Targeted Online Advertising - Love It or Leave It?

We've all been there... You're sitting on Facebook (when you should be working) and those pair of shoes you ALMOST bought yesterday show up on the right hand side of your screen. WTH?!?! Here you are, making the responsible decision to back away from the online shopping cart, and BAM now you're being reminded of those amazing pumps you didn't splurge on.

That my friends, is online advertising. And it's doing exactly what it's meant to do; targeting you and your weaknesses.

So do we love this? Or do we hate it? Well it depends. There have been many times where I've found new restaurants, great workout clothes, or events I didn't know were happening in my backyard by an online ad. I enjoy the fact that I most likely won't see an ad for Whey Protein, or men's shaving creme, but I also feel icky when the exact product I was just thinking about pops up on my screen... unless it's those amazing shoes.

This type of advertising does work and it makes sense. Companies invest millions into finding the exact target they want: age, sex, location, income (sounds like an online dating app), but if it's not done correctly, it can come off appearing... well... downright creepy.

So the purpose of this post isn't to prove one side over another, but it's to open the discussion. How do YOU feel about targeted online advertising? Are you happy to see products that fit your lifestyle? Or are you starting to feel stalked?

Discuss.

-Meghan Rothschild, chikmedia co-founder

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