This sounds a bit like Topix.net's approach, which involves storing data on what news stories you've read and delivering AdSense ads that are targeted to your interests.

"Behavioral" AdSense ads certainly could perform better than traditional keyword-targeted ads on general-interest sites (as opposed to niche sites where users are researching ways to spend their money). They'll probably stir up a lot of yelping about invasion of privacy if they become commonplace, though, as cookies did years ago.

I had this same experience this week as well. My wife and I were about to go for an amnio test at the hospital and we were doing some research on the net. I happened to check my blog a short time later which has a focus on automobiles. The Google ad that appeared at the top was pregnancy related! For sure this was no coincidence as I have never had any pregnancy related ads ever. It is definitely interesting but the relationship between my site and the ads displayed were totally unrelated. Remains to be seen if Google will introduce this at all but there are definitely some tests being done.

I have not seen this yet, but I did see something else today and this may be old news to many of you, however, I've not been using my Gmail that long.

There was a news ad above the email I was reading. My email talked about music and bands, and the news ad was about music. Had not noticed that before.

Sorry, this is a little off topic as far as AdSense goes, but on topic for the whole seemingly big brother thing.

Sorry, this is a little off topic as far as AdSense goes...

Not at all. Your experience and bakedjake's gives an indication of where AdSense may be headed, especially on sites or pages where keyword targeting isn't likely to be successful. (A publisher of a blog on, say, the war in Iraq might be intrigued by the idea of ads that fit the reader's known interests, as opposed to ads for "Iraqi war a mistake? Answer now and you can get a free laptop computer.")

“if Google will introduce this at all but there are definitely some tests being done”
TheDonster
of course, this may be test #666, would someone click ads on their own site!

Suppose I hear a radio ad today about a new gizmo. I do an online search for the news articles and read a couple of articles about the gizmo. It's interesting, but now it's time to go on to other things.

Tomorrow I visit my favorite widgets site, a site where a widgets ad would certainly attract my attention. Is Google going to assume I'm still interested in a gizmo as opposed to a widget and show me a gizmo ad, even though I specifically came to a site about widgets?

FarmBoy

Tomorrow I visit my favorite widgets site, a site where a widgets ad would certainly attract my attention. Is Google going to assume I'm still interested in a gizmo as opposed to a widget and show me a gizmo ad, even though I specifically came to a site about widgets?

Probably not, but it might show you a gizmo ad if you're reading a newspaper article on Britney Spears, bombing deaths in Lebanon, or tomorrow's weather.

In other words, it would try to display behavioural ads when you're currently on a non-sales-related site. But, using your above example, what if the person who runs the Britney Spears site WANTS the ads to be about that?

I value Adsense the most because, out of all the similar ad services, Adsense consistently gives me ads related to my non-sales niches (news and features about popular music groups and fiction books). This would be a bad thing for me, if my Adsense ads stopped looking like the topics on my site.

I hope if they do this, they give publishers the option to opt out of it.

n other words, it would try to display behavioural ads when you're currently on a non-sales-related site. But, using your above example, what if the person who runs the Britney Spears site WANTS the ads to be about that?

I don't think it would have anything to with whether the site was sales-related. I think it the behavioral ad would be displayed in lieu of a keyword-targeted ad if:

1) Suitable keyword-targeted ads weren't available, and/or...

2) The site displaying the page had opted for behavioral ad serving (as a newspaper site might do).

I'd algo guess that, if this technology is rolled out, it will be limited mostly to premium partners--at least initially--in the same way that "hints" are limited mostly to big newspaper sites and other premium partners.

This is very interesting, as I noticed quite some time ago that while visiting sites other than my own, I would find lots of "Chicago" type ads, as I'm in that general region.
What's most interesting is that I rarely (if at all) have seen that on my own sites.

Also- are you as a publisher comfortable with this happening on your sites?
AHA- you don't see them on your sites, right (meaning you see ads targeted to page content)...but others see regional type stuff, so you would never know it is occuring unless somebody told you.
Thought provoking.

[edited by: Heartlander at 10:45 pm (utc) on July 19, 2006]

Ads usually do not show up (just PSAs) when I am testing pages on my desk computer, however, recently ads have been popping up! The ads are about email, virus protection, etc.

It is a strange experience. Does Google expect me to click on ads while I am looking at pages on my hard drive?

Also- are you as a publisher comfortable with this happening on your sites?

I don't think that's likely to happen any time soon, because:

1) Keyword- or theme-targeted ads are usually available for my pages and my travel topics are more "commercial" than, say, the war in Iraq or whether Brad is watching the nanny instead of the baby.

2) Unlike a major corporate-owned site like NYTimes.com or WashingtonPost.com, I don't have a ton of demographic research data on my audience and don't track visitors with registrations. So any information about the user would have to come from Google's own data without my help.

I think AdSense behavioral ads have a lot of potential on the right sites. Just today, I was reading a story about the Iraq war at THE NATION's Web site, and I noticed that the ads were all survey ads, as in "Is the war wrong? Tell us what you think" or "Cast your vote on the war and win a TV." I don't know how legit the ads were, but if I were the publisher of THE NATION, I 'd probably prefer reader-targeted behavioral ads to an endless succession of real or phoney "survey" ads.

EFV, are you thinking this kind of ad would be more often shown in cases when there are not enough related ads?

Personalization is an interesting possibility. I'm not sure if I am completly comfortable with the idea. It could bring about some really off topic ads.

I can't see this kind of targeting working longer than the time a single person is online. If someone is surfing a bit later it could be another family member or as mentioned above the same person may be on to another search.

EFV, are you thinking this kind of ad would be more often shown in cases when there are not enough related ads?

Yes, or possibly when Google had reason to believe that a behavioral ad would pay better than a keyword-targeted ad.

But again, I don't think behavioral ads are likely to be deployed network-wide any time soon. They'd be more practical and cost-effective on sites that use their own cookies and software to track users' habits.