail product, a specific movie trailer, or information on a television show.”

Parks Associates senior analyst Glenn Hower added: “Advertisers have the most to gain by leveraging viewership data, and those advantages will only increase as they acquire more personal information such as search histories.”