Have you ever noticed that an advertisement comes up during your social media or internet browsing that awkwardly relates to a conversation you just had earlier with a friend or colleague? Maybe you thought it was awkwardly coincidental that you came across an ad on your tv that matches something you were searching on the internet earlier?
Well, this tech corner is here to teach you, that this was not coincidental or an odd occurrence. This is done through targeted and behavioral marketing based on tracking and collecting data on sites you’ve visited, things you’ve talked about, and more.
Targeted marketing is a strategy that involves using data to create personalized campaigns, aimed at a specific target audience. Behavioral marketing is the strategy of targeting leads or customers based on specific actions they take on a website, pages they’ve viewed, and specific items they may be looking for.
So how does that explain your tv showing you a commercial based on something you searched earlier in the day? Remember that our daily devices are now “smart” meaning they have internet connectivity. Your computer and tv are connected the same internet source/provider in your home or business. Your computer and internet device create a history of your searches, sometimes referred to as cookies. Based on these cookies, they create a history of your activities, thus how your tv, which is connected to that same internet source, begins to show you ads targeted at your historical searches.
Your cell phone, which is also a smart device, has built in “assistants” that you regularly use to look things up for you, but also listen and create tracking data which feeds into your browser and internet history.
This tech corner article is not meant to scare you into dropping all of your smart devices and going back to stone and tablet. More of an educational moment to help you understand why you may sometimes feel like it was odd for you to have talked about something, or looked something up, and now that’s the only advertisement that keeps appearing for you wherever you go.
Thank you for taking the time to read the monthly tech corner articles. Wishing all of our readers safe holidays and travels, a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year! See you in 2025!
