Useful or Invasive? Your thoughts on Personalized Advertisements

Sep 1

posted by Dr. John Gironda in Advertising | 46 Comments

Personalized advertising (sometimes referred to as behavioral re-targeting) represents a new and emerging trend in the field of online advertising. Through the use of enhanced online data collection techniques, marketers can now craft seemingly made-to-order advertisements tailored to a specific individual. Numerous websites and services have begun hosting personalized banner and/or text ads, such as YouTube, Facebook, Hotmail, and Gmail. In addition, the technique is being used by more and more firms such as Amazon, MetLife, Dollar Thrifty, Staples, Joseph A. Bank, Orbitz, Zappos, and T-Mobile.

Through advances in data collection that allow individual consumers to be identified and their behavior analyzed, personalized advertising promises to deliver consumers more relevant ads. This is because the ads are created from specific consumer information and explicit and/or implied preferences obtained from previously monitored online activity including search entries, cookie clickstream data, and/or user profiles.

You may or may not have heard the term personalized advertising before, however you have most likely been served a personalized advertisement at some point. If you have conducted an online search for a particular product, and/or viewed that product on an e-commerce website, a laptop computer or tablet, you have probably noticed an advertisement for that same exact product, from the same seller, following you around the Internet from site to site for about a week or so.

The logic behind personalized ads, is that the increase in advertisement relevance should lead to a number of benefits including, more effective online display ads, less wasted advertising dollars, increased consumer satisfaction, and increased profits, just to name a few. Therefore, personalized advertising has the potential to benefit both consumers and firms alike. This has led to excitement regarding the huge potential that personalized advertising may hold. Hailed as a breakthrough because it will allow for the right person to receive the right ad at the right time, personalized advertising has even been touted as the savior of online display ads.

While personalized advertising seemingly holds great potential to transform online advertising and provide benefits to both marketers and consumers alike; consumer acceptance of the technique still remains a significant hurdle for personalized advertising to overcome.

One of the main issues concerning the lack of acceptance of personalized advertising involves the privacy concerns of consumers who do not yet seem comfortable with the immense levels of tracking, data collection and selling of consumer information that takes place in order to allow personalized advertising to happen. Recent studies by Pew Research reported that 68% of consumers were uneasy about personalized advertisements because they do not like their online activities tracked and analyzed, while 73% felt that it was an invasion of their privacy. In addition, there have also been concerns regarding consumer displeasure with personalized advertisements displayed on social networking sites (SNSs) that explicitly use information from a user's SNS profile in the ad, such as the name of a brand that the user has previously "liked" or "followed". In addition, SNS ads have also utilized information from users' SNS posts and previous browsing history of other websites to tailor advertisements. Finally, there also seems to be a thin line between personalization and invasiveness in advertising. For example, personalized advertisements may sometimes actually be too accurate or "over-personalized", meaning that the level of precision is too high, with the advertisement containing too much personal information about an individual to the point where the ad may be perceived as disturbing and almost "creepy".

Personalized advertising seems to be one of a number of online data collection issues under scrutiny right now, since recent breaches of online security systems due to fraud and/or hacking, have increased concerns over the safety and security of consumers' online personal and financial information. These concerns have led to calls for increased consumer privacy protections in a number of global regions including both the United States and European Union.

So where do you come down on personalized advertisements? Do you find them useful, relevant, annoying, an invasion of your privacy, or something else? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

*Image source: MyBuys, Inc., 2015, "Personalized Display Ads"

John Gironda, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Marketing in the H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship at Nova Southeastern University. His teaching and research interests include digital and social media marketing, consumer behavior, marketing strategy, advertising, personal selling, and sales management. He can be reached at: jgironda@nova.edu; http://www.business.nova.edu/Faculty.cfm/jgironda/

This entry was posted on September 1, 2015 at 9:51 AM and has received 7431 views. There are currently 46 comments. Print this entry. Download attachment.

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• #1 by Jose Tavarez on 9/1/15 - 1:43 PM

  

  This is the reality we live in now. It's all about big data. Big data vs privacy. Companies, in order to attract customers and provide good customer experience, ads and marketing campaign, are now personally tailored to "individuals". Emails and online searches are analyzed for key words/trends to display the best possible ads to attract customers. I'm not fan of it.

• #2 by Mandy Sparkman on 9/1/15 - 2:06 PM

  

  Personalized marketing is a huge breakthrough for businesses looking to maximize their marketing budget. As mentioned in the blog, when ads become too precise or personalized, it can turn off the consumer. I have experienced a few scenarios where I felt like an ad knew too much about me. Although it would not completely keep me from buying whatever product being presented, it makes me more cognizant about how much of my personal information is being recorded.

• #3 by Tremille D'Aguiar on 9/1/15 - 6:44 PM

  

  I do agree that personalized advertisements have indeed proved to be a huge breakthrough for marketers as they are better able to tailor ads specifically geared towards meeting the intended recipients’ needs. This in turn provides us (the consumer) the convenience of having that product info right at our fingertips, thus reducing the hassle of product searching. I actually have found deals that way as I received popup ads reflecting a discounted price of an item I was previously searching. So in that sense, it can be useful. However I also see the privacy concerns being raised. One could pose the question of “How much information is considered ‘too much’?” I think if they were to limit the amount of information being tracked or to have an option where people can opt out of having their personal information tracked without their consent, it would be a win-win situation. When the ads become overbearing for me, I typically modify my privacy and browsing data settings. That could be an option for some.

• #4 by Eric Ginsberg on 9/1/15 - 7:04 PM

  

  Personalized marketing has enabled a way for customers to be engaged with the advertisements that are being displayed to them. This is a strong and successful marketing tactic that uses collected infomation about the given user to enable "personalized" ads to be shown to them. Personally I feel it is not an invasion of one's privacy as this information is readily accessible to anyone. It does make you realize that more recorded information is out there about you then one regularly thinks. Technology advances on a daily basis and stronger encyrption and user protection methods should be looked into to avoid information security breech as well as provide more consumer protection. Personalized marketing is a part of the present and I have a feeling will only become more detailed in the future, which is why the proper precautionary measures should be looked into.

• #5 by Wiehnie Guerrier on 9/1/15 - 10:44 PM

  

  As a frequent internet user, I do find the idea of personalized advertisements a bit disturbing because it does in a way violates your privacy. The fact that these advertisements are made so easily are reasons why most individuals are not comfortable with it. However, for a business angle these advertisements are clearly beneficial and allow for increased profits and less wasted advertisements. Therefore, I do feel that it just depends on the person/situation. In my opinion, personalized advertisements are invasive.

• #6 by Michael Cavett on 9/2/15 - 9:56 AM

  

  I personally find personalized advertisements both useful and invasive. I say this because there is a inherent value for both consumer and advertiser of receiving a targeted ad based on perceived preferences. However, the methods of obtaining those preferences aren't something i would embrace because of the lack of overall security and the overall "creepy" nature. I personally have seen but not accepted or used targeted ads but i'm sure others have and benefited. I would rather receive ads through more traditional means.

• #7 by John Gironda on 9/2/15 - 4:01 PM

  

  Thanks for the great comments. I think they definitely underscore the double-edged sword represented here. On one hand, personalized advertising may provide much more relevant and useful ads. However, marketers and consumers have to decide if those ads are worth it, which as we've seen is a tough decision to make.

• #8 by Peggy Vasco on 9/2/15 - 8:00 PM

  

  I understand the benefits to a company utilizing personalized ads as that company could realize increased sales, and possibly reduce their advertising budget. However, I feel they are an invasion of my privacy. I would rather not have my internet searches tracked. I have noticed for some time that when I search Google on my laptop, that data also shows up on the phone and tablet when I start a search on those devices. This just makes me feel uneasy.

• #9 by Michael-Anthony Foulkes on 9/3/15 - 3:18 PM

  

  I recently discovered Personalized Advertisements. I didn't know that's what they were called, but I realized all the stores I conduct online shopping were coming up in my newsfeed on Facebook. I understand the value in personalized advertisements; it really should help with producing higher conversion ratios. However, I do believe consumers should be able to opt out of this type of marketing. I don't like the fact that my searches are somewhere collected. It seems that there is very little we are able to do on the Internet with any degree of privacy. I think this will help companies in the short term, but I think personal advertisements will open many companies to lawsuits. I don't think this is a black and white topic, I think it will need to be heavily regulated but could still provide great benefits to marketers and consumers while maintaining their privacy.

• #10 by Ellen Young on 9/3/15 - 7:26 PM

  

  In as much as I understand the cost benefit of personalized marketing to companies, I see it to be an invasion of privacy and irritating sometimes. Personalized marketing increases my feeling of insecurity about how much of my personal information is being collected and shared among marketer. Also it’s annoying when I’m busy doing my search and these ad keep showing up on my screen.

• #11 by Maryam Hemmali on 9/3/15 - 8:53 PM

  

  I find personalized ads in my email, social networks and search engines on a daily basis. You're absolutely correct in that some of the ads are relevant and useful, but some are over-personalized and can be considered creepy especially if caught off-guard. I always link this back to how much information is shared in order to create these personalized advertisements and it would be ideal if I can "opt-out" of these personalized advertisements as a consumer.

• #12 by Eliana Monaco on 9/4/15 - 1:55 AM

  

  I actually find personalized advertisements beneficial for both the seller and the consumer as long as they don't appear as pop ads.
  I am an avid reader and I love to be able to see other suggestions based on the books I am searching.
  Nowadays technology is able to do so many interesting things with the data that gets collected.

• #13 by Adrian Phen on 9/4/15 - 11:54 AM

  

  On a personal level, I'm stuck in between. I like to watch YouTube clips from time to time. And the one thing I enjoy is the fact YouTube has a feeder screen that shows "suggested videos." And in fact, I have clicked on some of those suggested videos and come across some great content.
  
  But on the other hand, I feel that it might cross the line too when companies get too personalized. Meaning, advertisements follow you from site to site. I don't mind personalized advertisements, but they should not follow me from site to site, rather stay on one vendor's site.

• #14 by Gigliola Rios on 9/4/15 - 2:19 PM

  

  I believe that personalized advertisements can be a bit excessive at times. I am the type of person that likes to read about different things that do not necessarily relate to me, and when I get the same ads over and over again, it pushes me away as a consumer instead of reeling me in and keeping me interested. I also dislike the fact that this happens when I try to perform internet searches as well. When I visit Google.com, I am searching for something different that I know nothing about. I am not interested in receiving information for something that I already have an interest in. I feel like this is a contributor to the problem as well. I do not see a use for personalized advertisements, because I personally do not gain anything by them.

• #15 by Andrew Palmer on 9/4/15 - 4:36 PM

  

  I find personalized ads are very useful providing there are sufficient controls placed around them. Today I feel it is in my power to delete cookies, make my surfing history private, or edit how the data is used. At first I was taken a back when I realized an item I looked at weeks ago kept popping up on every page I visited but I get it. I'm going to see ads anyway why not see something that interests you. I wish I could do that with TV. Most importantly though is the fact that there is still some control for the consumer. If it becomes annoying I'll simply adjust my settings.

• #16 by Rolando Santos on 9/4/15 - 7:26 PM

  

  First of all, great article. I consider that personalized advertisement is a great marketing strategy for companies to evaluate how consumers react to their new lines of products and services. Although consumers might be hesitant regarding their privacy control, I also consider that by just adjusting your web surfing settings this is not that big of an issue. I have actually found really good deals online because of personalized marketing. For me is a win-win if you are the kind of consumer who enjoys surfing the web in the lookout for deals.

• #17 by Marin Daley on 9/4/15 - 8:17 PM

  

  I am not a fan of personalized advertisements at all. I think they are extremely invasive and it bothers me that so much information about myself and my internet use is stored. While on Facebook a few days ago there was an advertisement to purchase a sweater and the quote on the sweater was "I may live in the USA but i'll always be a British Girl". This was frightening to me because these personalized ads have become so intrusive that they know that I used to live in London but now live in the US. I understand why it can be good because you can often find good deals as it tracks the shops you like and things that you may like to buy. So sometimes they can be helpful however overall I believe it is a huge violation of privacy. There are definitely some positives but I do not know that the positives outweigh the many negatives.

• #18 by Cory Yown on 9/4/15 - 10:08 PM

  

  I view personal advertisements as the next logical step in targeted advertising. By analyzing potential customers' online footprint, companies can concentrate marking efforts on consumers most likely to buy their products. Although I don't feel these ads are an invasion of privacy, they don't appeal to me because I don't like products being forced on me, even though it might be something I'm interested in. Because of this, I try to ignore these type ads.

• #19 by Meghan Fernandez on 9/5/15 - 12:44 PM

  

  I’m not fond of advertisements in general, as I think they are redundant and forceful. If I had to choose between personalized and random ads, I would choose personal, since they are at least relevant to what I want or need. As for privacy, it doesn’t trouble me since I have nothing to hide when it comes to my Internet activity. On the other hand, what concerns me is that the more we allow, the more they may want access too, and then when does it stop?

• #20 by Grenisha Williams on 9/5/15 - 6:12 PM

  

  Personally, I am not a fan of personalized marketing however, I do understand that it is the times that we are living in and the benefits it has for businesses looking to maximize their marketing efforts. I always feel a little uneasy when I leave one page on the internet and see the marketing ads follow me to the next site I am on. Being victim of identify theft one should be able to understand the uneasy feeling that personalized marketing can bring. Corporations should respect the feelings and privacy of their consumers; personalized marketing to me just goes a little too far. I am so paranoid sometimes when shopping online that I periodically sometimes 2 to 3 times a day will just delete my cookies. It's nerve wrecking to say the least.

• #21 by Fredericka Wilkinson on 9/5/15 - 8:06 PM

  

  Personalized advertising has become one very important strategical tool in the marketing of products and services. There are companies that have considered it to be a profitable investment that can give them a significant competitive advantage. On the other hand, there are consumers that are fully aware that this is a tactic which is used for capturing their attention, and targets them by appealing to their unique needs and desires. In spite of this, one major concern of personalized advertising is privacy. Many consumers are not comfortable with personalized advertising because they perceive it as invasion of their privacy. Moreover, data collection allows individual consumers to be identified and their behavior analyzed. The risk of breaches of online security systems due to an increase in cyber-crimes have increased concerns over the safety and security of consumers' online personal information.

• #22 by kenny drayton on 9/5/15 - 10:49 PM

  

  I do not necessarily mind this type of advertisement since I am not a "window shopper". I typically will not look up an item unless I am considering purchasing it. In this case the advertising serves me as a link back to the product if I decide to make a purchase; the time span it takes the ads to refresh (1-3 days) is about how long I take to decide whether or not I am making the purchase anyways.

• #23 by Liwendy seraphin on 9/6/15 - 6:33 PM

  

  Personally, i really don't like personalized advertisement. As a customer, i don't feel comfortable with targeted online ads especially when my behavior is being tracked and analyzed. However,it is a great tactic for marketers to recapture consumers.

• #24 by Ruthann McKenzie on 9/6/15 - 8:35 PM

  

  Personal advertising is better than traditional advertising ways. What is the purpose of knowing your target audience and not being able to market directly, or personally, to them? Although, I do agree personal advertising should not be too invasive.

• #25 by Anyah Morrison on 9/6/15 - 8:48 PM

  

  Although personal advertisements can come with several benefits including increase in revenue and customer satisfaction, I cannot say I am a fan of it. Personal advertisements has always made me feel a little uneasy; the fact that they are able to promote merchandise related to collected information stored in my computer history is a bit disturbing to me. I tend to ignore personal advertisements. On the other hand technology only advances day by day so I cant say this is a surprise to me. personal advertisement has become a great marketing technique.

• #26 by Taryn Hubbard on 9/6/15 - 10:44 PM

  

  While personalized advertising can be beneficial to both the consumers and the companies, it crosses the line. I believe that monitoring and tracking our online activities is a violation of our privacy. Where do we draw the line??? As we grow as a society, and become more advanced in technology, it's becoming easier for companies to get a hold of our information. We could complain of personalized advertising, but at the end of the day, our information will be captured regardless, rather it is obtained by hackers, credit card companies, or sold to telemarketers, it will be captured. This situation is somewhat similar to the situation with the NSA listening to our phone calls. It has the right intentions, but it still violates our rights.

• #27 by Mariangelix Cordero on 9/7/15 - 1:23 AM

  

  As a consumer, this kind of marketing is a little scary because it makes me feel like I am providing too much information and I fear I'm losing any privacy that I have. Now as a marketer, this is a great approach to providing people what they want and understanding shopper's habits. It definitely helps us and adds value to strategic planning and creating programs that meet specific customer needs. It also helps with budgets by allowing a marketing team to target the correct customer and not spend money or time on someone who is not going to buy their product. I have personally experienced the plus side on the business end of this, but as a consumer I understand and I have felt like some ads on facebook have been a little too personal and that's scary. I hope we can find a balance that benefits both sides equally!

• #28 by John Gironda on 9/8/15 - 2:19 PM

  

  Thanks for so many great comments on the post. I think they really show just how much of a hot button issue online privacy still is and how personalized advertisers have frankly done a poor job of gaining public acceptance of the practice.
  
  No matter what people will have concerns over online privacy. However, it seems that advertisers could have done a lot in terms of reducing those concerns, such as providing consumers with more control over their data, better explaining how that data is handled, providing some assurances of anonymity, or simply better explaining the benefits of personalized ads. For many consumers this would have been much better than just having these advertisements start to appear in their web browsers out of nowhere, which is essentially what happened.

• #29 by Jade Alexander on 9/14/15 - 8:36 AM

  

  Personalized advertisement: not a convenience, it is however disturbingly uncomfortable. Retailers and marketing moguls have finally found a way to legally interweave their way into the lives of their consumers. Personalized marketing-just a fancy way to say “we are snoopers. “ Consumers need to become less passive and begin to take back their rights to privacy.

• #30 by Marsha Mincieli on 11/4/15 - 11:23 PM

  

  I remember vividly the first time I encountered personalized advertising. It was after I tried to find a pair of shoes that I absolutely needed to have online because they were sold out of my size at my favorite Macy’s store. If I remember correctly, I googled the brand, color and size and spent about an hour exploring all the sites that carried the sought after item. To my dismay, they were sold out of my size online too. The next day when I accessed my email account, I noticed the said shoes in a banner ad on the right hand side of the page. It was from one of the stores that I had checked the night. Without giving it a second thought, I clicked on the ad. Maybe my size had been restocked. Of course it had not, but as the day progressed and I moved from site to site those darn shoes followed me where ever I went. The more I saw them, the more I had to have them! I eventually bought them about a week later, not online but at another store in the local mall. Since then I have gotten used to my online activities popping up on banner ads everywhere. However, after my brain had cooled down from the shoe buying frenzy, it began to make me feel downright uneasy. If my shopping searches were being analyzed and dissected without my consent or knowledge then what about all my other online activities. I don’t remember ever signing a consent agreement to have my cyber-movements tracked. If we nonchalantly allow these breaches into our personal privacy to go unchecked then where do we begin to draw the line. We constantly hear phrases like “Consumer Privacy Protection Act”, “Privacy Act”, all sorts of “Acts”, that are supposed to safeguard an invasion of our personal privacy. I foresee more stringent legislature in the future on this issue, but the obstacle to overcome, will remain in having them properly enforced.

• #31 by Fayad Roye on 11/6/15 - 11:00 PM

  

  Personally, I am not a fan of personalized advertisement. Amazon, Facebook, YouTube and Marca (A sports newspaper), are the top websites I use.Lately, all of these websites have become saturated with information related to previous searches or "things you might like", which I find annoying. In my opinion, Facebook transformed from a Social Networking Site to a small marketplace filled with advertising. Also, privacy is a big concern for most individuals to the point information displayed can appear to be "creepy" due to the high level of personalized information.

• #32 by Brian Lupo on 11/7/15 - 8:31 PM

  

  Unfortunately, this is what the world has come to: we no longer have the privacy, or at the least a viable option at privacy, when it comes to what we do on the internet and even over the phone. I am not necessarily for or against personalized advertisements, but if I wanted the product I searched for, I would have bought it. If I searched for it, it's in my mind and I will come back to it when I am ready to purchase. The personalized advertisements can backfire by leaving a bitter taste in your mouth, almost like the obnoxious used car salesman who keeps calling you after you've left the dealership.

• #33 by Javin peat on 1/14/16 - 4:21 AM

  

  Representation of thoughts are very good and easy to understand many thanks for it
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• #34 by Amoy on 1/15/16 - 9:03 AM

  

  I found this post to be very interesting due to the fact that I have experienced personalized advertisements without really noticing it. I have seen that once I search for a product I will see and add for it in my yahoo account, I figured it was because I just search for the product, but never thought about how they knew I was searching for the product.

• #35 by ChrisM on 1/17/16 - 10:21 PM

  

  Make advertisement on a personal level. That is 95 percent of marketing. I use social media to accomplish this.
  
  Chris
  Owner CEL Financial Services
  http://www.taxprepfillmore.com/income-tax-glossary...

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• #43 by Sophia Vargas on 9/29/17 - 10:19 PM

  

  I really admire that someone has finally addressed this topic. I personally find this annoying and excessive as a mean of targeting an audience that finds the product or brand at hand relevant to them. I would say it's pretty discomforting to see something I searched for or a product I viewed a couple minutes ago appear on a completely unrelated page I am visiting. When is it considered too relevant?

• #44 by Syed Gilani on 11/5/17 - 9:35 PM

  

  I believe personalized advertisements are very beneficial but at the same time have to ability to be interpreted as invasive. Precise targeting can save a lot of money for companies when it comes to advertising. It cuts down how many irrelevant consumers view the ads and it will only display them to customers who may be interested. This may be considered invasion of privacy to some people, who should be given the option to not share their personal information and see personalized ads. On the other hand, some people who do not mind seeing ads may prefer the ads to be targeted rather than uninteresting and random.

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