AOL is using penguins, a vastly old and unoriginal marketing vehicle, to explain ad targeting. The Time Warner company will roll out the new education campaign in the next couple of weeks. When asked
to explain the impetus, AOL chief privacy officer Jules Polonetsky said it's hard to explain ad targeting to users because it's so "technical." So AOL opted for penguins.
In any event, the
real news came from a comment posted by Mathew from Toronto, who noted how useless or annoying online ads are. He adds: "If there were a form I could fill out stating in what areas I wanted to see
ads, particularly from small and foreign companies, I might not be aware of, I would gladly do so." What a novel idea.
The idea may especially appear to Millennials, who are more ad-savvy
than previous generations. They "get" and accept that free content comes with advertising. Knowing the deal, one could see consumers wanting to use such a service because it could actually be helpful
to them.
Read the whole story at The New York Times »