I use Google for absolutely everything. From looking up
colleges, to looking up information, or finding games to play, Google search puts
the whole world at your fingertips. If you know how to use it, you can find
almost anything on the Internet. In class, we discussed how Google personalizes
their ads based on your searches. For example, I searched "shoes" on
Google, and instantly I got hit with 10 ads that say "15% off shoes" or
"free shipping ." But is that really a bad thing? First we have to take a look at the word advertising. James Laver, a
British historian during the 19th century, broadly described advertising as
"any device which first arrests the attention of the passer-by and then
induces him to accept a mutually advantageous exchange."
Advertising
is inevitably a part of the United States' largely free-market economy. We idolize
making money and consumption. As a result, companies and corporations are always
looking for ways to get new customers, compete against other companies, and to
make more sales. But all of us only have limited amounts of money; we can't
always buy the things that we want. Advertisements improve the efficiency of our economy by letting us maximize the use of our dollars. Advertisements for sales and promotions benefit
both you as a consumer, who is buying a product or service at a lower price,
and the seller, who gets mores sales and traffic. Then there are advertisements
for products (such as sandwiches from D'Angelos) that show you products and
services that you may want to take a look at.
I think
Google is taking a step forward in advertising. Instead of trying to sell to
the general public and just get their product out there, the ads are
personalized and relevant to what you are interested in. You won't get ads about sandwiches if you
don't want them. Instead, it's kind of like having your own personal assistant
that help you find the goods you want, not unlike sales assistants in clothing
stores. Of course, there are people who
rather be left alone to shop for themselves, and Google has an option for that
too. If you didn't know this, you can actually block interest-based ads that
are relevant to what you searched. You'll still get ads, but they won't be
personalized to you. Now the question is: would you rather get ads that are relevant to you, or just
ads on things that you will never buy?
Works Cited
"History and Origins of Advertising." : Defining Advertising…historically. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Sept. 2013.
Kevin, you're totally right, and ironically, I just learned last night, when I purchased my first smart phone, that I can block personalized ads. I am glad that you took the opposing point of view and wholeheartedly supported the relationship between ads, our economy, and our personal satisfaction. Your point of view is an important one, and I thank you for sharing it with the class. I am not 100% convinced that ads actually allow us to save money, "maximize the use of our dollars." Also, I am not always sure that ads lead us to "a product or service at a lower price." That seems like a bit of a sentimental stretch. However, I get the point. I also thank you for writing this post well.
ReplyDeleteMy only real complaint about this post is that you don't offer any quantitative evidence to support your position. This was an explicit part of the assignment. You could have easily offered the same analysis that your peers provided, but looked at it from a contrasting point of view. This would have been quite interesting in fact. Regardless, this post is good, and I appreciate your perspective.