Internet Advertising

(Sorry for the weird font. My computer is being weird)

            If you have ever surfed the web you know that advertising is almost on every website. Companies make billions of dollars a year putting advertising on their websites. In 2013, Internet advertising revenues in the United States totaled $42.8 billion, a 17% increase over the $36.57 billion in revenues in 2012. That staggering statistic is only going to increase. The Internet has become one of the most popular ways to market and advertise your business. Internet advertising became the first steady stream of income for online giants Facebook and Google. It has developed from just posting a message to having pictures and videos plastered all over the place. Many common online advertising practices are controversial and increasingly subject to regulation. For example, pay per click, cost per impression, search analytics and web analytics have all been criticized by online users. Website creators have schemed ways to use user data to make money. A lot of money.

            A popular way websites make money is by selling user data to research and marketing companies. Many users do not like this because they want their information to stay secure and private. I personally don’t mind what I’ve been searching to be relayed to other companies. What I do mind is when websites send me spam based off of my browsing history and put certain ads that relate to me on the sites I pull up. I think that is intrusive and creepy. On the other hand, it is a genius marketing tool for businesses to get their ads in front of the right eyes. For example, a men’s clothing store would want their ads coming up on my pages and not my sisters. Websites like Facebook and Google use my personal information to recognize this and make sure men’s advertising for young people will pop-up on sites that I open. They will put women advertising on the sites that my sister opens. That is just one method how websites use personal information for direct marketing.

            The electronic era that we live in today is becoming more complex and technologically advanced every year. What is next to come for Internet advertising? Well, if I knew the answer to that I’d be sitting in a bath full of money. What I do know is that Internet advertising is never going away. New ideas for online marketing and advertising are going be fabricated as long as the Internet exists and people keep using it. Now that the age of Internet users is increasing every year, parents and grandparents need to be informed on online advertising. I feel like if an ad popped up on my grandpa’s computer he would fall for it in a second because he is uneducated on the Internet world. If he saw a spam ad that said, “you have won a million dollars!” he might fall of his chair. I could go on for days about the cool things and annoying things about Internet advertising, but I will say there is definitely more annoying things.