Behavioral targeting helps deliver content to users (target) who are most likely interested (based on their behavior). Behavioral targeting uses information collected on an individual’s navigation, such as the pages they have visited or the searches they have made, to select which content to display to that individual. It can include many factors like geography, demographics or the surrounding content.
One use of behavior targeting is to share personalized recommendations. Personalized recommendations are offers of “new suggestions for items you might like” based on previous activities. As visitors browse and rate items, software examines this content, compares it to their likes and dislikes, and make recommendations precisely tailored to each individual’s tastes – “We think you’ll like…”
Another use for behavioral targeting is to recommend similar items. Similar items compares visitor’s behavior and preferences with that of other visitors to make suggestions for other items with high similarity – “People who like this also like…”
Behavioral targeting is yet another way to “automate” the user experience design with analytical data and our knowledge of human behavior.