By now, over half of the planet has access to the internet and has some kind of online presence.
Whether it’s on social media, browsing content, or online shopping, it is all a prime target for marketing agencies.
Targeted advertising is the advertisement industries money maker.
If you’re on the internet searching for a new computer, wallet, or even vacation, it its very likely advertisements for these products will be popping up on your screen within the next few days.
The old model used to show commercials to a mass audience in hopes of getting a percentage of their attention. This model, what is known as behavioural targeting, is the exact opposite.
The idea is to find the products and companies you are interested in and pushing those products in your direction.
How Does it Work?
We tend to give up some or most of our online privacy for the sake of convenience. Nowadays, most websites you visit have “cookies” that are used to store bits of information about your interactions with the website.
Which then the web server can use later on when processing your sessions. This is how your computer and phone generate the ads you begin to see.
Gareth Suthering works with a local marketing agency called 44 North Digital. He says
“fundamentally, behavioural advertising is about matching users’ interest to the advertising that they see.”
Should I be worried?
Essentially, your internet browsing is being tracked at all times. The idea of this has a lot of people feeling uneasy.
However, there is ways to avoid it as much as possible. Ad blockers or private browsing is the first line of defense.
Ad blockers are browser extensions that look for the common components of online ads and blocks them.
Private browsing is a new phenomenon that more and more people are doing today. Virtual Private Networks or VPN’s is the most common way to browse safely on the internet.
Downloading the app will route your device’s internet connection through your chosen VPN’s private server rather than your internet service provider.
The online world is growing more and more each day and it is best to be prepared.
