Yesterday I heard about the "Do Not Track List" being the First Shot in the Behavioral Targeting Wars from Steve Rubel:

"…Right now, the marketers can really dabble a lot and perhaps even blur the line with what's ethical. I am not saying they are nor am I condoning it. However, since this level of behavioral targeting is relatively new, the unwritten ethics rules - in theory - could be bent since a lot of consumers aren't paying a lot of attention - yet. Plus, of course, they benefit from more relevant ads.

That's all about to change. It's clear the FTC is concerned about user privacy. That's why they're hosting hearings next week."

AOL, being proactive, and also stealing some Thunder from the FTC will allow you To Opt Out Of Behavioral Ads? AOL Says It Is Your Choice. 

"…AOL Will Let Consumers Opt Out of Targeted Ads from the Wall Street Journal reports that AOL will announce today a new tool that will enable AOL users to opt out of targeted or personalized ads. (NOTE: The AOL announcement is now live).

AOL has behavioral ad technology that stores consumer's preferences and then tailors ads based on the sites users visits. AOL is expected to announce a system that will give these users the ability to opt out of those ads. "

The AOL announcement, titled - AOL Launches Innovative Privacy Education Program For Behaviorally Targeted Advertising claims it can get it's educational message about opting out of behavioral targeting to up to 91% of the US online audience:

"…the program will deliver millions of public service banner ads across AOL's owned-and-operated and third-party networks, which together reach more than 91% of the U.S. online audience. AOL also announced a substantial improvement to the current opt-out process by expanding the use of patent-pending technology developed by TACODA, a leading behavioral targeting solutions company that AOL acquired earlier this year.

“Our goal with this program is to engender greater trust for targeted advertising by communicating with consumers in a more visible way, and by providing them more information about their choices,” said Curt Viebranz, President of Platform-A. “AOL believes that doing more to explain to users the choices they have over the way their data is used, and helping them exercise those preferences will help them feel more in control.”

I'm told that now, if you opt out of any behavioral targeting your being monitored for, your opt-out is often lost and tracking is reapplied at a later date; that won;t be as likely with the new AOL system:

"…Today, users who opt-out of behavioral targeting by using an opt-out cookie risk having their preference lost if they later delete their cookies.  TACODA leverages a Web cache technique to preserve a consumers' opt-out choice even if they delete their browser cookies, something other opt-out systems cannot currently do. AOL is also exploring opportunities to license this technology on a royalty-free basis for use exclusively in consumer privacy protection programs. "