Wendy Davis of MediaPost writes about the criticism of online ad industry self-regulation: "Critics Slam new BT Guidelines."
The problem with regulating BT (behavioral targeting) right now is that the business is still evolving - regulations at this point in time probably won't capture the worst offenders of the future and willdeter a great deal of web 2.0 innovation - which consumers clearly value.
We have a regulation happy regime in DC and popular opinion has swung in favor of more government interference thanks to the losers on Wall Street. Now real entrepreneurs and businesses will have to bear the brunt of regulations stemming from populist agitation.
Of course, internet entrepreneurs are scrappy enough that they will eventually find a way to make web 2.0 economically sustainable regardless of the meddling done by politicians and activists.
Firms that stand to benefit from regulations on BT are those that deal mostly with mainstream corporations and don't dirty their hands with controversial operators or subject matter (e.g. affiliate marketers, porn). The shadier companies will be hurt by regulations and their bigger competitors could swoop in and buy up their more legitimate lines of business at a steep discount.
