Nearly everyone with a Facebook can tell that the ads on the site are catered to them. Do a simple search for, say, ceiling fans on Google and suddenly advertisements for ceiling fans are popping up on your Facebook feed. While somewhat tactless, most of us find the advertisements harmless or even smart on behalf of the companies involved. Other people are not so happy about the idea and work hard to maintain the highest level of privacy available to all of their web searches and social media accounts. There are arguments that the information is being stored, possibly for government records. Despite the controversy surrounding the idea of internet tracking, companies logging our browsing history are doing so to promote customized ads and stimulate the economy, even amongst arguments that the information can be used for negative purposes.
Several well-known journalists have weighed in on the matter. Lori Andrews, writing on behalf of The New York Times, reports that 85% of Facebook’s total revenue in 2011 was due to advertisements which, she goes on to write, is nothing compared to the estimated $36.5 billion in advertising revenue taken home by the search engine giant Google (Andrews). Both of these companies track the browsing history of their users and generate advertisements based on that history, prompting users to purchase items of likely interest. Andrews’ article is cautionary – she warns that the police and detective agencies will often track a person’s social media accounts to find out various information, such as their home address or marital status. This is a red herring and has nothing to do with the advertisements chosen for each user. In fact, no one else will even see the advertisements chosen unless they are using the same device. Andrews gets off topic as police and detective agencies are not collecting browsing history so much as viewing what can be viewed by anyone, based on the privacy settings one chooses for their social media. Information collected for advertisement, however, remains harmless.
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Jim Harper, writing for The Wall Street Journal, has a clearer idea of how internet advertising works. He writes: “If Web users supply less information to the Web, the Web will supply less information to them. Free content won’t go away if consumers decline to allow personalization, but there will be less of it. Bloggers and operators of small websites will have a little less reason to produce the stuff that makes our Internet an endlessly fascinating place to visit” (Harper). Harper understands the implications of destroying tracking altogether – in the end, it will hurt the little guy. Stay-at-home bloggers depend on the revenue garnered from advertisements placed on their sites – the same is true for YouTubers and all other manner of internet-based self-employment. Not only are these targeted advertisements used by Facebook and Google, but by the average person trying to make a living online. Dismantling the ability to track browsing history for advertisements hurts the larger companies, yes – but it impacts the self-employed and small business owners in a much larger way.
Nicolas Carr, also writing on behalf of The Wall Street Journal, mentions several of the dangers involved with our browsing history being tracked, but he mentions a key point: “The first line of defense is, of course, common sense” (Carr). His article is more focused on how to protect oneself from the potential misuse of that information. That’s fair. Despite the information being harmless in the hands of Google or Facebook, you shouldn’t hand out information freely to others. As he mentions, have common sense. Don’t type in any personal information on sites that aren’t secure – if you aren’t sure, don’t take the chance. While well-known companies will not misuse the information, you must always be aware of scammers online.
In most cases, browsing history is used to personal advertising experiences to help consumers find the products they need and companies find the customers they desire. In these instances, the information stored is helpful and stimulates the economy by increasing consumer spending and income for work-at-home bloggers and YouTubers. While scammers do exist, their ability to get their hands on personal browsing history is dependent on the individual giving them that information. As long as the individual is aware of scammers, there should be no issue as the larger companies will not misuse this information.
- Andrews, Lori. “Facebook is Using You.” The New York Times, 4 Feb. 2012, www.nytimes.com/2012/02/05/opinion/sunday/facebook-is-using-you.html.
- Carr, Nicholas. “Tracking is an Assault of Liberty.” The Wall Street Journal, 6 Aug. 2010, www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703748904575411682714389888.
- Harper, Jim. “Web Surfers Give As Much As They Get Give.” The Wall Street Journal, 7 Aug. 2010, www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703748904575411530096840958.
