Worst Blog Ever

Being constantly connected to the internet via social networks, google searches, chrome operating system, augmented reality, always on GPS enabled phones and cameras, etc. was suppose to usher in an era of targeted advertising that was suppose to change the way that consumers would interact with corporations.

The idea was that all of these constantly connected devices would be able to take all of these signals and create a detailed portfolio of your habits and needs, and then would be able to target ads, through the interwebs or your smart phone, specifically for you.  For the company who is advertising, there are two benefits to this kind of advertising:

1. The company who is advertising would pay less money, as the adverts would only be displayed to certain individuals.
2. The company who is advertising would have a much greater chance of the viewer clicking on the advert as it is specifically targeted to their needs.

For the consumer, the benefits are obvious, you would only see ads that actually may hold interest for you.  This is not what is happening however.

As an example, a couple of days ago, the battery on my Vespa bit the dust, and I had mentioned it on both Facebook and Google Plus.  Now, the idea of targeted advertising is that I should see display ads in Facebook/Google Plus for things like motorcycle batteries, Vespa dealerships, motorcycle/scooter service centres, etc.  But what do I see instead?  Belly fat adds, my 55 year old mom looks 35, enrol at Crap Online University (or CU), congratulations - you're the 1,000,000 site visitor, click here so we can steal your information...

Evidently the only advertisers on the web, are the same people who send me spam via email.  Oh, and by the way...I'm still waiting for my penis enlarger that I ordered last year!!!