I'm sure you've seen it every time you log into a social media site. The same bag your sister showed you the other day through email - right there in the middle of your Facebook news feed... but you never searched it on Facebook. In fact, it was a link to an item on a store website, sent to you through GMail, on a web browser (like Google Chrome). What does that have to do with Facebook? And why is Facebook suddenly showing the same bag, knock-off versions, and items similar?
The answer? Cookies.
Ok, not quite those kinds of cookies (but a nice, warm, chocolate chip cookie sounds amazing right now). A cookie is a small amount of data generated by a website and saved by your web browser. Its purpose is to remember information about you, similar to a preference file created by a software application. In other words, they're constantly saving and remembering all that you do.
It's totally normal to believe this is creepy and want to hide away forever and never go on any website ever again.... but who are we kidding? We can't stay off of social media (let alone "normal" websites) for more than one day. So, let try to understand these not-so-yummy cookies and why they exist.
Imagine yourself running a company. In a fantasy world, everyone would just know the products you sell and who you are and know that you're the greatest to ever exist, right? Well, this is the real world. And in the real world in 2015, you've got to find your customer, not the other way around. Now imagine you have a way to find a potential customer who recently looked at a product similar to what you sell. Let's go with hats. You sell great, fashionable hats at discount prices. This potential customer (let's call her Sam) recently googled hats and browsed some overpriced ones on a designer's website. And Sam left her Facebook logged-in at the same time. Now imagine the next time Sam scrolls through Facebook to see what her old high school friends are up to, BOOM - there's a hat that looks exactly like the one she was searching for the day before! The one she sees now is priced much more reasonably and the company is offering free shipping! Sam clicks the "checkout" button and is very pleased with her new purchase from a company she didn't even know existed.
And you just got a sale and, possibly, a returning customer.
Cookies allow companies to consistently remind customers, or potential customers like Sam, that you exist. So, yes, I believe it is creepy to be "stalked" constantly, but in a world where we expect to be found and not have to find, it can make things much easier for both the consumer and the company. I believe this is a huge advancement for advertisement.
What are your thoughts on these social media ads? Can it sometimes be too much? Have you ever made a purchase or decision off of an ad you saw on social media?
I thought this was a very well written blog post! What you wrote about was a very interesting topic and people need to learn more about it. I also took note of how engaging you were in your writting with the use of questions and GIFS+images. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI absolutely share your views about creepy cookies. It is awful that people have no choice but be always under observation and smd's control. Nice choice with topic, this is a very relevant issue nowadays.
ReplyDelete