Haunted by Orwellian Ads

02Jan08

Today, like everyday, I’m being watched. I’m a very important person, you know. My every move is under surveillance. I make a regular appearance in reporting documents. I’m the subject of much discussion around the boardroom table. What’s more, they continually conceive of new and better ways to stalk me. And I’m OK with that.

Cookies. Search queries. Clicks. They know all your dirty little secrets. Go ahead, delete your browsing history. You can’t hide. Feeling squeamish? You’re not alone. Many people find behavioural targeting a little creepy.

But I love it. Because it’s efficient. I tell you what I want – through the keywords I search, the ads I click and the content I browse. You compile this data and serve me an ad based on my interests. It’s just that simple.

I appreciate the need for ads in traditional media. They’re the reason my favourite TV shows are free and my magazines are so cheap. But 99% of those ads don’t appeal to me. They target women 25-39 with a HHI of $50K+ who enjoy fashion + entertaining. Sounds like just about every woman you know, doesn’t it? Don’t even get me started on out of home – let’s create a 50-foot billboard and hope our target strolls by!

Behavioural targeting reaches ME – not my broad demographic. Me. And it saves the companies I love money. Which sounds bad, but it’s good. Because they can spend it on creating products that I like. After all, they know what I want. I told them so.

I won’t hold my breath while we wait for broadcast and print to follow suit.

So, if you could eliminate ALL forms of advertising but one, which would it be?

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Tags: advertising, behavioural targeting, internet, marketing, technology, web