Personalized web ads are creepy: poll

TORONTO — Many people are uncomfortable with websites customizing content to people's personal profiles, according to a new survey.

“There's a creepy factor and a fear of the unknown that people don't want to deal with,” said Michelle Warren, senior research analyst at Info-Tech Research Group in London, Ontario.

“The notion that there's a privacy issue in someone's e-mail account hits a little too close to home for some,” she added.

Nearly 60 per cent of 2,513 people in the United States questioned in a Harris Interactive poll said they were uneasy when websites use information about personal online activity to tailor advertisements or content.

The survey showed that younger users are more comfortable with the customized web content, with people aged 18-43 leading the pack.

As a whole, web users' comfort was increased only slightly when asked to consider potential safeguards that would improve web privacy policies and procedures.