Captology Notebook: Top Web Behavior #2: Look at ads

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August 30, 2004

Top Web Behavior #2: Look at ads

The Behavior
Website ads come in a variety of forms: banners, pop-ups, videos, moving animations or simple text links. And nearly every top website has ads, and they are central to the present revenue models for Internet content providers.

What they gain (and you lose)
The main purpose of ads is obvious: generating revenue. But that's not the only value in Internet advertising. Most ads on the Internet are brokered through companies like DoubleClick, making it easier for advertisers and site owners to find each other. But this arrangement has another aspect: it allows for cross-site tracking. If a user visits a site on, say, fishing and sees a DoubleClick ad, DoubleClick will remember that the user is interested in fishing. Later, when that user visits an unrelated news site that's also shows DoubleClick ads, they might be shown a fishing ad. This cross-site profiling allows for more targeted (and thus, more expensive) ads, often without the user's knowledge. (Written by Adam Wright) Gallery
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