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| Orwell would probably appreciate the irony... |
A pit stop at a motorway service station with a friend the other day got me thinking about advertising and how it’s targeted. On the back of the doors in the women’s toilets were ads for a charity that supplies tampons and basic sanitary items to vulnerable women in refugee camps and other dangerous places. I drive a fair bit, so see this particular ad quite often.
As we bought ourselves a coffee before continuing the
journey, my friend started telling me about the ads on the back of the doors in
the men’s toilets. They were for flatulence control pants called My Shreddies. Seriously. There’s
an entire range of pants and jeans for men that help stop farts polluting the atmosphere.
Interesting that advertising can be targeted so very
differently depending on who you are, even in this very basic gender divide – and
it’s so clever. But once advertisers start using algorithms to target you online,
it gets really up close and personal.
You'll probably have encountered all the age related advertising that comes up on social media platforms. If you’re anything over 45, whether you like it or not, ads will pop up telling you how to pay for your funeral in advance (supposedly this
gives you peace of mind – mostly it makes me wonder if they know something I
don’t) along with ads about Alzheimer’s care and denture
fixadents.
Because of the stuff I write, I choose to get social media updates on
a wide range of folklore, faerie, magic and similar topics, and often scan through weird and wonderful
blog posts out of curiosity. One I read recently, by a writer who identified as
queer, non-binary, was about their interaction with a beautiful blue deity they
had come to regard as a fallen angel. Interesting as that might be, I was completely distracted by an ad that popped up on the page about special (blue) plasters for bunion sufferers. Poor writer, I thought – putting their heartfelt beliefs out there and having their reader distracted by ads for bunion plasters.
Then I started wondering who the advertisers were targeting. Had the writer previously searched for bunion cures? Or was it me, who despite lying about my age on social media still get the care home and funeral ads, and therefore might be an elderly bunion sufferer? Or are people interested in blue deities also more likely to prefer blue plasters?
When researching this post, I asked writers in SCBWI and a couple of other facebook groups
for their targeted ad experiences - and got some amazing responses. It seems writer
research leads to us receiving quite extraordinary ads. One writer was plagued by wheelie bin ads (presumably
you can never have enough wheelie bins), another offered a waste disposal unit, complete with trucks ready and waiting to assist him
with his sanitation needs (he hadn’t any but was quite flattered), special silent
hunting trousers for a vegetarian writer heavily into conservation, and ads for
expensive shaving equipment for a woman with three daughters and a husband who writes
a blog called The Bearded Stranger….and so the list went on. Some ads were so
mysterious, no one was entirely sure what they were for…
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| What on earth are these? |
But of course there’s a more serious side to targeted advertising.
It’s alarming how advertisers can find out more about you – even if it’s
simply from your location. The annoying 'help other shoppers know what to expect at Morrisons' kind of thing that pop up on your mobile seem relatively harmless, but all your online shopping and google searches help advertisers narrow down your age and your interests.
When this is targeted at young people, it’s very disturbing – in a world where everything is about appearance,
teens constantly see ads for lip plumping, boob jobs and diet pills coming up
on Instagram and other social media sites, which can exacerbate problems with anxiety and depression. On a bigger scale, the news has been full of the targeted attempts to influence the outcomes of elections
and referendums.
A final thing (just to make you really paranoid) – there are rumours that the microphone on your
phone transmits randomly and intermittently direct to google. One writer had a
conversation with a friend about how she had been sleeping on a mattress on the
floor and found it more comfortable. She was then suddenly targeted on social media sites with ads for
floor beds. Another admired some guinea pigs in a Pets At Home store and was mysteriously targeted with ads from a guinea pig rescue centre. So is it true? Are they listening?
Even worse - can they see you? A friend told me that you can be seen through the camera on your laptop, whether you’re using it or not. This might just be a conspiracy theory, but apparently ALL techies who work in
the industry stick tape over the laptop lens unless they're actually using the camera.
So beware - Big Brother really could be watching you…
NB. Massive thanks to all the writers that shared their online advertising experiences with me! You know who you are... and obviously so do the advertisers. :)
Lu Hersey
7 comments:
Yeh, the techies in my family made it their business to cover up all our webcams years ago. I don't care, since I never use mine, but I'm never sure whether they're being paranoid or not.
Those ads for funerals and denture glue, though! It had never occurred to me that I was getting them because of my age but of course, that's the reason.
Interesting post, Lu, and rather worrying as to how "they" try to shape the world and push supposed desires in your face - and at the young and insecure. Funeral plans aren't really inspirational, are they, despite the misty pictures?
It's so fast too. A recent dip into a shop's website to see if they still stocked a usefully notebook-sized shoulder bag immediately had every other screen space a-pop with ads for handbags.
The darker side I do find a bit worrying. I know someone who went on an activism day conference and became very wary of screens and microphones because of external observation - and I'm sure that Google mike image on my phone was originally crossed off! And now I've looked at the skype camera perched on top of the desktop screen and noticed it does fold down and close. Hmm. Wonder why?
Someone should write a book about it. (Did you hear what I said, you out there? Someone should . . .)
So covering up webcams is not just being paranoid? Interesting! Though anyone looking through mine will just see a writer wearing glasses, mouth agape as I concentrate, staring gormlessly at the screen...Ooh...maybe that's why I get all the dementia care stuff? Aaaaaaargh!
I was with friends in Milan last November. We were talking about an Italian film I'd seen. A few minutes later, a link to where he could buy that same film popped up on Piro's mobile (an iPhone). He'd conducted no search. He hadn't even picked the phone up; it was simply lying off to one side on the table as we sat talking.
The evidence is starting to stack up, Nick.... maybe it's not jut paranoia. They really are listening!
One reason I so rarely use my mobile, Lu. It sits on my desk. So if anybody were to listen then, much like you and your webcam, all they'd hear were mutterings of frustration and the sound of me pulling my hair out as yet another paragraph heads for the Recycle Bin.
Am realising it's a good idea to leave mobile off most of the time...although a bit like you, Nick - mostly it would be just author breathing and occasional swearing....
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