#2 - Random ads or targeted ads?

By Andreas Jensen

Category:

Online Advertising

Last updated:

17th November 2022

Reading time:

5 min

What I Saw

I came across a post from Gil David on LinkedIn while browsing for inspiration to improve my business, as I often do.

In summary, Gil David’s spouse prefers targeted advertisements over irrelevant ones, but is it worth considering this preference or should one simply not use social media?

Exploring the distinctions between opt-in and opt-out options

To begin with, what do opt-in and opt-out mean?

Essentially, opt-in refers to when a user actively agrees to something, such as subscribing to a newsletter or allowing a website to use cookies. In the context of Facebook, it would be when a user chooses to allow the app to track their activity. On the other hand, opt-out is when a user actively chooses to withdraw their consent. (example)

This is the opposite of opt-in. Using the Facebook example, opt-out would be when a user selects the option to prevent the app from tracking their activity.

But why is this a problem today?

The biggest problems will hit the marketing agencies around the world because we use the data we get from you, to give you the best possible ads.
I know I know… “I don’t want anyone to track me”, but here is the problem with not letting Facebook or a website track you.

The whole experience you normally will get from surfing on the web or social media will get ruined because the algorithms will still try their best to give you the best experience, but if you are opt-outed, you are not letting the algorithms provide you with a good experience.
This brings me back to the main question, “random ads or targeted?”.

Would you prefer to get good ads that align with your Facebook feed, or get random ads that ruin your whole Facebook scrolling journey?

Will it have an impact on you?

It varies.
On devices such as Android, PC, and tablets, the options are limited to accepting or declining cookies on specific websites.

However, for devices with IOS operating systems such as iPhones and iPads, users have the ability to allow or block tracking on a per-app basis. Although this option is not yet available on MacBooks, it’s likely that Apple will release an update in the future allowing for opt-in or opt-out on these devices as well.

So does Gil David's wife have a point?

Yes! Yes! absolutely.

I think I speak for all of the marketings agencies around that world that we would recommend you to opt-in on platforms like Facebook.
That way you will have a better experience and even if you only allowed Facebook to track you, you are also helping thousands of companies and marketings agencies.

If you have further questions about this blog post or just in general, feel free to write to our mail info@flenster.dk.