Like, we’re all targeted customers now
If you’ve ever visited a major indoor shopping mall, you’ve probably seen a store called, As Seen on TV. It’s a phrase that has often been a part of some print ads and suggests that, because a product has been advertised on television, it must be good.
Right. Sure.
But if philosophers are fond of hypothesizing that we are in the postmodern era of thought, mass marketers might mention that we may be nearing the post-television age of advertising.
Google is leading all search engines in user popularity and is therefore leading in search engine advertising as the world of mass marketing is turing to the sophisticated ability of Google to offer very targeted demographics. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
It’s not that TV is still not a major player as an advertising venue; it’s just that the Internet is growing in influence at a much faster rate of speed.
Low cost, long reach
Here’s how Ad Age describes it:
“The theory is that wary financial investors will applaud spending on social media because of its lower cost and growing reach.”
The leading magazine on the advertising industry is quick to point out that the single largest share of advertising bucks still go to television, but that more and more advertisers are pulling dollars from print and radio to pursue social media marketing.
Not an equal playing field
But only the big players in that world are deriving the greatest benefit of the shift to social media.
Ad Age continues, “Online advertising appears vigorous but look under the hood and you’ll find it’s running largely on Google and Facebook.
‘The rich are getting richer,’ said one digital-media executive, referring to the two giants, which continue to put distance between themselves and the pack. ‘All our clients call me and ask, ‘What is our Facebook strategy?’ — despite a wide lack of agreement on the effectiveness of social-media advertising, the exec said. ‘We are seeing increases in spending motivated less by financial evidence than a belief that “they have to be there.’
“Facebook, of course, is only too happy to foster that belief, as marketers described an aggressive push by the social network as it looks to ring up ad sales before its initial public offering. Brian Weiser, analyst at Pivotal Research, estimates that Facebook grew 46% and Google 22% in online display in the first quarter.”
The Age of Google
Google outruns all other search engines in popularity. Every second, so many people visit Google that advertisers willingly pay large sums for on-screen advertising space on pages with search results. This is targeted marketing at its best.
Someone who is looking for information on vegetarian diets, for example, is a more likely customer for a store like Trader Joe’s than someone who is a meat-and potatoes customer.
The algorithms that Google’s search engine uses provide an unrivaled linkage of products and potential customers. And that is a dream come true for advertisers. It’s not a bad dream come true for Google, either, which sees much of its $23 billion income originate from advertising.
Slicing and dicing
Says media scholar John Vivian, “In effect, Google slices and dices the mass audience in ways that give advertisers unusual efficiency in reaching the people they seek. In advertising lingo, there is less wastage. Why, for example, should a marinara company buy space in a food magazine whose readers include people with tomato allergies when Google offers a targeted audience of people looking for spaghetti sauce recipes with nary a one among them who’s allergic to tomatoes?”
If Google is king or queen of the search engines, then Facebook leads all social media sites in advertising lure, according to Vivian and Ad Age.
Facebook is the leading social media site for advertising and the innovation of its "Like" button is helpful to advertisers but controversial to many. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
Behavioral targeting
Facebook focuses more on behavioral targeting, collecting personal information on its users who are, coincidentally, the potential buyers of advertised products. The personal data of Facebook users is organized and catalogued in ways that offer a mother lode of targeted consumer data for mass marketers.
Vivian points out in The Media of Mass Communication, that each month the 200 million+ users holding Facebook accounts post some 4 billion bits of information, 850 million photos and 8 million videos, all of which says a great deal about the behavior, likes and dislikes of these individuals.
Members offer it up
“Facebook has incredible potential to deliver customers to advertisers based on information that members submit themselves … when they communicate with friends, identify their ‘likes’ … and share their interests,” Vivian notes.
“The ‘Likebutton’ introduced in 2010, allows advertisers to shower anyone who clicks it,
The Facebook "Like" icon is a boon to marketers and a concern to privacy advocates. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
as well as their Facebook friends, with messages. Within a year the button was on 2 million websites. The button is a vehicle for what’s called “referral traffic.” Advertisers and other sites report huge increase in traffic.”
Privacy concerns
Of course, many worry about the further erosion of privacy that comes from simply clicking a “Like” button, because it sends an instant message to advertisers that here is a potential target. As a result, many Facebook users are more judicious in deciding when to hit that button.
For its part, Facebook says it doesn’t pass on information to other parties without the user’s permission, although it does use the aggregated data. Few of us actually read the legal agreement which we agree to on Facebook but, if we did, we would find this: “We serve the ad to people who meet the criteria the advertiser selected but we do not tell the advertiser who any of those people are.”
Like so many other aspects of the Internet, the social media seem destined to be here for a long time to come. And anytime a couple hundred million people decide to flock to a media site, you just know the advertisers are going to be there in the midst of them.
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Comments
It is easy for the average user to forget that web sites that provide services such as Google and Facebook are actually for-profit business that take in revenue. The average user is probably not at all aware that their activity is being monitored and then used to tailor advertising specifically to them as most user agreements are pages of fine print which hardly anyone ever reads. These issues bring up many ethical questions as our lives become more reliant on electronic and web based services. One issues that I am currently interested in involves the way smartphone apps can use the phone’s on-board GPS to locate a person and send them advertisements based on their current location. With this technology, businesses such as restaurants who require their clientele to be physically present have an entirely new option for advertising.
Justin, I think you’re right that the average facebook or Google user is unaware that their activity is being monitored. I know that for me personally, I knew that facebook monitored my online activity on facebook, but then when I would leave facebook it continued to monitor my activity on other sites. The next time I opened facebook it said on my timeline that I had view German Shepherd puppies for adoption. Now I always log out of facebook when I’m finished. Aside from facebook posting websites I’ve visited, I do like when websites I’ve visited display ads on other websites I’m on. It reminds to check out the new product they’re displaying. Behavioral targeting has become mainstream for online advertising and I suspect that it will only continue to grow stronger in the future.
I agree with Justin and Marykarinna that the average consumer doesn’t realize how much of their online activity is being monitored, and I would even go so far as to say few people realize the extent to which all of their actions are used for hyper-targeted marketing. This post reminds me of a slightly terrifying article I read on Forbes a few months ago about how Target’s data-mining techniques track “pregnancy prediction scores.” If a woman buys certain seemingly unrelated products like supplements, lotions, and cotton balls, Target knows the likelihood of that woman being pregnant. The company uses that information to send the customer coupons for products like diapers and baby food. Target’s creepy methodology made the news when the company discovered a Minnesota teenager was pregnant before her father even knew. He found out his daughter’s secret when the diaper coupons arrived in the mail. Here’s a link to the story: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/02/16/how-target-figured-out-a-teen-girl-was-pregnant-before-her-father-did/
Though Target’s marketing strategies were based on in-store purchasing and tied to a credit card, I think the practice is similar to what happens online via Google and Facebook today. I think marketers have to ask themselves how much is too much. In a similar way to News of the World going too far with its “investigative journalism” of Milly Dowler’s kidnapping and of Hugh Grant’s telephone messages, marketing cannot overstep the people’s right to privacy. Vivian said, “strict free press advocates argue that the media should have no limits in pursuing information,” but I believe the perception of invasion of privacy is a real concern in the Internet age and that some element of privacy should ultimately be protected.
In this week’s module, we read a lot about how media are profit-making businesses, and that they make a lot of their profit from advertising. I think it’s important to remember that businesses who advertise are also seeking profit.
Digital media have already challenged “traditional media” to change the way they run their businesses of creating and distributing content, (Contrary to what McMillian preached, Vivian writes digital media have made traditional media push consumer focus to the content instead of the medium.) but digital media aren’t through wreaking change on the traditional media outlets.
Technology allows advertisers to be a lot more specific on who they are targeting. As advertisers move away from “spray and pray” advertising offered by traditional media, these media outlets will have to change their approach their advertising. In the CNN video interview with several newspaper editors, the host asked if newspapers damaged themselves with their slow response to the changing media environment.
If traditional news media hope to remain viable, and want to continue to earn most of their profit through advertising, they are going to have to think of something quick. With advertising options like the ones described in this blog, “spray and pray” isn’t going to cut it anymore.
It is so interesting to me that when you click the “Like” button on facebook, that then notifies the advertisers that we are a potential client. So what we click and what we pursue on facebook is what the advertisers see and then they pursue us after that because of our interest in it. That is so interesting to me. It’s also crazy how much money advertisers put into putting ads on google and Facebook. But it makes sense to me now because this article explained how popular google and facebook are. Since a lot of the world is looking at those websites as I write this and your ad for your company pops up, you could get a lot of business because a lot of people will be seeing it. So crazy to me.
I do think advertisements are becoming a bit ridiculous as time progresses throughout my life. When YouTube first came out, advertisements were scarce, but now they are more common than uncommon before I watch a video. It’s very disturbing because so many products immediately interfere with my life because of how much money they want to pay and companies have no problem with taking advantage of the side cash. I do believe corporations should start thinking of their customers and how they feel about advertisement because there’s only one time a year that people ever look forward to commercials and that happens to be the Super Bowl. I think paying good attention to how your customers feel about your advertisements is a step in the right direction as to how one can have happy customers but have advertisements in more creative ways such as a concert sponsorship or a creative and funny commercial.
It would be bad for any company in this day in age not to be using social media advertising. Companies can reach so many people through the social media and then that can lead to their advertisements to reach those people’s friends and families. It is crazy to think about how you click a
“like” button, and Facebook will notify the companies about the subject you liked. Social media advertising does not seem like it will be going away any time soon so we mind as well get used to it.
It’s getting harder and harder to avoid the annoying advertisements on the internet. The majority of sites have them all around the window. Although these advertisements are quite bothersome, I cannot imagine what a company would do if they weren’t on the internet. Way to many people live on their computer now, and see all of these ads. The smartest decision for a company is to conform to the world of technology even if they don’t particularly care to.
It is interesting to see how much the like button has been used. Whether it’s on Instagram, Youtube, or any other website, it definitely brings in traffic. I’ve noticed the side of my Facebook lined with ads that I can tell cater to me. They either advertise products I recently viewed online, or have some sort of connection with something I liked. I can tell that advertisers are targeting the viewers online and on Facebook. It is important to note that privacy may be breached when advertisers can see everything we do online.
This is very interesting. I had no idea that this much algorithums and science goes into simple liking of pages. Now that I know it is such an amazing tool to use and I am beyond amazed. The related searches narrow advertizing down to specific groups of people. It makes me double think about the things that I “like” on facebook. Facebook and Mark zucherberg are receiving so much revenue and becoming so profitable. Mark has estabalished a franchise for himself that he will never have to worry about. He has jumped the gun for social media and connecting that to social advertizing.
This was interesting to me, because, sadly, I am one of the so-called “serial likers” on facebook. I cannot comprehend why I enjoy clicking the like button so much, but I am definitely not judicious with my choice of likes. I suppose some of it comes from the satisfaction and excitement in knowing that there are other people who can identify with your interests and likes. I must say, though, that there have been times where I have found myself in situations where based on my likes, the ads have been useful and genuinely informative to me. I had always wondered what the purpose of liking pages was, but now it makes sense that it is another shrewd way to make money. Just another chapter of media economics.
I used to always wonder how facebook ads would somehow apply to me or something I was recently talking about. There’s so much that goes into targeting a specific audience for advertising. I never realized that the ‘like’ button on facebook was a form of advertising. It’s a pretty clever tactic. The internet , and facebook more specifically, is the key way to get companies more customers nowadays. It’s very easy to be able to make more engaging advertisements that draw in more traffic to their company.
I think it is very interesting how many sites use their own “like” button. Like on tumblr, Instagram or weheartit, you can click on the heart button and it is just like the famous Facebook “like” button.
I also used to wonder how Facebook knew what I would be interested in whenever I would look at the ads to the right of the screen. After a while, I started noticing that it would tell me which of my friends liked it too…I guess Facebook/advertisers think that whatever my friends are interested in, that I must be interested in it as well.
Although advertising has become really popular to conduct online, it is still as annoying (maybe even more) than a television commercial! So many complications arise on the Internet when an ad pops up and it is so frustrating! I found a trick to not have to sit through a TV show and watch the commercials: I record the show on my DVR and then watch the recording later in which I can fast-forward through all the commercials. Perfect way to watch television!
I found this blog post to be particularly interesting. I had never really put that much thought into advertisements on the internet. All I previously thought before reading this blog is that the adds, especially when it comes to youtube and watching videos, were just completely random and extremely annoying. It was very fascinating to read about how advertisers actually go about creating these adds and their placement on the web. The example that was given of the person that is ‘Google searching’ a vegetarian diet is going be the perfect place for Trader Joe’s place an add as opposed to, say a meat market, was very insightful to me. I thought that adds were just completely random when it came to the sites that they showed up on, but now I really know what goes on with adds on the web.
I have split opinions on the direction of modern advertisements. While I enjoy more personally catered ads, I am uncomfortable with the idea that marketing strategists are labeling me based on my search history. Joseph Turow discusses the idea in his book, “The Daily You,” saying that in a sense, through online advertisements, advertisers are assigning us identities. “[Advertisers] might make inferences about me and romance, they might make inferences — right or wrong — about my age, they might know where I did this — because of some sense of where my computer is, my IP address,” Turow said in an interview with NPR.
Furthermore, based on one of their advertising algorithms, they may assume that because a consumer ‘likes’ a page about knitting on Facebook, that they are either parents or plan to be. Just because I enjoy knitting and crocheting doesn’t mean I am a parent or plan on being one. This means that advertisers are assigning stereotypes to the things we ‘like’ or our basing these decisions on our purchasing history. These stereotypes and associations can extend to socio-economic status, religion, or political affiliation.
Honestly, I am so accustomed to constantly being bombarded with advertisements on the Internet that I hardly pay attention to what I am submitting myself to subconsciously by merely being on the Internet. This post really helped me to take a step back and really evaluate what kind of advertisements I am taking in regularly. Additionally, I am very interested in how these algorithms are created and how accurate they are. Because of course, there is an incredible amount of assumption in saying that because someone searched vegetarianism that they also will shop at Trader Joe’s. However, even if it is an assumption and said person does not shop there, it could always serve as a suggestion.
I love this. It is the next step in the evolution of the internet. The most basic principle of business is to increase revenue and decrease cost. This strategic marketing through Google and Facebook allows much more bang for the advertiser’s buck. Not only is it good for the advertisers, but it’s good for me. The more I shop online or like things on Facebook, or Google search things, the more ads pop up that apply to me. I am not interested in ChristianMingle.com right now in my life, so I’m thankful I don’t get those ads anymore. I am interested in knives, and the ad feeds on my Facebook are full of cool knives, several of which I have bought, so it works for me. As for the privacy of it all, nobody forces you to be on Facebook, and they certainly don’t force you to “like” things. It would be one thing if people were hacking into my computer. I wouldn’t be a fan of that, but if they are just taking the things I’ve looked for and giving me more of them, I have no problem.
I am so use to seeing advertisements on the internet that I do not even know that they are there any more. I have learned to ignore them completely, and its usually not that difficult because they are put to the side of the web pages. Having them placed there makes it easy not not even acknowledge that they are their. As for all the other types of advertisements, such as bilboards, and TV commercials, I feel are not that effective because society has become so acclimated to the system of marketing that these things almost become somewhat, in a sense, cliche. I think that the most effective type of advertising in the commercials that they put on Pandora and other online radio sources. The listener is already paying attention to the music which is stimulating and activating the right side of our brain, which obviously reatians more memory than the left, seeing as the ability to remember lyrics is practically unlimited, that when the listener hears the commercial in between songs, it does not phase them that much.
Being so accustomed to the Internet and the different advertisements found across the web, I have found myself avoiding much, if not all advertisement. When online, I usually visit a set group of sites that I am very familiar with and frequent almost daily. Because of this, I have blocked out and grown accustomed to ignoring much of the advertisements that are found on these popular sites such as Facebook. Although much of the advertisements are tailored to what interests me, I hardly ever view them at all. I believe it is essential to market on the web being that it is a low cost and a potential high gain if done so correctly, but I also believe new attention grabbers must be developed in order to gain the attention of someone who is frequently on the web and has grown numb to any advertisement.
Another common term for this is “data mining” and Google is one of the worst perpetrators. Google offers an incredible variety of online services (YouTube, Maps, translator, search engine, Gmail, and Google Docs). All of Google’s services are free because the more you use, the more information they can collect on places you go, things you buy, videos you watch, things you talk about . . . there are few limits to the access Google has to your digital life. It’s easy to see why this much personal information would be priceless to advertisers, and this is where Google makes much of its revenue. They take all of this information and sell it to advertisers who can use it to focus their marketing campaigns on select consumers.
It almost seems flattering that companies are willing to pay millions of dollars just to sell me something, but at the same time it also seems quite desperate. Technically, what is being done by Facebook is an invasion of privacy. Although we do put up our own information on Facebook, it should be our decision to share any information at all with a specific party. Especially if that party is about to bombard us with advertisements bordering on the line of being spam. Many people would like to receive coupons and discounts on stores they enjoy, but they should also WANT to receive those openly and willingly.
Being a girl, I find myself asking the question a lot, “That’s so cute! Where did you find it?” and I have been surprised lately to hear more and more people answering that they found the clothing from an advertisement on Facebook. This a big step from how things used to be. I remember the days when ad blockers were extremely popular because ads were considered obnoxious, irrelevant annoyances, but now, the ads themselves are popular, and people are actually paying attention to them. I think what makes targeted advertising so effective online is that they blend in. Most ads are do not pop up anymore or have flashing colors. They are found humbly on the side of a facebook feed, looking almost like just another post from a friend, recommending a product to me- a friend that knows exactly what I’ve been looking for!
I can see where people are coming from with the privacy concerns, but as you point out, it is in the agreement when you sign up for facebook and it is almost an unspoken agreement anytime you go online. People expect the companies to cater to them in ever other aspect, I do not see why they should complain when the market tries to cater to them in which ads they show online.
I am very new to the Facebook world and only did I recently get a Facebook page, and in the last 3 days I’ve liked over 20 items. After reading this blog, I’m not sure if I want to be clicking the “like” button anymore, it seems…sketchy now. I think of myself as a controlled and disciplined individual, but usually when it is any advertisement dealing with soccer, it is as if I was a starving person who sees a nice juicy turkey leg. So I kind of hate it when I log in to YouTube and I see soccer stuff everywhere because they’ve noticed the videos I’ve been watching. I feel like I’m being spied on.
I find that advertising online is very useful and essential. Most people or college students do not spend money in cable; therefore, TV is not a main source for advertising for them in particular. I find myself shopping for places to rent and see where I should move to. Lately, I have seen advertisement for other sites that have rental information or deals. My searches, interests and content viewed is obviously watched and observed. It is sort of concerning, but at the same time, it’s useful. It’s good to get more info on similar items. However, not always is the important pertenient or relevant. We can’t expect to always get something on the dot.
You bring up some very interesting points especially when we talk about how we are in the “ad age”. Its funny because if the word about something in advertisement needs to get out, typically it goes up on the internet first and then goes to TV later. Also, I find myself going more online to buy things and having it shipped versus actually going to the store. You also brought up an interesting point regarding the Facebook “like” button and it drives advertisement in social media. I did not even realize that our likes helped drive traffic to other sites and it will be interesting to see how advertising will change in this post modern time.
Advertising is a necessary tool for websites like Google and Facebook to keep offering their services for free. Running a website that has over 200 million users, all which need space to store the information they post on your website, is not easy and it takes a lot of money to provide the computer and network systems needed to run such a site. Without advertising, websites such as Facebook would have to charge for their services which would discourage users from using the product. Advertising might be annoying, and the debates on how much information advertisers are privy to have on us, but the fact is we need them just as much as they need us.
I guess I never thought so much science went into the internet. I almost view the internet as this virtual world, like some invisible orb that just spews information in all directions, offers so much knowledge, and entertains me for hours on end. When I think about something I use daily, the “Like Button” on Facebook, I don’t even realize half of the knowledge it takes to put something like that in place. Numerous equations and algorithms are in place to simply say that I “like” someone’s comment on Facebook. That’s incredible. Personally, I don’t have the patience to come up with such inventions of that magnitude, let alone even think about all of the hard work that went into making it. So instead, I will just wonder in amazement about how smart people think of this stuff. And I will keep liking things on Facebook.
Adds on the internet have really proved that it is a world all of its own. Not because there is such a variety of adds but it is the fact that these adds are targeted directly at us individually. Its crazy to think that the internet can target any person individually. Its as if this cyberspace world can connect itself individually and uniquely to fit the needs, wants, and desires of every computer user on the planet. That being said,adds interestingly enough produce a “god-like” picture, being able to be at any place at any time to meet the needs of anybody as wherever they are. That is a scary thought. Nonetheless, its a great marketing and advertizing tool that has proved extremely effective in the last couple of years and has grown at a rapid speed.
Advertising is a necessary tool for websites like Google and Facebook to keep offering their services for free. Without advertising, websites such as Facebook would have to charge for their services which would discourage users from using the product. advertising can be irritating but they we need them just as much as they need us. advertising is a very good tool to keep people informed especially if people love exploring new things. facebook is a perfect source turn for use of advertising. with over 500 million people on facebook worldwide somebody is always bound to see what you advertise.
Advertising on the internet has come such a long way, even in the past few years. Social media have even taken note of which websites you visit most often and tailor the the advertisements to fit your interests. Advertising has become manipulated into something that we are almost guaranteed to pay attention to. Facebook monitors our internet activity and provides advertisements based on what it believes we will be interested in. Vivian talks about viral advertising, which has become more prevalent in our society. It has become a way for companies to advertise at a very low cost to them.
Social media has been such a benefit to company’s who are advertising online. The extensive amount of information found on Facebook describes a user’s interests, likes, friends, and provides all of that information to advertisers. This allows a company to pinpoint their exact target market, making sure they ad is getting the most for their money, and all potential customers will view their product or service. It seems strange to some people that advertiser’s are allowed access to that information, yet users post all of that same information to hundreds of people, who they consider their “friends.”
I feel that although we are all now “targeted customers” it is worth it for us (the targeted customers) because we get to use these social media sites such as Facebook and other online sites for free. Obviously corporations such as these have to make money some how, and I honestly would rather see an annoying add every now and then, then have to pay for the services of these social media sites. So, all in all, everyone wins; the people that are using these social media sites can use them for free and the corporations can still make money by advertising, and the companies that are advertising are getting their name out there to millions of people.
The Powerpoint “Adverstising” states that many companies are going to Facebook to target specific audiences, place ads to them, drive them to their websites, and engage those customers with promotions and events. With this, it is interesting to see how much of an impact social media sites like Facebook have had beyond just it’s primary purpose, connecting people with one another. John Vivian gives reasoning why these sites are target in the Media of Mass Communication on page 298, “Heavy consumer traffic on social networking sites like Facebook and YouTube attracts advertising.” I agree with Vivian and I do not believe that a social media site like this, or any other with the volume of hits Facebook has, could be solely committed to connecting people with one another without having some form of advertisemet. I believe advertisers see too much potential in sites like these and are willing to pay top dollar for their ads to be projected from them. It makes one wonder then, will websites ever be able to exist solely for the purpose of information or enjoyment? Or will the adverstising companies knowledge of heavy traffic of these websites and the ease of targeting an audience eventually overcome them?
As I read this blog post i became intrigued because i found it interesting how advertising is very beneficial to us, THE USERS. Advertising is what keeps all these social networks free for us. Before i read this blog i used to think that advertisements on you tube, facebook, and back when myspace was popular, that they were just so annoying and that they were defeating the purpose of me enjoying the network that i was on. but now that i know its what keeps all these media sites free it makes me look at the whole concept of advertising differently
“The theory is that wary financial investors will applaud spending on social media because of its lower cost and growing reach.” This quote is the heart of the movement and transition from traditional advertisings to online social media advertising. For businesses, the opportunities and methods of advertising are vast and the cost is cheap. Given these two factors combined with the vast amount of people participating on these social networking sites, businesses can excel greatly by directing their attention to social media. Another important part of this blog was seeing Google and Facebook as dominating factors. These are two of the ways that businesses advertise and reach such vast amounts of consumers in a quick and cost efficient ways.
The reminder that businesses like Google and Facebook are for-profit businesses that are making money off of my searches and “likes” is a good reminder. I do not know about the average person, but for me personally, when I sign on to Facebook or search something in google, it is often a mindless doing and serves more as an activity then a venture into the advertising or media world. It becomes such an accepted and normal thing that multiple advertisements and adds pop up or surface during time on social media, that I forget that those are indeed very strategic businesses with excellent tactics in monitoring my use and “likes” on Facebook so they can narrow their advertising to a more specific demographic and target population. “The button is a vehicle for what’s called ‘referral traffic.’ Advertisers and other sites report huge increase in traffic” (Willis 2012). The intervention strategies of the advertising world capitalize on social media for this very reason and because what I previously discussed. “Referral traffic”, how clever. Why would an advertisement go after a demographic that would have no interest in what they are selling? Well, they wouldn’t. Precisely why referral traffic allows the profitable advertisements to go on and find themselves viewed by a specifically targeted audience that they can be more certain will show interest and look at what is being advertised. How clever.
I’d like to start off by mentioning I work at Trader Joe’s and we sell more regular products then vegetarian. I will note, we do sell more vegetarian products than most other grocery stores though. Its not surprising to hear that many businesses are using Google and Facebook for advertising. They are the most visited and popular sites in the world. So it makes sense to follow the public. It is similar to special televised events such as the Super Bowl. Thousands to hundreds of thousands of people watch the Super Bowl. This event is also greatly known for their great commercials. Businesses pay millions of dollar for a minute of commercial time. With the world transitioning to a primarily dominated online one, businesses have to focus all their attention to popular sites in order to get as much publicity and views as possible.
In “The Future of Newspapers,” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSlupsLAujI) former Chicago Tribune editor James Warren notes, while the Internet increases newspapers’ audiences, the challenge lies in “making money off the Internet.” Clearly, social media are leading the way in just how to do that. I can relate to targeted marketing through Facebook and Google alike. Tonight, when I went to watch a video on YouTube, I experienced it too. A political ad relating to senators I work for in the General Assembly popped up–wow. Social media are accurately tracking all online searches and visits to learn our interests and hobbies. It’s amazing if you really think about it. However, I’ve found news sites to be much less targeted. If I visit IndyStar.com, I will see advertising. Some ads pop up and I have to watch them for 15 seconds before I can read a story. But, in no way are they as targeted as those I see when using social media. It’s kind of comforting, knowing that the Indy Star doesn’t know me better than I know me (as social media outlet advertising would make it seem), but, at the same time, it’s obviously a hindrance to their advertising sales. In the same video, Phil Bronstein suggests professional journalists should engage more with their audiences. Maybe finding a way to do that would allow them to gain more information for targeted advertising.