"People need easier-to-use tools," said Shavell, adding that Abine is working hard to make TACO (Targeted Advertising Cookie Opt-out) simpler.

"We'll get there. We'll create an awesome product," he said in a phone interview. "We're making it easier every day."

There is an ongoing discussion among privacy software vendors, online advertising providers and government regulators about simplifying tools and processes for consumers so that they can more easily control online behavioral ad tracking, such as through the proposed , Shavell said.

Complicating matters is that interest among consumers in tools that offer control over online tracking is fairly new, so users aren't generally familiar with this type of software, he said.

A spokeswoman for Microsoft said the Tracking Protection feature in IE9 lets users add "an industry curated" tracking protection list with one click.