Target Me
Forgive me if I appear dumb, but what's the big deal with targeted advertising? If you are a Facebook user, you will have heard the fuss about its targeted advertisement program. If you are a Gmail user, you will have noticed that the advertisements to the right of your email messages are linked to the content of your messages. I can tell you, in all honesty, that I have never once followed an advertising link from any advertisement in Gmail or in Facebook (well, except for that one fraudulent ad on Facebook that I reported to them). It doesn't take too much self-control to ignore ads on the web.
If you want my opinion, I prefer targeted ads. If I could configure the web to only display ads that I like or that advertise products or services that are of interest to me, then that would greatly improve my online experience. Why do I need to see ads for the new Celine Dion CD, since I hate her music passionately? You could place advertisements for Hamburger Helper on every page of the entire Internet and I would never follow the link and certainly not purchase the product.
The same goes for junk mail and TV. I would absolutely love to streamline the flyers that come to my house, so that I could avoid Pharma Plus, Shoppers Drug Mart, Payless Shoes, etc. Give me flyers for Future Shop and Best Buy, please, but none of that other garbage. This would make me happy. And, on TV, I would be happy to be done with all of those ads for Viagra and Depends. Maybe later, but not now.
I suppose those opposed to targeted ads are trying to defend the weak among us who give in to temptation far too easily. And, the privacy advocates are trying to prevent companies from using shopping data to compile profiles of our shopping habits on the basis that this is an invasion of privacy. Sure, I can see that, but I'd rather have my privacy invaded than endure an endless stream of ads for stuff I am not interested in.
Frankly, what I buy is not that interesting, and if Nikon wants to market to me because I own a Nikon camera, that's just fine with me. What we really need is a Do-Not-Call list that is enforceable. I hate it when they call at dinner.
7 comments:
I know what you mean. I have never followed a link out of where I was just because it says you can. Or because I was curious. I shop at certain stores and hate getting adds for ones that I dont shop at. Just more garbage to throw away. Esp in the Sunday paper.
Well, if Facebook is targetting, they've obviously got *me* wrong, because the only ads I see are for video games featuring scantily clad women and "emergency" cosmetic surgery in Toronto.
Actually, the cosmetic surgery thing is kind of depressing.
So if they're targetting, I have no idea what they're targetting *from*, because it sure ain't from all the Bollywood sites I visit.
Yeah, I think they actually abandoned the targeted thing because of some serious outcry. I get ads for Mate One all of the time, which I think is what you are seeing. I haven't seen the cosmetic surgery ads yet.
What we need is for people to stop buying from telemarketers. If it wasn't profitable, it would stop.
I get ads for hook-up sites and video games on Facebook. WAY off target there!
About telemarketers calling during dinner--we told the phone company that they could... well, we canceled our service and got cell phones. Only cell phones. I realize it's more practical for a family of 2, but 911 works, we have an alarm system in our house that doesn't need a land line. In short, we told the phone company and all the telemarketers where they could go. Oh, and did I mention that before when we were paying EXTRA for caller ID and we got 13 "unavailable" calls in one day? Yeah. That was the day we gave up on them. Life is so much better without telemarketers.
I like the idea of targeted advertising, but like others have mentioned, it doesn't always hit the mark.
Kind of like how tivo automatically records things I might like. It doesn't know me AT all if it thinks that I want Oprah recorded every day.
We keep getting investment opportunities sent via our fax machine. These things are chock-full of writing and go through ink cartridges faster than Michael Moore through a box of Twinkies. It's quite annoying.
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