Behavioral Targeting

Behavioral targeting is is advertisers try to guess what purchasers the consumer will make Or offer suggestions of stuff they might like. My understanding is that contextual advertising ( the practice of matching similar products to similar sites) was to expensive to use on a regular basis. Now by following patterns of use companies can hire ad networks to track cookies left behind to from web browsing and get a picture of what the consumer is into. From the little bits of information a picture of the consumer is established. For example one of the cookies in my browser list was for Aston Martin . When I.m looking for something else on the Internet there might be pop ups of high-end car retailers on websites that I visit. The same could be said when I"m visiting the Northface website for clothes, discounter's outlet banners might appear when I do other searches for certain apparel.

Some of the other cookies I found from ad networks are addoubleclick.net and servedby.advertising.com. The issue of privacy is a big part of using the Internet. I personally erase all files and cookies every time I surf the web. I have always felt that I didn't want to be profiled by companies wanting to sell to me. I all ready know what I want before I go online. Some people might need the extra push to get them interested in products they themselves may not know about. There will always be cost vs. benefit but with the way Internet security is virtually impossible to keep because of some techno geek leaving his laptop on a bus or train I will find programs that keep my web browsing invisible or try to limit my use of the web all together and shop through catalogs.