So much of what we do online is being recorded and used as a way for better targeted advertising. But that is a temporary state. Decentralization is coming and it will put the power back in users’ hands

The Internet is a great place for advertising. In many ways, it is superior to other platforms, especially in terms of targeting and measuring user interaction. It is no surprise then that almost every brand in the world is increasing their online spending every year.

There are several key reasons behind this cross-industry trend. First and foremost, there’s a direct correlation between time spent online and customer-value. Moreover, many people are constantly connected to the web via their smartphones, smart TVs, wearables and laptops. It’s not just about work or entertainment, but rather, the shift towards integrating online means to every aspect of our lives – especially connecting with others.

However it’s not just about more exposure, i.e. page views or minutes watched. Rather, it’s about the quality of exposure, which is apparent in the ever increasing ROI on well-executed digital campaigns. The simple truth is that your behavior is constantly monitored by data-collecting algorithms that know your preferences better than some of your closest friends. Some might argue that they know you better than yourself. Additionally, while we have more means of connecting with other people, some argue that we’re spending less time interacting with other people now than we did before the smartphone revolution.

So what does all this actually mean for advertisers?

It provides brands with targeting and optimization tools that grind and test the audience until they manage to trigger near-irrational behavior. As Dan Ariely wonderfully put it, we are not irrational by chance. Finding a human that doesn’t have the capacity to become addicted to an activity – be it competitive sports, alcohol, running, gambling, or collecting shiny coins – would be a fruitless exercise.

But up until now, these behavior patterns were each person’s domain: A person more prone to gambling wouldn’t see more casino ads online, an alcohol connoisseur wouldn’t be exposed to more Glenfiddich commercials and a shopaholic wouldn’t get popup ads of the latest model of shoes.

When it comes to e-commerce, today’s golden age is less about branding, amazing creative messaging or customer service, and more about big data. As time progresses, human insight for marketing an online product matters less and less; “Why is this slogan working?” and, “Why isn’t that banner working?” or, “Is this color better than that?” are no longer valid questions. The only thing that matters is the result, which is quantifiable and perfectly traceable to the best performing message, banner or post. Make no mistake: If you tend to shop for electronics over the weekend, you will be targeted by those ads during the weekend and not on a Wednesday afternoon.

Even if a person stopped gambling, there were days in which they were more prone to placing a bet. But a marketer wouldn’t approach a player on that exact day, offering a great bet, and on their favorite game, no less. Online advertising enables that. They will get an offer via push-message to their smartphone at the perfect time for them to place the bet anyway.

So why is the smartphone so important?

Because to make things worse, people spend less and less time disconnected from their phones, which are basically devices capable of serving extremely-targeted ads. Running away from your demons didn’t just become harder – for many, it became literally impossible. You either disconnect from the social platforms used by your friends, family and coworkers, or face your worst temptation on a daily basis.

Blaming a machine for successfully executing the task it was designed to do has no merit. What’s more important, even if one would define the monetization aspect of these systems as evil, it’s as necessary as evil can get. Without the business model, social networking and content delivery wouldn’t become billion-user industries, bringing the Internet and self-expression platforms to the masses around the world. It is the price we must pay, and we pay it gladly.

Where decentralization comes to play

So, have we sentenced ourselves to an eternal dependence on force-fed content aimed at getting us to spend more online? Apparently, not so much. The key word here is decentralization. As technology progresses, we are less dependent on one provider controlling the infrastructure and more self-reliant. The same technology that created the aforementioned algorithms that monitor and adjust to our behavior now enable each and every one of us to be masters of our domain.

Centralized social networking and content delivery platforms are no longer a necessary model. Technologically, we are approaching a point where we, the users, have the computational power, storage, and bandwidth to power the network ourselves. Not all of us, not yet – but just like social networks, it all starts with the “haves.” Unlike wealth, technology tends to trickle down.

Wikipedia was the first to do so, decentralizing knowledge. Later, Bitcoin decentralized currency. Social networks, storage, and shared services are the next logical steps. We are already seeing such services, and I’m sure that over the next few years, more and more users will be moving towards these solutions, which give them back the feeling of control.

The views expressed are of the author.

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Featured Image Credit: Synereo