The guidelines, backed by Google, Microsoft, Disney, Verizon, Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble and the Interactive Advertising Bureau, aim to make behavioural targeting more transparent, and to ensure data that is collected is stored securely.
Under the guidelines, companies will have to tell users when they are being tracked, what it means and how to opt-out. This may take the form of a uniform link of icon that will redirect traffic to a disclosure page.
The creation of guidelines, which will come into effect next year, was spurred by moves by the US Congress and Federal Trade Commission to impose regulations on the industry.
Companies will be monitored for their adherence to these guidelines, and answer to federal agencies if they don't adhere.
To raise public awareness of the regulations, 500 million online ad impressions have been committed to an information campaign.
The move by the US follows the UK Internet Advertising Bureau's release of its first behavioural targeting guidelines in March this year.
The Good Practice Principles aim to increase consumer awareness and choice about the kind of advertising received, and will require participating companies such as Google, AOL and Microsoft Advertising, to give UK consumers a clear choice about whether their browsing habits may be tracked by advertisers.
The guidelines are the just first step in regulating online behavioural targeting, as they only apply to the companies that collect and use the data, not ISPs and publishers, who will need to supplement the principles with their own guidelines.
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