When we surfing the Internet, we leave some “breadcrumbs” in the form of cookies and there are many companies that collect them to provide us with a better interaction with the network. You look for information in a search engine about for example fertility clinics, then any page you visit you will find advertising related to that search. If like me, you want to be able to choose and decide which company you want to collect your data or not. The page is YOURONLINECHOICES at European level, although there are others according to the region of the planet.
Companies that collect information when surfing the Internet
Once we access the page, we can see in the preferences information about which company offers ads and a scheme of symbols of the status of that company as can be seen in Fig 2.
These are several companies that work with websites to collect and use data to deliver interest-based advertising. We can choose whether to accept all or decline all. If you decline all these companies, it does not mean that you will stop seeing advertising when visiting websites, but that the advertising will not have to do with your search preferences.
How this page works
The goal of this website is to provide you with clear and easy-to-understand information, as well as greater control, about what is known as “online behavioral advertising.” Most websites store small text files known as “cookies” to check your status and make the choice you want to exercise.
If you want to ensure that these cookies are not used, there are ways to manage cookies in your browser’s privacy settings. However, doing this will mean that the control tool will no longer work effectively. No personal data is stored in this process and the information collected is only used in the aggregate.
Standards of surfing the Internet through advertising with Google
Google participates in ad and user behavior industry groups that create and follow online advertising standards by region of the globe which I quote below.
- Australia: Australian Digital Advertising Alliance
- Canada: Digital Advertising Alliance of Canada
- Europa: European Digital Advertising Alliance
- U.S.A.: Digital Advertising Alliance y Network Advertising Initiative
Partners
Most websites that make a profit using advertising use what are called partners or partners. For example, when you access a web page that you have not previously visited, you see a pop-up window to ACCEPT or view those partners. If you click on MANAGE MY COOKIES you will see a list of companies, just like the one you saw on the page I have previously mentioned, that perform analysis of your browsing preferences. For example, I just visited a page and I get this:
If we go to any of them, I have chosen 33ACROSS (https://www.33across.co.uk) I see that it is a company that tries to attract the attention of users who browse web pages by providing them with relevant ads for them. The same thing this company does, the rest do. If we go to the page https://www.33across.co.uk/about-us/ to know more about them they tell us:
33Across is a technology company focused on solving the challenge of consumer attention for an era of automated advertising. Our care platform is the first programmatic solution to unify high-impact creatives, quality delivery, and true technology-driven scale. Brands can now offer superior audience engagement, while 33Across publishers benefit from the ability to generate more revenue for each ad placement, resulting in greater efficiency and a better consumer experience.
Summary
The Internet plays a fundamental role in society and is one of the few sectors of the economy that currently continues to grow. After the great economic crisis of 2008, thousands of jobs have emerged under the internet. Right now, in one way or another, virtually all of us work on the internet.
Much of the investment in the Internet is made from the online advertising sector. A study by independent financial research company IHS Markit shows that digital advertising contributes to $526 billion of the European Union’s annual GDP.
One of the ways in which advertising on the Internet is carried out is through cookies. Cookies are tools that have an essential role for the provision of numerous information society services that concentrate the greatest advertising investment, facilitate user navigation, and offer advertising based sometimes on browsing habits.
In short, when surfing the internet these partners or partners intend to offer you very relevant advertising for you and both the website that shows the ads and the company that offers the ads get money if you click on that advertising.
References
- https://support.google.com/admanager/answer/9012903?hl=es
- https://www.youronlinechoices.com/
- Australian Digital Advertising Alliance
- Digital Advertising Alliance of Canada
- European Digital Advertising Alliance
- Digital Advertising Alliance y Network Advertising Initiative
- https://www.aepd.es/es/prensa-y-comunicacion/notas-de-prensa/aepd-actualiza-guia-cookies
- https://www.aepd.es/es/documento/guia-cookies.pdf
- The Economic Contributions of Digital Advertising, available in: http://datadrivenadvertising.eu/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/DigitalAdvertisingEconomicContribution_FINAL.pdf
