Myth 7: Retargeting is behavioral targeting
Reality: This last myth is centered on semantics. In my opinion, behavioral targeting is geared toward acquiring new consumers. Retargeting, on the other hand, is a tactic that solely works on users who have already visited a site. I think the two terms are mistakenly interchanged. There is certainly a place for both, but they are not one in the same.

Conclusions
Regardless of any misconceptions about behavioral targeting, there will undoubtedly be a spot for this technology in the marketing mix. eMarketer proves this with the prediction that spending on behavioral targeting will account for 24 percent of display advertising. Behavioral targeting is also expected to play a large role in in-video advertising. Creating video advertisements (not just repurposing TV commercials) can be expensive, and by using behavioral targeting, marketers can optimize their advertising dollars by catering to interested users.

With online competition and fleeting attention spans, advertisers can never be completely certain that their messages are being received. But behavioral targeting arms marketers with the ability to make segmenting decisions based on timely, dynamic data. The pitfalls and misconceptions outlined above should not discount how effective behavioral targeting can be if executed well. Behavioral targeting has and will continue to be a valuable means of reaching online users. We, as marketers, just need to not let the technology get ahead of us.

Andreas Roell is CEO and president of Geary Interactive.