Boundaries Matter in More Personalized Internet Browsing

Lately Internet marketers are discovering their target audiences on a more personal level. As a result, more and more businesses are adopting a personalized approach to their online advertising strategies.

Not long ago, Google introduced the Knowledge Graph, providing a more comprehensive user experience based. Data such as user search history  and location influences the topmost results displayed. Soon thereafter, the up and coming Facebook Exchange (still in development) was announced, as mentioned in the previous post here. This new marketing tool will allow businesses that earn revenue online to immediately react to the behavior of its visitors (specifically those coming from Facebook) and customize their ads on the social networking platform for that potential customer.

What we’re seeing is an increased emphasis on personalization, not just among search and social platforms, but now retailers with the ultimate goal of this new level of consumer convenience encouraging sales. Currently half of major online retailers are using personalized advertising techniques. This is a nearly 20 percent increase since 2010.

Unfortunately, consumers aren’t as enthused about having their behavior  — such as physical location, past purchases, and online activity — analyzed in an attempt to make a sale. Once a sales strategy appears too obvious, potential customers are quickly turned off. So far it is clear that customized marketing is much more successful when it goes entirely unnoticed by the consumer.