Have you ever wondered why you see the same damn ads on all the sites you visit? Well wonder no more! I’m about to explain you somethin, young buckley.
It’s a simple term called “Re-marketing.” Re-marketing is basically every online marketer’s fantasy. It allows them to shove ads in your face until you finally give in and buy their stuff, or install an ad blocker.
Here’s how it works –
1) Websites like Google and Facebook set a “cookie” on your browser when you surf the internet on your computer, tablet or phone. Yep, they literally track all the stuff you click on and view. I normally love cookies but these cookies are disgusting.
2) Online marketers then create a campaign that allows them to target you based on your activity. For example, if you search for “Huggies Diapers” on Google they can use that as criteria for their Facebook ad.
3) Then you login to Facebook and see a f*cking Huggies Diaper ad. Damn.
So… it’s basically internet stalking. Unlike TV commercials, which you can mute, re-marketing ads don’t shut up. They’re quite inconvenient, especially when they’re something embarrassing or inappropriate. Like that time you were showing a colleague something online and a Depend ad popped up on the screen. Damn.
How Can I Stop Them?
You can’t. Just joking. There are two ways to block these busters.
A) Ad Blocker
Most ad blockers will block 90% of ads, including re-marketing campaign ads. So that’s probably your first line of defense. Install an ad blocker.
B) Clear Your Cookies
The other way is to clear out your cookies in your browsers. I’m not going to go into detail for this because it varies from browser to browser, but it’s pretty easy if you just google it – i.e. “How to clear cookies in [browser of choice].”
To be honest, I don’t know what propelled me to write this article. Most online businesses use re-marketing ads for obvious reasons. But something inside [me] says that they just feel wrong. They aren’t just invasive, they are annoying and persistent… like the piece of shit mosquitos that fly around to do nothing other than steel blood from people.
If you didn’t know, well now you know!
Ali Jafarian
Ali is a father, husband and serial entrepreneur with a deep drive to create. He writes, records, codes and builds things to inspire the artist in all of us.
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