Targeted Advertising aka, ain't nobody got time for dat.

[kyfe]

What's the deal with this failure of laziness they call targeted advertising on the interwebs?

after I visit a webpage the related ads bombard me for the next week, yet I've either completed my business with them or already decided no to pursue the item further.

When will someone realize that advertisers are spending loads of coin after the opportunity to complete a transaction has passed?

Seems like a waste of money to me

 

[oeretS]

it's called remarketing and it works quite well in certain industries, I use it here at work with some success.

But yes it's really annoying if you've already made your purchase, you could probably clear something in your browsing settings to get rid of it

 

[oeretS]

I was shopping for an engagement ring late last year and the remarketing almost gave away my plans, nonstop diamond store banners when she's browsing online. fuckers

 

[glych t.anomaly]

Adblock muthafuckas !!!

 

[g0nz0]

Adblock muthafuckas !!!

plus Do Not Track Me

 

[Zorro]

Would this explain why the Alex Cross AD's are following me around everywhere?

 

[Phat Buddha]

Adblock muthafuckas !!!

this...

 

[doughboy]

What's the deal with this failure of laziness they call targeted advertising on the interwebs?

after I visit a webpage the related ads bombard me for the next week, yet I've either completed my business with them or already decided no to pursue the item further.

When will someone realize that advertisers are spending loads of coin after the opportunity to complete a transaction has passed?

Seems like a waste of money to me

As oeretS said, it's called remarketing and is also known as retargeting. It can be an effective strategy when used correctly.

As you state, the advertisers are wasting money when they show you ads after you've purchased but that's really their own stupidity.

It's quite easy to create multiple remarketing campaigns that separate people into different lists (prospects, buyers, etc) and allow them to place the appropriate remarketing code on various pages throughout their sites (order confirmation page for example) to move visitors from one list to the next, so they're really just wasting their money when they don't take these steps.

If you would be so kind as to share which advertisers are still showing ads after you purchase, I'd be happy to approach them as a consultant and offer to fix it for them -- for a nice fee, of course

 

[awwnaw]

Rarely, or by grave mistake would an advertiser continue to message you AFTER you've made a purchase

Remarketing is cheap and effective. Most don't whine after they see an ad when they take a piss in a bathroom at a restaurant that was plastered with an ad on the back of the door but clearly they're bothered so immensely online...dumb. Actually the crapper ad was so ineffective you didn't even notice. Additionally from a marketers perspective, the online ad was a fraction of the cost to place and produce.

I'm certain many don't notice, but often people will have seen an ad and then searched the the message/offer/call to action a little while later because it was indeed relevant. I genuinely don't understand why everyone gets so up in arms. Its anonymous ffs, and it shows you messgaes that are meant to be relevant-- you might find on occasion you DO give a shit that the day before you did a search for a tent and the next day you see an ad for MEC and an online clearance sale.The GAM implements a pay wall and everyone goes apeshit. Instead of relavant targeted ads, I wonder how many people would be comfortable paying for more subscriptions services for content. Likely not many. So calmalama down.

Oerets, you'd really be that bloody offended if you saw an ad for a jeweler that was on your short list that happened to be having a sale or some other incentive that would benefit you and showed you an ad while you were comparison shopping or looking for a store location online?

All you have to do is clear your cache people.

 

[kyfe]

Rarely, or by grave mistake would an advertiser continue to message you AFTER you've made a purchase

Remarketing is cheap and effective. Most don't whine after they see an ad when they take a piss in a bathroom at a restaurant that was plastered with an ad on the back of the door but clearly they're bothered so immensely online...dumb. Actually the crapper ad was so ineffective you didn't even notice. Additionally from a marketers perspective, the online ad was a fraction of the cost to place and produce.

I'm certain many don't notice, but often people will have seen an ad and then searched the the message/offer/call to action a little while later because it was indeed relevant. I genuinely don't understand why everyone gets so up in arms. Its anonymous ffs, and it shows you messgaes that are meant to be relevant-- you might find on occasion you DO give a shit that the day before you did a search for a tent and the next day you see an ad for MEC and an online clearance sale.The GAM implements a pay wall and everyone goes apeshit. Instead of relavant targeted ads, I wonder how many people would be comfortable paying for more subscriptions services for content. Likely not many. So calmalama down.

Oerets, you'd really be that bloody offended if you saw an ad for a jeweler that was on your short list that happened to be having a sale or some other incentive that would benefit you and showed you an ad while you were comparison shopping or looking for a store location online?

All you have to do is clear your cache people.

A couple of things of note, for example I recently returned from Vegas, spent a crap tonne on many different things and none of it was because of targeted ad's, they started popping up after I posted some questions about restaurants in Vegas, for about 3 weeks after the tribe ad banner was vegas related and about another week after I returned.

Now, I'm looking to go away again and have been checking itravel, sunwing and redtag. all three are showing in the banners on this page. I got no problem with that except these banners are saying they have deals and when I go check them out they are the same prices I've been watching for the past 2 weeks so there really is no deal to be had.

Furthermore, I take exception to the fact that advertisers feel they they can now directly advertise without me complying to being solicited. Just because I surf the internet doesn't mean I want to be bombarded with ads just because of where I surf, it's akin to telemarketing yet there are no rules.

Lastly who pays for the extra bandwidth the ad's use? oh yeah I do and it reduces my monthly quota to use for productive things.

To me it's nothing more than lazy marketing, while I'm sure it brings in some revenue, I question the relationship to the targeted marketing aspect vs word of mouth as in my example my hotel decisions are made based on trip advisor and others experiecnes not on which banner I see at the top of the page.

for the record I do use Adblock and have for years but it's odd for marketers to force people to steps to avoid advertising and suggest it as a solution.

 

[oeretS]

How do you know it "almost" gave you away rather than it did?

I did most of my diamond research at work but must have searched something at home once to cause it. She rarely uses my laptop at home so I caught the issue early and it never raised suspicion. She doesn't fully understand the concept of remarketing anyway, I know it didn't give me away.

Oerets, you'd really be that bloody offended if you saw an ad for a jeweler that was on your short list that happened to be having a sale or some other incentive that would benefit you and showed you an ad while you were comparison shopping or looking for a store location online?

I never said I'd be offended, I called them fuckers in jest. Quite the opposite, it was my mistake for not clearing the cache or using an ad blocker. A diamond store is a perfect candidate for effective remarketing, but they do a disservice to dudes who don't understand what's happening, and that they might get found out because of it. This could apply to any type of surprise gift.

 

[oeretS]

Furthermore, I take exception to the fact that advertisers feel they they can now directly advertise without me complying to being solicited. Just because I surf the internet doesn't mean I want to be bombarded with ads just because of where I surf, it's akin to telemarketing yet there are no rules.

your issue here is with AlexD and TRIBE, not Google or the company selling the product.

 

[kyfe]

your issue here is with AlexD and TRIBE, not Google or the company selling the product.

that is a good point, I understand that he needs the ad revenue to run the site infrastructure so I don't take to much issue with it.

I guess what I'm really taking issue with is that there doesn't appear to be any rules in place with how advertisers can market to anyone on the internet.

for example imagine 14 year olds surfing and getting beer ads showing up or cigarette ad's. it's illegal to advertise directly to minors but the people/robots controlling ads have no way of knowing that a 14 year old is on the other end yet they are pushing these ads

 

[OwenThomas]

that is a good point, I understand that he needs the ad revenue to run the site infrastructure so I don't take to much issue with it.

I'll occasionally click on them as a "donation" in ad revenue.

 

[awwnaw]

A couple of things of note, for example I recently returned from Vegas, spent a crap tonne on many different things and none of it was because of targeted ad's, they started popping up after I posted some questions about restaurants in Vegas, for about 3 weeks after the tribe ad banner was vegas related and about another week after I returned.

Now, I'm looking to go away again and have been checking itravel, sunwing and redtag. all three are showing in the banners on this page. I got no problem with that except these banners are saying they have deals and when I go check them out they are the same prices I've been watching for the past 2 weeks so there really is no deal to be had.

Furthermore, I take exception to the fact that advertisers feel they they can now directly advertise without me complying to being solicited. Just because I surf the internet doesn't mean I want to be bombarded with ads just because of where I surf, it's akin to telemarketing yet there are no rules.

Lastly who pays for the extra bandwidth the ad's use? oh yeah I do and it reduces my monthly quota to use for productive things.

To me it's nothing more than lazy marketing, while I'm sure it brings in some revenue, I question the relationship to the targeted marketing aspect vs word of mouth as in my example my hotel decisions are made based on trip advisor and others experiences not on which banner I see at the top of the page.

for the record I do use Adblock and have for years but it's odd for marketers to force people to steps to avoid advertising and suggest it as a solution.

Firstly, your issue is with the publishers who are selling you--not exclusively with the advertisers who are buying your eyeballs. And relax on the bandwidth pal, there are also rules in place. Most ads you see are 40k or less.

Also-- agree with you on some of your points. What you are talking about is marketing. Not a mind blowing concept. No one is saying an advertiser should (or if they hope to be effective do) exclusively use only targeted banners to achieve their marketing objectives. It's an integration of other efforts working in conjunction..including social media, TV, search, etc. not one versus the other as the most effective tactic. And there is some blurring of church and state--Tripadvisor as an example is owned by Expedia, and they use serious data from TA to target you when you leave the site and go elsewhere.

In many cases the targeting is right, but the message is flawed. Ex. You just came back from Vegas, not planning a trip currently. I'd guess their strategy was, hey he went before--he might notice that he got ripped off cause our deal might be $120 less than what he paid-- next time he might come to our site to for price research. Yes I get it. You're not retarded. But the majority of the general public is seducible with messages like that. And ultimately it is such a readily used strategy because it is cheap cheap cheap. And sometimes... Even for people like you it proves to be effective at some point in time.

I literally just placed an order on clearly contacts because I needed to upgrade lenses and I saw an ad cause they were having a sale and I kept putting it off cause it wasn't on fire.

Also a lot of the Tribe ads come up cause they are just scanning the content for keywords in the threads.

 

[awwnaw]

There are rules in place. And they are exhaustive. But they are definitely not perfect- an obvious obstacle are families that share computers. Much like shared TV sets the onus is on the parents to monitor and put safe guards in place.

 

[kyfe]

There are rules in place. And they are exhaustive. But they are definitely not perfect- an obvious obstacle are families that share computers. Much like shared TV sets the onus is on the parents to monitor and put safe guards in place.

see this is what i take issue with, that the onus for how the public is advertised to rests squarely on the public's shoulders, yet when a concern is raised it's blow off as insignificant ie your comment about the amount of bandwidth use. it has nothing to do with the amount, I am essentially paying for something I don't want period, yet the excuse is we'll it's not that big a deal.

I want you to think about that for a minute, If the mileage was reduced on your car because of how often you listen to the radio you would certainly think that is ludacris and stop using the radio.

My bandwidth quota being eated up by unwanted ad's is essentially the same thing, the risk of going over has no impact on the marketer who caused the problem and there is no mechanisim in place for me to be compensated. Why? because that's life and I should get used to it? I won't even get into the battery drain some ads cause on my smartphone.

The ad may be 40K but how much bandwidth is the marketer using to deliver the 40k ad? You may think it's petty but I predict in the future this will become a hot button topic for some.

 

[awwnaw]

The point I think you keep missing is that you are downloading and digesting the CONTENT for free, the price of that pleasure is the ads, along with the bandwidth. Yes, in your radio example-exactomundo! If it affected your gas mileage SO significantly and it wasn't something you thoroughly enjoyed except for the exchange of value: the radio content for some gas mileage then I would expect you to shut it off. Switch to your iPod that you paid for, and listen to the songs that you also paid for. Also online, there's this thing called ad serving, and what happens is both the publisher and the advertiser pay to serve the ad. You are still downloading the ad yourself when you download the page which is why there are limitations to size but yes they do also pay.

And I'm definitely not suggesting that the onus is SQUARELY on the public to manage how they are being advertised to. I did say that there are exhaustive measures in place for advertising standards and practices to protect the consumer, HOWEVER it is definitely not a perfect system. Consumers should recognize that and take personal measures for personal responsibility for free content and entertainment they are accessing where it may negatively affect minors they are responsible for. Advertisers and publishers must remain (and for the most part do) vigilant to ensure that consumers abd their data are not exploited or abused.

 

[Dialog]

Surely Google is innovating around this issue as we speak?

 

[awwnaw]

Which? Privacy options... Then yes. Look a the tribe ad, most have a litte triangle in the top right next to the words 'ad choices'. Click the fucker.
With regard to hyper targeted advertising... Google is one of the first and spends craploads on it. And resells what they can't quickly sell to others on ad exchanges.

So ya they've definitely 'innovated'.

 

[derek]

see this is what i take issue with, that the onus for how the public is advertised to rests squarely on the public's shoulders, yet when a concern is raised it's blow off as insignificant ie your comment about the amount of bandwidth use. it has nothing to do with the amount, I am essentially paying for something I don't want period, yet the excuse is we'll it's not that big a deal.

I want you to think about that for a minute, If the mileage was reduced on your car because of how often you listen to the radio you would certainly think that is ludacris and stop using the radio.

My bandwidth quota being eated up by unwanted ad's is essentially the same thing, the risk of going over has no impact on the marketer who caused the problem and there is no mechanisim in place for me to be compensated. Why? because that's life and I should get used to it? I won't even get into the battery drain some ads cause on my smartphone.

The ad may be 40K but how much bandwidth is the marketer using to deliver the 40k ad? You may think it's petty but I predict in the future this will become a hot button topic for some.

you can't be serious. that's a pretty weak argument considering all the content you get for free as awwnaw pointed out. this is akin to arguing that newspapers or magazines wasted your time and effort by making you take time to flip the pages of advertising, for which you actually paid for content. that's time you could have been making money!

 

[kyfe]

you can't be serious. that's a pretty weak argument considering all the content you get for free as awwnaw pointed out. this is akin to arguing that newspapers or magazines wasted your time and effort by making you take time to flip the pages of advertising, for which you actually paid for content. that's time you could have been making money!

so to take it a step further, if a door to door sales man came to your door 3 times a day unsolicited just because you were on Homestars 2 weeks ago.

you'd have no problem with that?

 

[awwnaw]

That's a leap.

What it's actually more like is the Shoppers down the street sending you coupons in the mail because your optimum card indicates that you spend $200 a month there and are a high value customer.

 

[acheron]

I already use adblock and donottrackme has blocked 22,000 trackers since I installed it on January 9.