Changes in Internet Tracking Abilities

by Natalie Bell

Have you ever noticed that ads on the side of your web browser page seem to fit you personally? This is because browsers and sites track the pages you visit, what you click on, and what pages you "like." This may be news to some, but it's been occurring for quite some time now.

I first noticed it this summer when researching competition for Gracie's Fruit Innovations, a new client. All of a sudden the ads on the side of Facebook's pages were all fruit related. This continued until I worked on research for a countertop company. My ads switched to home remodeling. Later Saint Mary's University Pathways Program signed on as a new client and I was putting together a report to help structure their up-and-coming Facebook page. To do this I visited and analyzed other schools' pages over and over again. One day I noticed that the ads on the side of Facebook's page were entirely education-based. With each client project my ads changed to a new, completely unrelated topic. Try it yourself and you'll see! Search something on Facebook, Google, or other sites that you normally wouldn't research. Odds are you'll see your search topic pop up in more and more internet advertisements.

If you are going to try this experiment, you'd better do it sooner rather than later; the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) has made moves to ban tracking of web use for most purposes. Each specific browser (Google Chrome, Apple Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer) is installing a Do-Not-Track button that allows users to easily opt-out of being tracked. This option has always been available, but has been difficult to find how to change this specific setting. New, easy setting features will automatically be included in upgrades and downloads of browsers by the end of 2012.

Limitations to the Do-Not-Block features, as with most things, are present. Browsers can use your web usage for market research, product creation, and when requested by law enforcement. What the feature really blocks is your information being used to create targeted ads and to be sold to companies for anything besides market research. For example, no longer can browsing information be sold to insurance, credit, or healthcare companies for any other purpose.

Do-Not-Track features will change how companies target audiences. Browsing information gives advertisers the ability to create extremely specific target markets. Depending on what a user is looking at, a different ad will appear on their page. This creates a higher chance that the user is interested and clicks on the advertisement. Now these organizations will have to create promotions that apply to a wider audience with a lower chance of clicking. This agreement gives the public peace of mind, but a challenge for marketers.