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Search Engines and Advertising

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Internet Marketing and Privacy

For as long as there have been consumers, marketers have gathered information about consumers in order to better target a marketing pitch.  With the advent of Internet advertising in the 1990s, marketers gained another avenue to track consumer behavior to send targeted marketing offers.   This guide provides an overview of the best Web resources for learning about off-line and online consumer targeting practices. It educates you about the data that marketing companies may be gathering about you, and offers advice on how you may be able to control the data that is gathered about you.

Offline Consumer Targeting

For how long have offline marketers have been collecting data on consumers ?  The Consumer ... read more »

Online Advertising Technology

The world of online privacy can often seem overwhelming. Privacy policies written in ... read more »

Third-Party Advertising

Most advertisements on the Web are not served or sold by the sites you see hosting them, but by ... read more »

Social Networking Sites and Advertising

Every day millions of Americans freely list personal details of their lives on social networking ... read more »

Search Engines and Advertising

Perhaps just as much as they do with social networks, Internet users potentially reveal private details of their lives through the online searches that they conduct. How the different search engines use (or don’t use) this data is essential to understanding the privacy concerns raised.

Dulcinea's Insight

  • Search engines make money almost completely through advertising. Advertisers pay the engines to appear on search results pages when certain keywords they have paid for are searched. These advertisements, not natural algorithmic results, are usually labeled “sponsored links” or “sponsor results.” 
  • Most major search engines may keep track of the searches you enter.  If you have a tool bar, email address or other account with a search engine, your search and browsing history will be keyed to the account.  If you do not have a tool bar or account, your history may be tied to a cookie on your Web browser.  Most search engines explain their practices, and tell you how to opt-out of them if you wish, in their privacy policy or FAQ.
  • There are three key factors in determining a search engine’s privacy practices: data retention length, how that data is deleted and whether such data can be tied to an individual user. CNET News.com breaks down how each major search engine fares on these points.

Dulcinea's Picks

CNET News.com explains the major privacy gaffe that occurred when AOL publicly exposed millions of users’ searches connected with their IP addresses. Within a matter of days, journalists were able to connect searches on private issues to specific individuals.
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Google has a detailed FAQ on its privacy practices. 
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The Future of Internet Privacy

As the future takes shape, there will no doubt be more companies that cross the line in trying to ... read more »

Community Links in Internet Marketing and Security

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