Zappos’ targeted ads: privacy violation?
About five days ago I decided it was a time to retire my old brown dress shoes so I went online, as I usually do, to shuffle over the hundreds of models that my search yielded.
So I went to my usual first option: Zappos.com, but couldn’t find something I liked so, I went to a few other sites until I did and finished my transaction. All good now, time to forget about brown shoes.
Today while reading a few blog posts at Alltop.com, one of my preferred blogs, I was creeped out by some ads displaying the shoe models I was looking at at Zappos! But on my favorite blog?
As an interactive marketer I had always supported targeted and personalized advertising but now that I experienced it, I think this went too far, it is just creepy.
It’s like I went to the shoe store and five days later the shoe salesman approaches me at lunch, out of nowhere, to tell me to buy the shoes I “touched” during my last visit, I personally find it outrageous!
So I tweeted the following:
@ferdelat 11:40am:
Zappos ads that show the shoe models I didn’t shop are annoying and creeping me out a lot. Stop stalking me!!
And this is the response from Zappos
@Zappos_Service 12:37pm:
@ferdelat I’m sorry. Those ads are running on your computer’s cookies and cache. If you clear them, the ads should go away.
Although Criteo, the company serving those ads, states that the information is anonymous you would have to go to configuration to prevent these ads from showing. What I’m concerned about is that I never signed-in and now I have to opt-out.
What happened to the question: Would you like to receive more information about ____________?
And the fact that a different company, not Zappos, is controlling that information creeps me out even more! Why does Criteo know what I’m watching online? What else do they know?
When I’m done buying shoes I just want to close the window and forget about that. I don’t want to buy 25 pairs of shoes! Same as when I leave a store.
So, the ad wasn’t relevant, but it did creep me out. I’m blocking these ads and if you want to do so here is the opt-out link: http://ow.ly/2e9fU
And remember, you are being watched and followed – stalked would be a more precise word according to my experience.
What do you think?
I’m right there with you. My experience with online “stalking” involves Google’s Gmail which automatically serves up ads according to keywords detected in YOUR E-MAIL messages.
I am also in favor of targeted and personalized advertising – with the purpose of making experiences more enjoyable – but, if it involves serving up ads in a space I deem private, then I’m not in favor and I find it to be an invasion of privacy. This day in age though, privacy is no longer respected and I probably just need to get used to it.
I agree with both. In fact, there is an article today in e-Marketer that speaks about users’ comfort level when educated about behavioral targeting.
Here is the article: http://bit.ly/9rMXJ0
Ads like these can definitely turn a consumer off. However, I do think that it’s important to realize that these types of marketing campaigns never transfer any personally identifiable data. Additionally, Criteo says that they recieve on average much higher CTRs with their personal retargeting, so it’s very attractive for advertisers to use methods like this.
The solution..? I think that retargeting can be just as effective, but less creepy, if the ads weren’t so personalized. How would you feel if, instead of seeing a creepy ad based on the specific product which you looked at, you see just plain Zappos branded ads?
There’s been a lot of backlash now on the idea of personalized retargeting, but I don’t think that the technology should be totally shunned. Companies like ReTargeter (disclosure: I work there), will work very closely with an advertiser to make sure that they reach the advertiser’s goals while making sure that the advertiser’s audience remains happy.
- Samir Soriano
Director of Marketing
ReTargeter.com
Hi Samir,
Thanks for your reply. Regarding the higher CTR on Criteo banners, I think that a more effective argument should be focused on real conversions, meaning more sales. For example in my case I just stopped using Zappos, my former favorite online store, just because of this “intrusion”.
So, if you shift campaign’s short term metrics like CTR to something more long term like referrals and lifetime value of a customer, then you can decide what is best for you and your business model. So, if you are depending on recurring customers, then there are better ways to keep them happy, not just retargeting.
I agree that if the creepiness factor is reduced then adverse response would be less, but the question still remains, would I be more interested in a retargeted ad, or on a any other type of targeted add?
If so, is the difference significant at the risk of loosing a long time valued customer for a new one looking for a sale?
What do you think?