Whether you like it or not, advertisements are everywhere. You can find them almost everywhere you go, anywhere you eyes see, from the most crowded space to even the most unthinkable places. The first thing ads do is to promote something. But at each given time, more and more people are getting frustrated by them. However, no matter how much people hated advertisements, they need them more than they ever think.
Whether you're into advertising industry or not. If you're a avid internet user or not, at some point, you have been an online advertisement hater. The purpose of online ads are no different than traditional ads you see on newspapers, magazines and TV. They're there to show you something you might want. But with the internet behind it, ads that were once frustrating are now intimidating.
Traditional ads were made as interesting and eye-popping as possible since their purpose is to "stand out" above the surroundings they're in. Today's online ads are trying to do the exact opposite: camouflaged to blend with their surroundings, trying to stay silent.
Traditional ads were saying "we have something you might want to see", but online targeted ads are saying "we have what you want".
The differences of online targeted ads' appearance and strategy in approaching consumers is what makes them "more deadly".
Advertisements have come closer and closer to people's life whether they like it or not. With the internet companies gathering their users' data, ads are becoming even more targeted and more effective.
Before, advertisements are oriented to the place they're given. For example, ads on tech-related products are shown on places that provide information about technology updates. But now with users' data effectively in the hands of advertisers, they can target more of their ads to specific people, everywhere they go, creating higher conversion and engagement.
In today's world, when you browse the internet from your computer or your mobile device, the chances for you to see targeted ads are increasing by the day. But when your devices are showing ads about something you never knew you wanted but you actually love, your feeling of frustration has become more unsettling.
People that have been irritated by ads taking much time and space obscuring things they're doing, now are 'scared' by ads that know them more than they know themselves.
Read: Online Advertisement by Surveillance. How Good or Bad Can it Be?
Advertisements, the Oil that Lubricates the Web
The internet is massive. There is no saying how many nodes there will be exactly in the future because its growth is still accelerating. The internet has been used more than often by people of all ages, ranging from desktop computers, tablets, smartphones and to anything else in between that can be put online.
The first online advertisement on the internet was made in 1994 on HotWired for AT&T. Four men were responsible for the ad. Since then, online ads had become one of the most common thing on the net.
As an advertisers, the massive amount of users are waiting there to be approached. For publishers who already tapped into many consumers, have the power to deliver those ads.
Ads might be annoying to most, but they're presence is giving something new to the masses: new information about things they might need. Furthermore, ads are what makes things on the internet possible.
Everybody hates advertising until they do it for themselves. And without ads, the services, news, and other information related to our interests aren't going to be there. In fact, the majority of quality published contents on the web exist because they're supported by ads.
But if consumers are forced to see a product's ads, it's equivalent of making them hate that product. Publishers are working to deliver targeted ads in a way that they're not overdoing them in order to create a win-win solution to all parties involved.
Advertisers need something to rely on to tell the world they have something to sell. Publishers that have the power of influence and consumer data, are the ones to be relied on. Advertisers do what they do best: promote products, while publishers do what they can to make advertisers succeed in achieving what they want for money in return. So how the ads may appeal to consumers is in the hands of publishers; the way they deliver those ads that counts.
To create targeted ads on the internet, advertisers use systems that look into personal data and browsing history. Most people that are annoyed by this type of ads, beside being unsettled, they're hating them because their privacy is invaded.
The online advertisement promoting AT&T was well-accepted. This was because in 1994, people opened 100 percent of their emails, and at the time ads did nearly as good. Now decades later, people can't even remember when they last opened their email inbox and opened everything in it.
Companies that provide the system to track users, including ad publishers that put annoying and invasive ads, are one of the most hated group on the internet, along with hackers and tech criminals. If they keep on progressing, they'll soon be the most hated people on the net.
This is the reason why ad-blockers were born.
Between Love and Hate
People are bombarded with targeted ads, and because of that, the signs of rebellion against them are everywhere. Companies are searching for new ways to make money beside using ads - like for example, incorporating e-commerce to their sites taking fees from any possible affiliate transactions.
The person who ran the first online banner ads, thought that media in overall has lost sight of what ads are supposed to be, which is to promote a product people want for its own sake, rather than a venue for getting responses. People are now becoming over-optimized for direct response, and the basic principles of online ads have gotten lost.
But any methods of commercials won't replace ads on the internet anytime soon. Google is still heavily dependent on them; Facebook is still developing better ways of showing ads; Twitter is doing the same thing; and others are not to be outdone.
Read: Social Media Collecting Customer Profiles
No matter how "lost" the principle of today's ads can be, ads are still ads. They're there to give you the information advertisers and publishers think you might need. And with targeted ads, if you can put your privacy concern away for a moment, you'll see that they'll give you more information about yourself and the world around you more than they're affecting your online experience in a bad way. Targeted ads ran by internet companies are blending well with the publisher's background, making "pesky" ads yesterday's problem.
Before a new business model is invented, implemented and succeeded, people are more likely to keep seeing more online ads because advertisers and publishers are just going to put more of them in the future. As the internet grows bigger, ads could be seen from the most populated website, down to the very least. And if you still want to use the internet, you're opted to love ads more than you hate them.