Have you ever searched for something in a search engine like Google or an online shop like Amazon and suddenly this thing is everywhere? Try it. Google “frying pan” and chances are that over the next few days you will see ads about pots and pans in your social media feed.
You might even get recommendations with cooking videos or blogs that happen to mention the best frying pans ever. This is targeted marketing in the digital age. Here’s how it works and why some people have a problem with it.
Targeting in the past
Targeted marketing is not a new concept at all. Ads are far more effective on people who are already interested in the product. If you never cook you do not even notice ads for pots and pans. So creating ads with a specific customer in mind is perfectly normal. A car ad for moms looks very different from a car ad for middle aged men.
Advertisement companies create a perfect client, or client profile or these days client avatar. They do their research and make this profile as detailed as possible, including demographics (age, income, job etc.) and psychographics (likes, values, hobbies, etc.).
In the past, this research consisted of information companies had about existing clients and ad companies gathered through focus groups, questionnaires and so on. These days, however, data is collected about us every time we use the internet.
Data collection
Every time we visit a website or open an app on our phones they collect data about us. Who are they? This is where it gets tricky because it might not just be the company whose website we are visiting.
The hosting provider, the web content management system (e.g. WordPress) and any other companies that are sort of on the website with like-buttons or ads collect your data. If the company uses Google Analytics to find out who looks at their stuff, when and for how long, then Google collects that data too.
I can’t even tell you exactly what data the big companies like Google and Meta collect because no one knows. But it is detailed. Why do they collect all this information? Because they can sell very specific ad spots to advertisers and charge premiums for them.
The new client avatars
In the past, a company might decide to run an ad in a magazine. Let’s say the company produces sports equipment. They had the choice between different levels of targeting. They could run the ad in a sports magazine and hope some of the sporty readers liked what they saw. They could also run an ad for golf clubs in a magazine for golfers. Much more specific and much more likely to lead to sales.
Because of all the data big companies collect about us all the time, they know exactly what we might be interested in. This data is collected and used in real time, meaning they even know when we will be interested in a specific product. They often know what we bought in the past too and use all this information to introduce us to new products we might like.
Advertisement companies still create client avatars. But thanks to all the data they now have, these avatars are incredibly specific. And as soon as we fit the profile, even if it’s just for a few days because right now our frying pan broke, we become the potential client. An algorithm in Google Ads or Facebook Ads matches us up with an ad.
Is this a problem?
On the one hand, we mostly get to see ads that are “relevant” to us. Are you old enough to remember TV ads? For me, they were always bathroom and snacks breaks. I’d just leave the room because even though there was some targeting back then (ads for toys would only run during programs for kids and families), they were rarely relevant and therefore easy to ignore.
On the other hand, the new techniques are highly persuasive or even manipulative. If you see an ad more than 7 times you are much more likely to buy the product. If you see an ad for a product you are looking for, you are also much more likely to buy it. So when we are specifically bombarded with ads at the right time, we might end up buying a product we don’t really want.
Free choice?
My personal issue is not with targeted ads as such because that’s just how advertisement works. My issue is how the systems run in the background and that the companies in charge do not explain what they are doing. Yes, they mention it in Terms and Conditions or Terms of Service. But these legal documents are often so complicated and deliberately long that hardly anyone reads them. Even if we do, chances are we don’t understand every point.
There’s also the hypocrisy. Meta’s Facebook and Instagram are supposedly free services but in reality they make their money by selling clients to advertisers. The apps are “free” to users because we are the product.
Then there are the changes in legislation. A recent new data protection law was passed in the EU. When I tried to use the Facebook Messenger App, I was asked to either agree to their new terms or use the app in a different way so I’d lose all past conversations. If I had agreed to their new terms, I would have given them permission to collect data about me.
When my choice consists of staying on and being exploited or leaving an app that connects me to friends and family, I don’t think that’s much of a choice at all.
Real options
If targeted ads bother you, here are a few things you can do to keep at least some of your data private. Use Firefox to access websites. It is a browser that protects you from extensive data collection through Google, Microsoft and Apple. DuckDuckGo is a search engine that does not track your search results.
And finally, depending on where you live, you might be able to turn off targeted ads. You’ll still see ads but the site or app you are using, can’t use the data they have about you to sell you to advertisers. The cookie consent form should have a label with marketing/targeted marketing or something similar. You will most likely have to click on a button that says “manage consent” or “manage cookies” first. Then turn off the consent for targeted marketing.
With apps and programs you will have to change the consent in your settings. Search for
How to turn off targeted ads on [name of app/website]
FYI
Maybe it does not bother you that companies collect data every time you google a word. And that’s perfectly fine! What bothers me most is the lack of transparency and that’s why I wrote this post. I just want to help you understand what is going on so you can decide for yourself how much of your data you want to share.