There's an old saying about newspapers: They aren't delivering news to readers, but readers to advertisers.
But as many newspapers migrated to the web, where readers, in most cases, hate to pay for news at all, the saying evolved to: If you're not paying for it, you're the product.
Dismal as it may sound, most people realise that is the way the media business operates. Readers rarely pay full or fair price for content"at least in the opinion of publishers"so bombarding them with targeted ads was the best way to make up for the shortfall.
But unlike search advertising (the ads you see on search engines) where ads have been tailored for individuals for years now, display advertising (the ads you see on web pages) has mostly been about showing the same ad to a bunch of users. Meaning, if you visit the website of, say, Times of India, you will see the same ads as the visitor immediately before or after you....
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10:52 AM, Feb 28, 2012
