Originally posted on Dashboard.ca
Everywhere I go, whether surfing newspaper sites, Sports team sites, even in my damn Gmail, it’s there. Why? Well it probably started when I was checking out prices for a vacation I’m planning for the end of the month. Guess what? One of those Ads hit the spot and now I’m booked and ready to consume far too many Cuba Libre’s on the beaches of Varadero. This, my friends, is the result of behavioural targeted advertising.
Online privacy and tracking by advertisers has been gaining as a hot topic for internet users. This is evident with the inclusion of “Do not track” options built right into Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft’s latest browser IE 9. On the surface, this seems like a great idea with nefarious characters running rampant online. Protecting your personal data and online privacy are paramount in the digital age. But when we call “Do Not Track” protecting online privacy, we’re not telling the whole truth. It will not protect your identity, or keep your credit card numbers safe; however, it will impede advertisers from offering you deals, promotions, and products you may actually want.
I once heard a Agency head from a traditional agency say; “Where the online guys have it wrong, is they expect content for free”. He was implying, that online we don’t have to sit through an Ad before we get to our programming. For me this really isn’t the case. We do consume vast amounts of what seems to free content online. But is it really free? A recent discussion online raised the following point; “If you’re getting it for free online, you are the product being sold”. And that, right there, is the deal content producers have with audiences online, whether they know it or not. Think about it, why would Google offer up all these great search results just for the hell of it. They’re not, they’re selling your eyeballs to advertisers in exchange for search results. If online advertising doesn’t evolve and become more effective, that content deal that serves information for free may crumble. We’re already seeing evidence of this with pay walls and formerly free content going to a subscription model.
If you ask anyone, even those in the industry, they’ll tell you that they hate advertising. I’ll contest that every time I hear it and my recent Cuban trip booking is a prime example. People don’t really hate advertising, they hate advertising that’s not for them. Imagine Ads that were tailored just for you. Thinking about some new Chuck Taylors, guess what here’s an Ad for some killer white high tops for 50% off. Most of us would love this. So why are we so against tracking by online advertisers? For me a superior experience online is top shelf. If that means I have to see a few Ads and they are tailored just for me, than I’m all for it.
P.S.
See you on the beach!