Revolutions rarely happen overnight
As much as we might have wanted to believe it in the early days of behavioral targeting, it's simply not true that every application of behavioral marketing we thought of at the time was immediately executable or effective. It takes time for sites and networks to build scale, and it also takes time to fine-tune technology and learn what techniques produce quantifiable results that justify the added cost of the time and effort put into behavioral programs.
While we're not even close to realizing the full potential of online behavioral targeting, we're significantly closer to realizing that potential than we were just a few years ago. The trick is separating reality from fantasy. I hope that with the descriptions of the four tactics I've outlined in this piece, I've given you an idea of what is realistic today.
