— Ch. 1 · Defining Targeting Mechanisms —
Targeted advertising.
~4 min read · Ch. 1 of 5
In 1980, database marketing emerged as a method to personalize customer communications. This early form of targeted advertising allowed companies to track specific traits like race, economic status, sex, age, generation, education level, income, and employment. Psychographic targeting followed by focusing on consumer values, personality, attitude, opinion, lifestyle, and interests. Behavioral variables added another layer by tracking browser history, purchase history, and recent online activities. These three categories, demographic, psychographic, and behavioral, form the core framework for modern data-driven marketing. Advertisers use these traits to direct ads toward audiences with certain characteristics based on the product or person being promoted. While efficient for businesses, this practice has raised concerns regarding privacy and algorithmic bias. Critics argue that such methods can lead to unintended discrimination or the marginalization of specific groups.
Technological Implementation Methods
Google's Remarketing Campaigns utilize IP addresses to target users who have previously visited their websites. When these users browse other sites within the Google display network, they see ads matched to their search results. Dynamic remarketing improves this process by including products or services consumers viewed on advertiser websites directly in the ad creative. Facebook collects massive amounts of user data from its surveillance infrastructure, leveraging likes, view history, and geographic location to micro-target consumers. Cable box addresses are cross-referenced with information from data brokers like Acxiom, Equifax, and Experian. This includes details about marriage, education, criminal records, and credit history. Mobile devices transmit additional information about consumer location and time since the early 2000s. Internet cookies serve as tracking tools sent back and forth between servers and browsers to identify users. These cookies record pages visited, time spent viewing each page, links clicked, searches made, and interactions performed. Ad networks use cookies, web beacons, and third-party software to automatically collect site activity data. Some servers even record the referring page, subsequent websites visited, ads seen, and clicks recorded.