Tag Archive for: Advertising
Targeted advertising fails to account for a change of circumstances
/in Internet Security“Start snowblower” – as in make sure the snow blower starts – had been on my to-do list since before Thanksgiving, but it took an inch of slush on the driveway to get me off my backside.
The machine would not start. Not the day it kinda-sorta snowed; not the next day; not a third. And since the snowblower is more than 15 years old and cost me a minor repair bill last year, I figured it was time to look for a new one, which I did … online.
As we would all expect these days, my browsing brought a blizzard of snowblower ads to my Facebook and Twitter pages … and everywhere else, in fact.
Before committing major dollars to a new machine, I figured I’d give the old one a final try … and, perhaps having sensed my online activity, the engine roared to life. Now I’m figuring it’s good for at least another year.
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SweetCAPTCHA users complain of advertising pop-ups
/in Computer SecurityWebsite owners are complaining that a free security tool started displaying unwanted advertising pop-ups to their visitors.
The tool is made by SweetCAPTCHA. It requires users to correctly pick out and match images before they’re allowed to do some action on a website. CAPTCHAs are intended to prevent abuse by spammers and automated registrations by web bots.
SweetCAPTCHA was busy Tuesday fielding complaints on Twitter from some who noticed a script that was injecting the pop-up ads. Sucuri, a security company, said the pop-ups promote tech support schemes and bogus dating sites.
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Complaint alleges YouTube Kids pushes advertising content
/in Computer SecurityThe six-week-old YouTube Kids service is a “hyper-commercialized” environment that intermixes advertising and other programming in a way that deceives its target audience, a coalition of privacy and children’s advocacy groups said in a complaint to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.
Joining in giving YouTube Kids the big thumbs-down are the Center for Digital Democracy, the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. They say the video app, targeted toward preschool children, blurs the lines between advertising and other programming using methods that are prohibited by federal regulations on commercial television.
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