Ad choices

Quantcast understands that people are concerned about privacy. We believe unwaveringly that consumers are entitled to both notice and choice across all interactive media platforms. We believe all consumers should be equipped with the information necessary to make choices. Only through transparency can we all make informed choices.

We want you to know that Quantcast does not know consumers’ identities. Our business is specifically designed to never know who you are, and we explicitly forbid any partner to send us directly identifying information (sometimes called personally identifying information or PII).

What exactly is personally identifying information?

Personally identifying information is information that identifies you directly, like your name, your mobile phone number, a photo of your face or your email address.

Again, we don’t use it.

Why is it good to allow targeted online advertising?

Internet advertising allows content providers of all sizes to give you entertainment, information and more, without having to charge you for it. Instead of making you pay for their content, they make a living by selling ad space on their sites. Ad space is more valuable if you are likely to buy something because of an ad. More valuable ad space allows content providers to give you more free content. Observing and comparing browsing patterns allows us to help those content providers serve you ads that we think are of more interest to you.. For example, if your idea of outdoor activity is gardening, you probably browse the internet for gardening tips and tools. You might appreciate receiving an ad for a local gardening center but not ads for mountain climbing equipment  Or, if you often use food delivery services, you probably browse to food delivery sites and you might like to receive discount coupons for take out services. In any case, this is among the reasons that observing browsing patterns is good for the Internet, and good for you.

That said, maybe you don’t want us observing your browsing patterns (again, we don’t use your personally identifying information). Or, maybe you would prefer to see the same ads as everyone else, like when you watch TV.

Both are perfectly valid positions. In that case, here is some essential information you should have:

If you choose to opt out, what exactly are you opting out of?

By clicking on the opt out icon above, you are choosing not to receive Quantcast enabled interest-based content and advertisements in the browser you opt out from. You are also choosing not to have Quantcast measure your pattern of website browsing or other online media consumption from that browser.

When you opt out, Quantcast deletes our existing cookie identifier associated with your browser, ceases collection of personal information from that browser for advertising or measurement purposes, and ceases using any previously-collected data for targeting ads to you. We set an opt out cookie in your browser so that we can remember that you opted out. If you visit a site that is monitored by Quantcast after the opt-out cookie has been set, we would not log any personal information from the browser and we would not use any previously collected data to target ads to you.

If you opt out of Quantcast enabled advertisements, you may find you still receive an ad from us. That’s because sometimes you will just happen to be browsing at a time and place where we serve an ad. That ad isn’t targeted to you, you just happen to be there. Also, it can take a day or more for all opt-outs to filter through our system.

Opting out doesn’t mean you won’t be receiving interest-based content and advertisements from other (non-Quantcast) technology solutions or companies. We can only control the ads we serve.

Finally, please be aware that your opt out will not affect your Quantcast Choice selections. Quantcast Choice is another way that you can make privacy choices. See more about Quantcast Choice below.

To revisit or change your opt out selection, please visit the “Change Consent” link in the footer of this webpage (below).

How do I opt out?

Just click on the opt out icon above.

How do I opt out for apps?

If you would like to opt out of Quantcast’s collection and use of mobile app data, you may do so through the device-level advertising preference setting available in the settings menus of your iOS and/or Android devices.

What about the cookie thing?

Quantcast’s opt-out tool is cookie based, so for it to work for you, your browser must allow third party cookies. We will set an opt out cookie to remember that your browser has opted out. If you change devices or browsers, or delete this cookie, we will no longer know you have opted out, so you will need to opt-out again.

What does the opt out do if I previously consented to allow Quantcast to set cookies on my device?

We will always give your opt out top priority. So if we see that you previously gave consent to Quantcast to set cookies and/or use your data, and that you subsequently opted out via this opt out tool or t other industry opt out tools (see below), we will honor your opt out as described above.

What are other industry opt out tools?

Quantcast is a member of several industry organizations focused on providing privacy choices to consumers, including the National Advertising Initiative (NAI), the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) and the European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance (EDAA). For more information about these organizations and their opt out tools, please visit their websites.

How does this work with Quantcast Choice?

Quantcast Choice is a consent management tool for publishers and advertisers built on the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB)’s Transparency and Consent Framework. Publishers of websites use Quantcast Choice to inform you about and provide you with options to manage your preferences related to who processes your personal information for which purposes. Quantcast Choice gives you the option to opt out of any cookies (or all) cookies used by that site, including the Quantcast cookie. You can opt out of the use of cookies for specific purposes or for all purposes. You may be able to opt out of the use of cookies at other sites. You can revisit your consent choices at any time by visiting the website where you made those choices. To revisit the consent choices that you made on Quantcast.com please visit the “Change Consent” link in the footer of this webpage (below).