Google is once again pushing the boundaries of online privacy with a new advertising option, dubbed remarketing, which would allow advertisers to target potential customers who may be interested in their products but aren't 'convinced' yet.
If a user visits your site but leaves without purchasing anything, you can then direct ads at that user, for example, if you introduce a special offer. The idea could prove very lucrative for the advertisers and interesting for users too, but, along with other
new ad tools Google is introducing, it may very well break out into another privacy controversy.
"[T]his week we're rolling out a new feature called remarketing. Any AdWords advertiser can use remarketing to reach users as they’re browsing the web on sites within the Google Content Network. Remarketing is a simple way to connect with users, based on their past interactions with your website," Aitan Weinberg, product manager at Google AdWords,
announced.
Google has been testing the tool for over a year now and says that the response from advertisers has been very positive. The remarketing ads show up across Google's ad network, which it claims reaches 80 percent of Internet users, a very impressive figure, but one that should probably have people worried. No one company should have this much power, not even, or
especially Google, which sees itself as 'doing no evil.'
The way it works is simple. Users may follow an ad and end up on an advertiser’s site, but, once there, they might not find the offer or the price particularly appealing. Normally this would mean lost customers, but, with 'remarketing,' advertisers can 'follow' the users and serve them ads at a later date in the hope that this will make them reconsider. The new tool has most people worried, perhaps rightfully so, that it may be going too far. Time will tell if this was a smart move and one users are comfortable with. Google offers an opt-out option
here.
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