Brands use ad targeting to attract potential customers, but is it an ethical approach? Why is the EU asking for a ban on ad targeting?
Many brands around the world have used ad targeting to attract potential customers. For this, firms leverage user data and show them relevant ads based on customer habits and preferences. But is it an ethical approach?
Yes, ad targeting is an excellent method of earning revenue and finding clients that would be genuinely interested in particular products.
However, it should not be at the cost of users’ privacy. That’s the reason the EU’s top privacy regulator has demanded a ban on ad targeting.
Here we will provide detailed information about ad targeting and the importance of new e-privacy rules to keep the user data safe.
What is ad targeting?
Ad targeting or targeted advertising is considered a form of online advertising method that focuses on users. This method includes the display of ads based on the specific interest and preferences of the users. The advertisers discover this information by tracking their activity over the internet via web browsers. The tracking typically extends to the use of various apps.
Thus, targeted advertising means that companies create profiles of their potential customers and attempt to find them in the online community. Surprisingly or not, our browsing habits reveal a lot about us, and such online tracking has been labeled as intrusive and unwanted. Some news outlets have even called targeted advertising a targeting regulators
