Online behavioral advertising collects information about a user’s preferences to tailor specific ads to them. This method is successful because it targets users with ads they are more likely to click, but some consider it a violation of privacy. Network advertising is similar but on a larger scale.
When a company uses information gathered from a computer user’s preferences to tailor specific advertisements to the user, it is considered online behavioral advertising. Information is collected via the Internet when the user searches for websites. Users are then shown ads that match their previous searches, making the ads more targeted and generally more effective. Behavioral advertising has been successful in particular because it matches advertisements to what the user is looking for, but some users consider this an invasion of privacy. Network advertising is similar to behavioral advertising, but on a much larger scale.
Online behavioral advertising is based on the assumption that when a consumer enters a company website or a website connected to a network, they will be looking for specific information. Information about such searches may be collected by the Website using a variety of means. Two of the most popular methods of collecting information about a user are the use of cookies and the creation of a database with Internet Protocol (IP) and Media Access Control (MAC) addresses, which are then associated with the collected data.
As information is collected in databases, web server scripts fill the advertising space with ads similar to the user’s previous queries. For example, if a user were to search for a specific college, the web server could display banners and links to that college. If there are no ads that specifically match your search, similar ads will appear – perhaps for nearby universities or distance learning programs.
Online behavioral advertising has been a successful online advertising method. This is because it targets Internet users and provides them with advertisements that are more likely to be clicked, rather than bombarding them with random ads that have only a low chance of being clicked. Some consumers, however, don’t see this as a benefit. Instead, they find it a violation of their privacy to collect information about their online searches and activities. Computer users who wish to avoid online behavioral advertising should check a website’s terms of service or privacy section for details on whether the specific website collects this information.
Online advertising works on the same principles as online behavioral advertising, but on a larger scale. Many websites can run on the same network or server. When a user searches or accesses a section of a website, advertisements of a similar nature will be served to the user whenever he or she accesses another website on the same network or server. If online advertising appears on a single website and not across an entire network, it is referred to as in-place advertising.
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