For anyone who has read John Battelle's "The Search", it will come as no suprise that the big search players like Google might consider using any data they can get their hands on to fine hone the targeting of advertising to increase their online advertising revenue.  One of the primary reasons for the success of search advertising is that a search requests represents a very easy to use nugget of information for targeting advertising.  Elsewhere on the web, there is discussion of this story being significant because it may represent a breach of Facebook terms of service, see for example an article at Marketingvox.  However for me, there is a broader question to debate here. 

Behavioural targeting is known to be effective at increasing click though for the advertiser and yield for the publisher.  From a strictly legal viewpoint, one imagines that professional companies are, by and large, ensuring that they get the small print right, and have whatever permissions law deems applicable to reuse data gathered about their users.  So far, there is little or no sign of the use of BT upsetting the masses, but as stories like this one start to appear in ever greater numbers, there may come a point at which the sentiments of the masses turns against its use.  If the masses turn, advertisers, with all of their brand sensitivities, will quickly try to distance themselves, and in the end, they pay the bills.

BT is in some ways a proxy for a good, solid audience demographic profile, such as those traditionally served by professional publishers, bot B2B and B2C.  Publisher's can offer their advertisers the best of both worlds if they combine  their great demographics with vertical search for their speciality.