How To Avoid “Cyber Monday Hangover”
What is a Cyber Monday Hangover? Tips on how to avoid having ads follow you around the web after your deal hunting and shopping spree.
According to Mozilla, “The average person sees an average of 4,000 ads a day.”
To put that in perspective, think about how many people you see in a day. During COVID-19, it’s probably much lower than usual. Do you see 10 people? Perhaps 50 if your day is packed with Zoom meetings?
We’ve become so accustomed to seeing ads everywhere – especially online – that we think we’re immune. But if the film, The Social Dilemma, has shown us anything, it’s that we’re highly susceptible to online advertising. In fact, according to a study by Criteo, people are 70 percent more likely to make a purchase because of retargeting ads.
In 2019, “Cyber Monday raked in a new record of more than $9 billion in sales, marking the first day in history when consumers spent over $3 billion using their smartphones.” (https://www.forbes.com/sites/sergeiklebnikov/2019/12/03/cyber-monday-2019-by-the-numbers-a-record-94-billion-haul/?sh=385a636a2ef0)
This year, it’s quite possible more people than ever will skip Black Friday in favor of Cyber Monday. There is no doubt that companies will be using everything in their advertising arsenal, including retargeted ads to set a new record in sales – always at the expense of your bank account. Here’s a quick rundown on what retarget ads are and how to avoid them.
First of all, what are retargeted ads? And how do they work?
Retargeted ads, or as Google calls them “remarketing advertising,” are ads based on your past online activity. However, retargeted ads can go beyond simply showing you the TV or shoes you were checking out earlier in the day. According to Google, “advertisers can show a different ad to site visitors who have placed items in a shopping cart but have not purchased them.” They can even show ads in follow-up searches.
What exactly does this mean? Imagine you’re hunting for the best Cyber Monday deal on a laptop. You look up available deals and prices on a non-private search engine. After visiting a couple of websites, you’ve found a laptop you want on one of the websites so you put it into your shopping cart, but you’re not sure if you’ll buy it. You continue to search on the non-private search engine… and ads for the laptop in your cart keep following you around – even past Cyber Monday. The ads follow you around for the entire holiday season.
This is a Cyber Monday Hangover.
How can I avoid retargeted ads from following me around after Cyber Monday?
It may seem impossible to do, but you can avoid retargeted ads!
Here are a few do’s and don’ts to help you avoid a Cyber Monday hangover:
- DON’T search for deals on e-commerce companies like Amazon. If you search on their websites not only will you get results and prices that are tailored to you, you may also be retargeted with the items you didn’t buy. In the end, you may end up spending more than others on the same items.
- DO search for deals on a private search engine. A truly private search engine like Startpage doesn’t give you targeted ads or collect/share your online search history.
- DON’T sign into e-commerce websites using your Google or social media accounts. By signing in with your accounts, you’re handing over access to use your personal data (name, age, location, and more) for the companies to retarget you with ads.
- DO create a special email or email alias to create accounts. Doing so will help keep your inbox decluttered from unwanted emails and help you avoid retargeted ads.
- DON’T use unreputable coupon sites. Not only can these websites sell your personal data to companies and help them retarget you, but they can also be scams or loaded with malware.
PrivacyProTip: Try combining the power of a private search engine with a private browser to keep your online activity and personal data truly private. Many private browsers have built-in features to protect you from insecure websites and block unwanted content.
Newsletters
Was this article helpful?
Share Article
