Struq launches behaviourally targeted ad platform
While Google can only show you a static ad based on browser history, Struq allows advertisers to serve up ads containing specific offers in real time based on users’ behaviour: “We don’t serve up static ads. You get the exact product, offer and price you were interested in,” says Barnett. So, for example, Struq can take you not just to the BA website, but to the exact offer you were looking at on a previous occasion (say, if you’d left off mid-transaction).
The challenge for Struq will be to dodge accusations of “snooping” on users. Sure, its technology doesn’t use deep packet inspection, but will the average user, on hearing that Struq monitors his behaviour, consider that any better? Who knows. The deciding factor may end up being the quality (ie, relevancy) of the ads that get served up. If they’re genuinely valuable to users – something Phorm’s “victims” seemed not to agree on – Struq could do very well indeed. Its competitors, who include Criteo, Teracent and Tumri, will be watching closely.