It is 11:30 PM and you have your assignment due at 11:59 PM. You decide to take the help of the all-mighty tool known as the Internet. You find a perfect blog (like this one ;)) on the topic of your assignment but before you can even scroll, you're suddenly hit with a large pop-up advertisement that fills the entire screen. When you close it, another pop-up appears at the bottom of your screen, making it harder to navigate the website. At this point, you just drop off.
Another one - Spotify ads. That’s it. You already know what’s up with that.
Image Source : IPM Media - Spotify Ads Studio
These are all forms of online advertising. Online advertising is the practise of sending marketing messages to a targeted and identifiable audience via the internet. Online advertising is useful for increasing website traffic and brand awareness, but its primary goal is to encourage the targeted audience to do a particular action, like making a purchase. And even though the pop-ads get very annoying to the users which disturbs their experience, online advertising has evolved in numerous creative ways refining itself in the content it delivers and enhances a user’s experience. But, it does come with its own set of hazards.
The violation of consumers' privacy is possibly the largest risk associated with the existing model of online advertising. Recently, a number of examples of businesses collecting consumer data through dubious means have come to light. Even worse, on a few occasions, multiple online marketers knew that these dubious behaviours were taking place. The ethics of online marketers' actions are currently being questioned, which has caused online marketing to come under investigation. With the internet retail sector expanding quickly, marketers must make sure that potential customers feel secure and at ease in this setting. Customers' trust has decreased as a result of all these privacy issues related to data collection. There is a line to be drawn between users who freely share their personal information with businesses in the hopes of having a more personalised experience and information that is unlawfully gathered by interested parties.
It is clear that there are certain ethics which need to be followed by the marketers who advertise online. When selling or marketing on the internet, advertisers must abide by a number of clear and important guidelines provided by the Institute of Advertising Ethics (IAE). Among them are:
The maintenance of truth must be the overarching objective of all forms of advertising content, and they should serve the public.
They ought to keep a clean line between advertisements, press releases, sales materials, and corporate communications;
Since the consumer may occasionally overlook the asterisks (*) and fine print at the end of the paper, a publisher must make all conditions obvious and upfront.
Before a user starts surfing your site, they must be made aware if cookies are being used to track and identify their preferences, personal information, and online activities;
Ads shouldn't be placed in a way that blocks the user's vision, and they shouldn't be passed off as editorial content;
Last but not the least, advertisers must follow all applicable federal, state, and municipal advertising rules whether they are selling on offline platforms or online ones.
Image Source: Pronto Marketing
Companies would do better if they are open about their data collection methods since unethical behaviour might erode consumer trust. Online marketers should bear the following principles in mind while collecting and utilising consumer data:
Only collect information from users who have expressly consented.
Make sure advertisements are truthful and transparent, and only collect information that is pertinent to each individual campaign.
Always defend the privacy rights of consumers
Be open and honest with your customers about how you collect their data in order to foster their trust.
Observe all regulations and policies issued by the FTC and other agencies.
Establish moral standards for your own company to make sure everyone is on the same page.
Speak out against unethical methods of online marketing
Organizations must actively apply their own ethical standards and speak out against those acting unethically in order to rebuild confidence and change the unfavourable perception of internet marketing. Both the marketer and the customer consider the collection of consumer data as being critical to the success of internet marketing. Marketers must be very open and honest with consumers in order to provide the greatest possible customer experience. They must be clear about their data collection goals and adhere to ethical ad design principles.
REFERENCES :
Langoor / facebook maulkdshi
Oregon State blog
A quick fun-poll, which of these online advertising formats is the most annoying to you? Let us know, we love to hear from our audience!
Which of these online advertising formats is the most annoying to you?
Pop-up advertisements
Spotify audio ads
Video ads while using an application (like in a gaming app)
YouTube ads which you can't skip
well written!! Keep going!! Woohoo!!
well written
Nice insights on the topic but that's only one part of the story. As you these ad's are the sole reason because of which users are enjoying these services for free. These ad's companies generate a huge revenue which has become a crucial part of economy. Many people's life earning come from this unethical way of advertising. So now it is a part of online services. If we remove or reduce this will in return effect the amount and quality of service we are getting for no cost.
Excellent work on a topic which is very common but least discussed about....