Behavioral online advertising, it's giving me the creeps!
I'm sure Andrea has struck a cord here. She has hit on a new marketing technique that is a bit creepy if it has been following you around. She also left us an "opt-out" link to get a little more privacy when we're online. Use it if all of the ads on your sidebar are creeping out.
I am a big planner and rarely buy anything on impulse. Well, okay, except for shoes. For the most part though, I research, collect ideas, develop a vision and then budget according to my final plan. My approach means that I spend a good amount of time online looking stuff up, saving possibilities and Pinteresting (is that a word?).
But then Google et al decided that stalking people sounds like a lot of fun and money and they invented online behavioral advertising. It gave me the creeps the first time I noticed a product similar to the one I had just researched popping up everywhere I went online.
It still gives me the creeps. Those advertising dollars are completely lost on me. It's like inviting a person who is stalking you into your home. Would you like a cup of tea with those binoculars?
It is not enticing me to visit a page. Au contraire! I tend to avoid the companies that are haunting appear to follow me everywhere I go in the virtual world.
I was talking with a friend about this very topic the other day and he told me about a website currently in its BETA stage: Opt Out From Online Behavioral Advertising.
How did I not know about that? Even Facebook (imagine that) has a link to it under your settings → Facebook Ads. Maybe I did and just didn't pay much attention to it because this whole targeted online advertising thing didn't seem as obvious at first.
The consumer opt-out page is a self-regulatory program (flaw!). Nevertheless, I was able to successfully opt-out from 120 companies who specialize in creeping people out online behavioral advertising. Onehundredtwenty! There are 2 other companies who participate but their "status is currently unavailable".
I am sharing this info because chances are that there are others who are just as creeped out as me and are not aware of the opt out page.
If you decide to follow the link, please know that you'll have to do the same for all the browsers you use on all your electronic devices you surf the web on. And you should do so periodically.
Behavioral online advertising, it's giving me the creeps!
ANDREA BEDARD, M.A. ~ THOMPSON COMPANY, REALTORS ~ LIVING MARYLAND BLIPS
Thompson Company, REALTORS
15711 New Hampshire Ave Silver Spring, MD 20905
o: (301) 384-9177 c: (240)593-2860
andreabedard@mris.com
Maryland Home SearchAndrea is a REALTOR® based in Silver Spring, MD. She has enjoyed assisting buyers, sellers and renters since 2004 and focuses on residential Real Estate in Montgomery and Howard County, MD. Andrea is a proud mom of two girls and hobby decorator with a vintage soul. She enjoys everything beautiful in life and always answers the phone with a smile.
All photographs are my own and I'd like to keep it that way. All information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
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