Effects of New Forms of Advertising

In Kieran Healy’s article “Digital Technology and Cultural Goods,” we are posed with a recurring question in today’s new media world: does customization enhance or hinder our consumer experience? As is the case with many new media dilemmas, there appears to be no right or wrong answer. On the one hand, customization is a seemingly necessary means for advertisers to get through the clutter and cater to overwhelmed consumers who are engulfed by the endless options provided by the Internet. As Healy writes, “with perfect information about your habits, your newspaper could tailor itself to you—sports scores (but no baseball), foreign news (but no business reports),” etc., etc (482).

However, on the other hand, Healy notes that the convenience of customization may ultimately prevent consumers from seeking new information, looking for new experiences, and essentially making people “less likely to hear about or try out new things” (483). This idea of “perfectly targeted advertising” has been criticized for the potential of making people “more extreme in our views and less tolerant of other people precisely because it allows individuals to specify in advance what they want to see, hear, and read” (483).

From personal experience within this new media environment, it’s safe to say that we have all experienced both the positive and negative effects of customized consumerism, or so we think. Take amazon.com for example. Upon entering this online shopping mecca, I am warmly greeted with a banner that reads “Hello, Marli” (Exhibit A). And like an old friend who knows my tastes in books, I am immediately guided to look at things “to enjoy” (Exhibit B). And finally, by displaying the covers of books I have previously added to a wish list, Amazon reminds me that every now and then I should treat myself to a gift (Exhibit C). So even if I was initially on the website to browse for used Backstreet Boys CDs, by showing me remnants of my purchasing past, I am propelled towards the safety and convenience of Amazon’s recommendations. So as I am stopped dead in my tracks by my Amazon homepage beckoning me to read the newest novel by my favorite author, I’d have to say yes, customized consumerism makes me less likely to try out new things.

Exhbit A:


Exhibit B:


Exhibit C:




Healy, K. (2002). Digital technology and cultural goods. The Journal of Political Philosophy, 10(4).

According to a USA Today article, a woman last month sued Blockbuster, claiming that the company releasd personal information about her video and gaming rentals to Facebook through their Beacon system without her permission. Maybe this woman didnt't realize she could opt out of this function? While this case will likely not come to fruition in the courts, it does bring up some important ponts about the privacy implications of new media advertising.

Here's an interesting video about privacy concerns on Facebook and about how much your demographic information is worth to some new media advertisers.

In Octobert 2007, the popular television franchise Crime Scene Investigation: New York took a leap into the world of transmedia storytelling by leading its viewers into Second Life to help fill in the gaps of an unsolved crime that would not be completely solved until February of this year. By leading its audience members into Second Life, CSI producers hope that its viewers can become better acquainted with the online comunity and can interact with other fans of the show, do virtual lab experiments and read blog entries.

Here is a preview of what the episode looked like:


And the following is an interview from Henry Jenkins' blog "Confessions of an Aca/Fan" with CSI producers about their collaboration with Second Life.

http://www.henryjenkins.org/2007/10/producing_the_csinysecond_life.html

Shifting to new media advertising may have greater social implications, particularly with social networking sites, such as Facebook and MySpace, that use integrated marketing in ways not necessarily positive for consumers. Facebook can now report on users’ purchases that take place outside of the Facebook network through a new advertising tool called Social Ads. Social Ads expose people’s purchases on Facebook that they did not know would be exposed. This type of exposure is potentially threatening to Facebook users because as their social networks expand to include employers, coworkers, and friends of friends etc, they do not wish for their personal information to be compromised on the Internet for the benefit of marketers. For example, a sorority girl might not want others to know that they ordered $50 worth of cookies and brownies from Insomnia Cookies at 3 a.m. And a professor might want to keep it secret that he purchased the latest Gossip Girl novel from Amazon.

Whereas Facebook allows personal information to make its way into social conversation online, MySpace uses “hyper-targeted banner” ads through high-tech software that allows advertisers to purchase ad space on MySpace. Marketers can then target users according to the interests they find on MySpace user profiles. These banners are less complex and less risky than Facebook’s Social Ads because users’ personal information is not broadcasted beyond the marketers for all to see.

Here MySpace founders discuss the way in which the online networking site customizes its ads for users based on their individual profiles.

Shields, M. (2007). Advertising to get more social. MediaWeek, 17(4), 4-5.

Logic+Emotion Blog

Riley, D. (2007). MySpace to announce self-serve hyper targeted advertising network. TechCrunch Weblog.

A particular way in which the character of advertising has changed within a new media environment relates to control. Saul Berman and Bill Batino of Mediaweek identify four main drivers that have caused a shift in the control of advertising. First, they discuss the ever increasing use of Internet and the simultaneous decrease in TV viewing that has enabled consumers to become more in control of how they view, interact with, and filter advertising. Next, they believe that new media technology has allowed for user-generated and peer-delivered content and new ad-revenue-sharing models so that amateurs and semi-professionals can create lower-cost advertising content. As a result, the realm of creativity of ads has expanded. Additionally, they mention a change in format of advertising from impression-based to impact-based. Now marketers have the capability to measure beyond merely ad-reach and into actual product/service engagement. Finally, because ad space is now available through open, efficient exchanges, proprietary marketers such as broadcasters are being replaced by open platforms.

Would you be willing to let a phone company eavesdrop on your conversations if you got free service? Pudding Media, a startup based in San Jose, Calif., is listening in on your phone calls and placing ads on your internet screen based on what it hears. For example, a conversation about the New York Knicks might elicit ads about basketball tickets.

Ariel Maislos, chief executive of Pudding Media, says that young people don't care as much about privacy as they do about saving money.

“The trade-off of getting personalized content versus privacy is a concept that is accepted in the world,” he said.

Do you agree? The company just raised $8 million so they must be doing something right! Read this article and judge for yourself:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/24/business/media/24adcol.html