The document discusses targeted advertisements, defining them as ads aimed at specific consumers based on collected data regarding demographics and interests. It highlights the advantages and disadvantages for both consumers and advertisers, particularly concerning privacy issues raised by tracking technologies. Additionally, it offers basic strategies for consumers to avoid targeted ads and presents statistical insights from a survey about online privacy attitudes.

1. Targeted Advertisements
& Privacy
Afnan Rjoub
Information Ethics
15 Dec 2019

2. Contents
• Targeted Advertisements Definition
• Who Makes It?
• How they make it?
• How Targeted Ads Work Video
• What are The Targeted Advertisements advantages?
• What are The Targeted Advertisements disadvantages?
• How The Targeted Advertisements Connected with User Privacy?
• What are the simple ways to avoid targeted ads?
• Statistics
• References

3. Targeted Advertisements Definition
It is a type of advertising where the aim of these ads is to reach the largest number
of consumers based on various factors such as geographical factors, gender, age,
social status, personal interests…etc. and that by collecting related data about the
consumers by using specific algorithms in order to direct the right consumers by
sending them want they need.(Targeted Advertising, Platform Competition and
Privacy:2014, p 2).

4. Who Makes It & How they make it?
This subject can be analyzed as
follows:
1. All Companies in the world are providing
some specific services or products… and they
need a good, smart, effective marketing plan,
and targeting the right customer at the same
time.
2. Search engines like Google, collect huge
amounts of data from the searches that
people do .. in order to speed up the search
process they have by Forecasting the words
that they want to search for .. However, there
is no company that does not want to achieve
profits through the services that provides..

5. 3. Therefore, search engines such as
Google decided to cooperate with social
media platforms: Facebook, LinkedIn,
Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and other
platforms ... in addition to cooperating
with companies that want to market
their products, as this cooperation can
provide money for all parties.
5. Initially, Google publishes the ads that it
has, according to the sites that are related
to the advertisement, which the consumer
searches for words similar to the content of
the advertisement ... Then Google becomes
a collaborator with the social media
platforms, and the ads appear there too.
4. Companies request the Google search
engine to provide them with ads and pay
a certain amount of money for these ads,
and so Google makes money .. Then
Google uses the data it has ... and
defines the target group in order to
publish ads with it.

6. IMPORTANT:
• Google and social media platforms work in another way as well ... as
it is stronger than the first way ... which is collecting data and
information about people through their voice conversation, written
conversations and photos that they share in order to analyze it and
determine user interests and place relevant ads to them.

7. How Targeted Ads Work Video
• https://www.consumerreports.org/video/view/electronics/news/609
0103962001/how-targeted-ads-work/

8. What are The Targeted Advertisements advantages?
Keating, G. (n.d). Benefits of targeted advertisements: a spotify fail.
• Consumers:
1. More effective delivery of desired product or
service directly to the consumer: having
assumed the traits or interests of the consumer
from their targeting, advertisements that will
appeal and engage the customer are used.
2. More direct delivery of a message that relates to
the consumer's interest: advertisements are
delivered to the customer in a manner that is
comfortable, whether it be jargon or a certain
medium, the delivery of the message is part of
the consumer's 'lifestyle’.

9. • Advertiser:
1. More efficient campaign development: by having information about the consumer an advertiser is able to
make more concise decisions on how to best communicate with them.
2. Better use of advertising dollar: A greater understanding of the targeted audience will allow an advertiser
to achieve better results with an advertising campaign.
3. Increased return on investment: Targeted advertisements will yield higher results for lower costs.

10. What are The Targeted Advertisements disadvantages?
Consumers:
Targeted advertising raises privacy concerns. Targeted
advertising is performed by analyzing consumers'
activities through online services such as cookies and
data-mining, both of which can be seen as
detrimental to consumers' privacy. Marketers
research consumers' online activity for targeted
advertising campaigns like programmatic and SEO.
Consumers' privacy concerns revolve around today's
unprecedented tracking capabilities and whether to
trust their trackers. Targeted advertising aims to
increase promotions' relevance to potential buyers,
delivering ad campaign executions to specified
consumers at critical stages in the buying decision
process. This potentially limits a consumer's
awareness of alternatives and reinforces selective
exposure.

11. What are The Targeted Advertisements disadvantages?
• Advertiser:
Targeting advertising is not a process performed overnight, it takes time and effort to analyze the behavior of
consumers. This results in more expenses than the traditional advertising processes. As targeted advertising is
seen more effective this is not always a disadvantage but there are cases where advertisers have not received
the profit expected. Targeted advertising has a limited reach to consumers, advertisers are not always aware
that consumers change their minds and purchases which will no longer mean ads are apparent to them.
Another disadvantage is that while using Cookies to track activity advertisers are unable to depict whether 1 or
more consumers are using the same computer. This is apparent in family homes where multiple people from a
broad age range are using the same device.

12. How the Targeted Advertisements Connected with
User Privacy?
1. Privacy issue is shaped when the tracking
technologies such as cookies collect
information about users ’browsing activity
from one site to another. Promoters and
technology companies collect data to target
us across our various devices. Today,
trackers are so intelligent that they can tell
that you are looking for something to buy
but not follow you through, but rather send
you advertisements to chase you and
prompt you to buy.
2. Targeted ads raise some privacy concerns as well. An opinion poll conducted by the
“Pew Research” Center in 2012 found that 68% of Internet users do not like targeted
advertisements because they do not accept the idea of tracking and analyzing their
electronic behavior. As the history of online browsing can reveal very special things
about you, such as health problems, political affiliations and sexual customs.

13. What are the simple ways to avoid targeted
ads?
1. Delete cookies regularly. Trackers will have more difficulty tracking
you if you delete your cookies on each device. It should be noted
that Apple, Google and Microsoft provide the instructions required
to delete data from their browsing engines: Safari, Chrome and
Edge.
2. Clean the history of Google ads regularly. Google provides you with
the tool (myactivity.google.com), where you can see more clearly
the data stored by Google about you, such as the date of the ads
that you uploaded, to choose the data that you want to delete. If
possible, hide the ads.

14. • Download the ad blocker app. With regard to the web browser, you
can download an additional window that blocks ads. A good
application for computer browsers is “uBlock Origin”, and for
“iPhone,” 1 Blocker X is recommended. (As for Android users, Google
has deleted a lot of ad-blocking programs from its application store,
so the simplest way to block ads in this case is to use a special
browser).
Aawsat, Targeted ads are chasing you online.2018, https://aawsat.com/home/article/1451211.

15. Statistics
• The project described in this brief utilized
focus groups and town halls to develop a
survey instrument which was deployed to
approximately 1300 students using an online
survey tool based on similar projects
conducted in the United States, 95% of
respondents were between the ages of 18 and
26. Women and men were equally
represented. The results are presented below.
• The basic attitude of respondents towards
privacy online is that they are entitled to it.
Only a quarter (25%) do not care whether
marketers collect personal information about
them online,
• and they (68%) feel that companies that
collect their information are invading their
privacy.Three quarters (73%) see privacy as a
right for which they should not have to pay.
Nearly half(46%) believe that legislation exists
to protect their privacy online. More than half
(57%) view targeted ads as “creepy.”
Levin, Avner. “Privacy, Targeted Advertising & Social Media: How Big a Concern? Some
Disconcerting Observations.” PRIVACY AND CYBER CRIME INSTITUTE,
https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/411/ETHI/WebDoc/WD5706433/411_ETHI_
PSM_Briefs/LevinAvnerE.pdf.

17. References
• Kox, Henk, et al. Targeted Advertising, Platform Competition and Privacy. ACPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis, 1 July 2014,
https://www.cpb.nl/sites/default/files/publicaties/download/cpb-discussion-paper-280-targeted-advertising-platform-competition-and-privacy.pdf.
• https://www.consumerreports.org/video/view/electronics/news/6090103962001/how-targeted-ads-work/
• Keating, G. (n.d). Benefits of targeted advertisements: a spotify fail.
• Aawsat, Targeted ads are chasing you online.2018, https://aawsat.com/home/article/1451211.
• Levin, Avner. “Privacy, Targeted Advertising & Social Media: How Big a Concern? Some Disconcerting Observations.” PRIVACY AND CYBER
CRIME INSTITUTE, https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/411/ETHI/WebDoc/WD5706433/411_ETHI_PSM_Briefs/LevinAvnerE.pdf.