Fake views from programmatic advertising account for 88% of all digital ad clicks.
While digital marketing efforts must be relevant, timely and likeable, businesses strayed towards marketing that’s “annoying.” The digital marketing industry, running on tech like ad tracking, walled gardens, and programmatic ads, often disregards consumers' privacy and consent and propogates misinformation.
Ad tracking cookies, for example, aren't clear enough, and data about users browsing behaviour is collected without consent to inform advertising content, newsfeed, and more. Users' data in walled gardens is used to serve them with "ever-more engaging" content, resulting in an experience that is far-fetched from reality, making it a breeding ground for conspiracy theories and fake news.
While technology behemoths like Facebook and Google account for over half of all digital ad spend, marketers and advertisers are the ones driving the unscrupulous practices, the article notes. Though online ads help marketers in entertaining and educating customers, the author contends brands can promote without tracking and surveillance, as these only serve to increase distrust. As an example, In Apple's iOS 14.5 update, 89% of people chose not to be tracked.
[8 minute read]
