I do not have any concerns with the ethics of online advertising. Having taken a data mining class I have a strong understanding of how the data that I have given to the many social media websites and apps I use can be sold. I believe that the issue here is with the understanding that the majority of users have over what rights they have given to specific companies. Anyone with a Facebook account is openly allowing the company to analyze their public likes and posts. Users who are surprised by the accuracy of targeted advertising simply do not have a strong understanding of the power of data mining. I understand that I have given that information to Facebook and in return I always know when there is a surprise sale at Kate Spade. I find targeted advertising to be helpful and convenient. Although, I do find it amusing when I continue to see ads for the same dress that I just bought online for a few days after I purchased it.
Companies like Target may have realized that consumers don’t necessarily want to feel like they are being watched, but I think that most of the consumers might still agree that coupons for diapers when you are about to have a baby are pretty helpful. I also understand that maybe there is a privacy concern when targeted ads might cause concerns by revealing sexual orientation, religious views, or political views, but if an individual can be outed in any of those aspects by Facebook they could also be outed by any other individual with some statistical analysis skills. Sharing your information with a large company is not the same as writing in a journal. If people feel like they are being taken advantage of, they should be taking the time to understand what the terms they agreed to are. These companies are not breaching any contracts or even doing anything that users have not explicitly agreed to.
Something I did not expect to learn from these articles was some interesting information about habit loops. One of the reasons that Target chose to go about data mining for pregnant women is because their regular coupon campaigns were not extremely successful. They know buying habits of their users and realize that many people only buy specific items that they associate with Target. One of the times that people are likely to disrupt their regular habits is when they have a child. The article went on to talk about how habit loops are formed and how it is difficult to disrupt them without an extensive understanding of your reasoning for a specific habit. I was interested to learn that something simple like going to get a cookie every day might actually be an excuse to take a break from work.
After reading more about targeted advertising I will notice my ads and wonder which of my behaviors led to a specific ad showing up, but I am still not bothered. In general I think that targeted advertising and companies that use my data to better their own applications are in general benefiting me. I also still strongly believe that users are responsible for understanding what a company is going to be doing for them. I’ll end with a quote that I think sums it up pretty well.
“If you’re not paying for the product, you are the product.“
isabellehillberg 