Another day, another way tech giants are found to be profiting handsomely from unsavory ad practices. Today brings the news, as reported by the Sunday Times, that Google has reaped “millions” from shady companies advertising online as help lines for people suffering from addiction, but in reality funnel those people to expensive private clinics, earning huge commissions. Read More
Category: advertising
Dating site ad banned for claiming that its algorithms work better than fate
Dating’s a numbers game. But, one dating site’s assertion that it applies a “scientifically-proven matching system” has resulted in the banning of an ad on the London Underground for making misleading claims.
SEE ALSO: The chilling reason every…
Some apps were listening to you through the smartphone’s mic to track your TV viewing, says report
There may be a reason why that ol’ “Facebook is listening to you talk” conspiracy theory refuses to die – and not just because Facebook’s ad technology has gotten so good, it’s downright creepy. As it turns out, some apps are actually listening. Well, kind of! According to a recent report from The NYT, a number of apps using software from a company called… Read More
Woman pens open letter to Instagram because her feed is inundated with bras
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A woman has penned an open letter to Instagram because she’s sick of seeing adverts for bras. But, her piece has raised an important question about Instagram’s algorithm and whether we can do anything to alter the ads in our feeds?
In a Medium post entitled “Towards a bra-free Instagram experience”, Lauren Hallden—who works as a product designer in Philadelphia—put a question to Instagram: “Does your company collect any user feedback from women?” The reason for this question is because Hallden says the sponsored content in her Instagram feed is “kind of one-note” as it only shows her photos of women working out in sports bras. Read more…
More about Lifestyle, Advertising, Instagram, Fitness, and Body Image
Thousands of major sites are taking silent anti-ad-blocking measures
It’s no secret that ad-blockers are putting a dent in advertising-based business models on the web. This has produced a range of reactions, from relatively polite whitelisting asks to dynamic redeployment of ads to avoid blocking. A new study finds that nearly a third of the top 10,000 sites on the web are taking ad blocking countermeasures, many silent and highly sophisticated. Read More
Fatherhood has changed, and so have the stock photos
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A father leans in, watching his daughter as she paints his nails. He’s sporting a feather boa, she’s wearing a tiara. Another man smiles as he listens to his kid sitting on the kitchen counter next to a rolling pin, measuring cups, and a laptop. She’s stirring ingredients as he steadies the bowl
These are the scenes depicted in two of Getty Images’ most-downloaded photos of fathers from 2016 and 2017, respectively. The tender moments are a world away from a popular shot from a decade ago: a father roughhousing with his son, diving for the ol’ pigskin in the yard.
The shift is an important one. Stock photos represent the broadest brush strokes of how we see ourselves. They’re the images used in commercials, on billboards, on websites, on social media, even in textbooks. As dads, statistically, become more involved in child-rearing and home care, Getty, a leader in the stock photo world, is striving to show that. Read more…
More about Advertising, Baby, Dad, Fatherhood, and Dads
Apple introduces a new pay-per-install ad product called Search Ads Basic
Apple today is introducing a new way for app developers to acquire users for their apps: it’s launching a pay-per-install advertising product called Search Ads Basic. The “basic” branding signals that this product is being aimed at smaller developers compared with the existing Search Ads product, which is now being renamed to Search Ads Advanced. Launched last year, Search… Read More
Australia launches inquiry into how Google and Facebook affect local media
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Australia’s worried Facebook and Google could eat up ad dollars and hurt local media.
That’s why the country’s government formally ordered the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) to look into digital content platforms and their impact on media and advertising, with Facebook and Google at the top of the pile.
With print advertising expenditure in decline in the country, the government wants to get a better handle on the impact of digital content aggregation platforms, social media platforms, and search engines on the advertising market. Read more…
More about Facebook, Google, Advertising, Australia, and Advertising Revenue
View More Australia launches inquiry into how Google and Facebook affect local mediaCoca-Cola is making a splash in Time Square
Coca-Cola has installed a billboard in Times Square that will make tourists stop and stare. It’s made up of 1,760 LED light cubes that flow in and out, giving the appearance of 3D designs. Read more…More about Advertising, Mashable Video, Coca Cola,…
View More Coca-Cola is making a splash in Time SquareFacebook will temporarily disable a tool that lets advertisers exclude people of color
Facebook has been under fire for its practices and policies that enable advertisers to exclude “multicultural affinity” groups from the audiences they reach via the social network. Now, in light of a ProPublica investigation and pressure from the Congressional Black Caucus, Facebook says it’s committed to taking a closer look at its advertising policies. Read More
Christmas ad pokes fun at the difficult to understand New Zealand accent
Perhaps it’s something in the water, but New Zealanders have been making superb advertisements recently.
It’s just a shame that their accents can be sometimes difficult to understand. Air New Zealand’s latest holiday ad makes fun of that, featuri…
Finally, Facebook stops advertisers from excluding racial and ethnic groups… for now
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Facebook has long allowed advertisers to target users based on race—and exclude users based on race, too.
On Wednesday, Facebook said they’re temporarily stopping that ability to exclude after repeated investigations uncovered how easy it is to discriminate.
The update comes after a ProPublica investigation published last week revealed advertisers can still target housing ads to white people only. That’s damning not only because it violates the federal Fair Housing Act but also because ProPublica already made Facebook aware of the issue back in October 2016. Facebook later promised to step up its enforcement. Read more…
More about Facebook, Advertising, Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook Ads, and Propublica
View More Finally, Facebook stops advertisers from excluding racial and ethnic groups… for now