Have you seen this new smart advertising trend that’s getting going? Where all the popup ads in your browser are suddenly for your favorite stores? If you haven’t noticed, you will now.
I noticed a couple months ago that all my Internet advertising was suddenly hitting home. At the time I was surfing the web and ads for a couple of my favorite online stores kept showing up. I thought was a cool coincidence.
But the sites weren’t exactly Amazon and Overstock.com or other really big online vendors, which made me wonder. The first ad popped up and I clicked on the link, of course, even though I didn’t need anything from them…you know. When it happened again, though, I realized something was up.
Retailers are getting smart about online advertising. They’re not leaving it to chance with blanket ads all over the place anymore. They’re using targeted advertising, and it makes perfect sense. Why cold call when you can call the people who might actually buy your stuff?
Traditional popup ads come up randomly and you ignore them. It’s doubtful that a 15-year-old girl needs financial investment advice. But she may want to know about a sale at Abercrombie & Fitch.
Smart popups are…well…smart. If you go to a vendor’s website, they can put a cookie on your computer which your browser can then use to put that site’s ad up on your screen. (Still haven’t blown enough money on gardening tools or video games or clothes or whatever yet this month? Go for it.)
It’s kind of funny because it’s still an annoying popup, but it’s way less annoying than before. Of course, in some ways it’s more annoying (the temptation to click on the link, which is a slippery slope). And maybe even a little Big Brother creepy.
Overall, though, as a consumer I’d say I’m a fan of the smart popup. I mean, if you’re going to be annoyed, it might as well be with something you’re at least interested in.Smart Ads, Yea or Nay?
