NebuAD, Several ISPs Sued Over Behavioral Ads – Well, that didn’t go so well…

17 Nov 2008

Back in February of this year we interviewed the CEO of NebuAD, who hoped to buy your browsing history from ISPs, then deliver ads based on your browsing choices. Unfortunately for NebuAD, Congressional questions arose over whether NebuAD’s deep packet inspection system violated privacy and wiretap laws, which resulted in ISPs running to the hills to protect their legal posteriors. That led to the departure of NebuAD’s CEO, and left the company on life support. All in all that’s a pretty crappy year for one company, but unfortunately for them things just got worse with the birth of a class action lawsuit:

The suit names several Internet Service Providers, including Washington Post-owned Cable One, which used Nebuad on a trial basis but ultimately did not deploy the technology throughout its network. . . The suit alleges violations of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, California’s Invasion of Privacy Act and California’s Computer Crime Law, as well as aiding and abetting, civil conspiracy and unjust enrichment.

NebuAD was always in a tough spot, given how their opt-out system let consumers opt-out of targeted ads, but not browsing data collection. If you’re a huge fan of advertising and having your every click monetized don’t worry. There’s a multitude of other operators planning on copying NebuAD’s business model, just as soon as the appropriate politicians are lobbied and privacy laws are weakened or changed. Sometimes it just doesn’t pay to be a technology pioneer.
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