Me vs Ads

Have you ever wondered why ads are everywhere? Advertisements are to inform consumers about their product and convince their customers that their product is the best. The ads that someone may have is usually based on your social presence. A social presence is created by how a person portrays themselves online and their purchases. Advertising companies take that information and try to give an ad that matches your interests closely. Google uses its facts and tries to be spot-on with its ads. My advertising identity and my real identity are not the same, as they falsely portrayed my real identity.

Advertisement identity is not spot on is because they base it on your online history. For example, my Advertisement identity was false because of this basing. As it states “Google uses your search history, watch history, and other factors to determine your interests. This allows Google to show you ads that are relevant to you. Your demographics: Google also uses your age, gender, location, and other demographics to determine which ads to show you.” Google tries to use your history to find out what you like to determine the ads to give you. For example, if you look up a lot of sports scores, games, etc. you’re most likely to get sports advertisements.

My Advertisement identity had ads about dog supplies, Monopoly Go, and military ads. Yes, the dog ads fit me, but not the Monopoly Go and Military ads. I am a dog owner and I do look into dog supplies and jewelry online, such as dog food, treats, and toys. But I do not play phone games and have not looked into the military. I have looked up to see if Monopoly Go is the same for the online version as it is for the board game. In particular, doing that shows that just because you look up something and it’s in your history doesn’t mean it is a real-life interest. This goes to show your Advertisement identity can be false, but Google interprets it and continues to give you the ads for it.

Looking up items and activities on your phone doesn’t mean that is your whole life. Just because my social media activities show that I love dogs, doesn’t mean that it’s my whole life. I love being outdoors, working, and driving, but those are some of my offline interests. Not everything people have achieved and are interested in will be in their history. Google can only go off of so much which is why people may not have a spot on ads on their device.

In conclusion, advertisements are based on your search history, watch history, and many other factors. But that doesn’t mean that your ads will be spot on. Many people don’t look up all their interests and achievements. My advertisement identity is different than my real identity.

Work Cited

“How does Google decide which ads to show you on YouTube?” Quora, 27 December 2022, https://www.quora.com/How-does-Google-decide-which-ads-to-show-you-on-YouTube. Accessed 1 April 2024.