Advertising supports most of the free content people enjoy viewing online. Allowing cookies and online advertising to personalize services to your browser can be a great benefit to the websites you support, by helping them earn revenue. It can also be a great benefit to you by helping ensure that you don't see too much repetition or irrelevant advertising while you surf the web. To read more about the value of advertising, you can check out the following:

• The World Federation of Advertisers' website explaining the values of advertising: http://www.valueofadvertising.org/home.php
• "Making ads more interesting," from the Google Blog: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/
• "I am the Long Tail," a video montage produced by the IAB (US) where the operators of small websites discuss why advertising is critical for their small businesses. It is available at http://iamthelongtail.com/.

On Cookies

What are http cookies? How are they used? How can I control what cookies are set on my computer? This and much more, as you learn about cookies via the following links:

• The Interactive Advertising Bureau of Europe's Cookie resources page: http://www.allaboutcookies.org/
• The Harvard Berkman Center's Cookie Crumble Contest: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/cookiecontest/ (These videos are also available on the right panel of this page)
• A simple description on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_cookie

From our membership:

• AOL's Privacy Blog -http://www.privacygourmet.com/
• AudienceScience consumer page http://www.audiencescience.com/consumers.asp; Video on the future of BT - http://audiencescience.com/videos/2020_Future.asp; AudienceScience audience-based advertising www.audiencescience.com/consumer/education.asp.
• Google Privacy Center - http://www.google.com/privacy.html; opt-out plugin http://www.google.com/ads/preferences/plugin/
• Microsoft Privacy Resource Center - http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/twc/
  privacy/resources.mspx
• Yahoo! FAQs on relevant advertising http://info.yahoo.com/relevantads/faq/

On Regulation, Self-Regulation & Accountability

Online privacy and behavioral advertising are hot topics! Read what regulators and business groups are thinking about these issues:

From regulators:

• The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has been actively discussing online privacy and behavioral advertising: http://ftc.gov/bcp/consumer.shtm

From business groups, technologists, and self-regulatory bodies:

• The NAI's updated Self-Regulatory Code of Conduct for Online Behavioral Advertising: http://networkadvertising.org/
• The IAB UK's Good Practice Principles for Online Behavioural Advertising: http://www.iabuk.net/
• Digital Advertising Alliance Consumer Information: http://www.aboutads.info/consumers
• ESRB's privacy resources: http://www.esrb.org/privacy/resources.jsp
• CDT's Guide to Behavioral Advertising: http://www.cdt.org/privacy/targeting/
• PrivacyChoice.org's FAQ's and choice plugin: http://privacychoice.org/