Benefits and disadvantages

This section contains a pro and con list, which is sometimes inappropriate. Please help improve it by integrating both sides into a more neutral presentation, or remove this template if you feel that such a list is appropriate for this article. (April 2017)

Benefitsedit

There are many benefits of targeted advertising for both consumers and advertisers:

Consumersedit

Targeted advertising benefits consumers because advertisers are able to effectively attract consumers by using their purchasing and browsing habits this enables ads to be more apparent and useful for customers. Having ads that are related to the interests of the consumers allow the message to be received in a direct manner through effective touchpoints. An example of how targeted advertising is beneficial to consumers if that if someone sees an ad targeted to them for something similar to an item they have previously viewed online and were interested in, they are more likely to buy it.

Consumers can benefit from targeted advertising in the following ways:

• More effective delivery of desired product or service directly to the consumer: having assumed the traits or interests of the consumer from their targeting, advertisements that will appeal and engage the customer are used.
• More direct delivery of a message that relates to the consumer's interest: advertisements are delivered to the customer in a manner that is comfortable, whether it be jargon or a certain medium, the delivery of the message is part of the consumer's 'lifestyle'

Intelligence agenciesedit

Intelligence agencies worldwide can more easily, and without exposing their personnel to the risks of HUMINT, track targets at sensitive locations such as military bases or training camps by simply purchasing location data from commercial providers who collect it from mobile devices with geotargeting enabled used by the operatives present at these places.

Location data can be extremely valuable and must be protected. It can reveal details about the number of users in a location, user and supply movements, daily routines (user and organizational), and can expose otherwise unknown associations between users and locations.

— National Security Agency

Advertiseredit

Advertisers benefit with target advertising are reduced resource costs and creation of more effective ads by attracting consumers with a strong appeal to these products. Targeted advertising allows advertisers in reduced cost of advertisement by minimizing "wasted" advertisements to non-interested consumers. Targeted advertising captivate the attention of consumers they were aimed at resulting in higher return on investment for the company.

Because behavioral advertising enables advertisers to more easily determine user preference and purchasing habit, the ads will be more pertinent and useful for consumers. By creating a more efficient and effective manner of advertising to the consumer, an advertiser benefits greatly and in the following ways:

• More efficient campaign development: by having information about the consumer an advertiser is able to make more concise decisions on how to best communicate with them.
• Better use of advertising dollar: A greater understanding of the targeted audience will allow an advertiser to achieve better results with an advertising campaign
• Increased return on investment: Targeted advertisements will yield higher results for lower costs.

Using information from consumers can benefit the advertiser by developing a more efficient campaign, targeted advertising is proven to work both effectively and efficiently. They don't want to waste time and money advertising to the "wrong people". Through technological advances, the internet has allowed advertisers to target consumers beyond the capabilities of traditional media, and target significantly larger amount. The main advantage of using targeted advertising is how it can help minimize wasted advertising by using detailed information about individuals who are intended for a product. If consumers are produced these ads that are targeted for them, it is more likely they will be interested and click on them. 'Know thy consumer', is a simple principle used by advertisers, when businesses know information about consumers, it can be easier to target them and get them to purchase their product. Some consumers do not mind if their information is used, and are more accepting to ads with easily accessible links. This is because they may appreciate adverts tailored to their preferences, rather than just generic ads. They are more likely to be directed to products they want, and possibly purchase them, in return generating more income for the business advertising.

Disadvantagesedit

Consumersedit

Targeted advertising raises privacy concerns. Targeted advertising is performed by analyzing consumers' activities through online services such as HTTP cookies and data mining, both of which can be seen as detrimental to consumers' privacy. Marketers research consumers' online activity for targeted advertising campaigns like programmatic and SEO. Consumers' privacy concerns revolve around today's unprecedented tracking capabilities and whether to trust their trackers. Consumers may feel uncomfortable with sites knowing so much about their activity online. Targeted advertising aims to increase promotions' relevance to potential buyers, delivering ad campaign executions to specified consumers at critical stages in the buying decision process. This potentially limits a consumer's awareness of alternatives and reinforces selective exposure. Consumers may start avoiding certain sites and brands if they keep getting served the same advertisements as the consumer may feel like they are being watched too much or may start getting annoyed with certain brands. Due to the increased use of tracking cookies all over the web many sites now have cookie notices that pop up when a visitor lands on a site. The notice informs the visitor about the use of cookies, how they affect the visitor, and the visitor's options in regards to what information the cookies can obtain.

Advertiseredit

Targeting advertising is not a process performed overnight, it takes time and effort to analyze the behavior of consumers. This results in more expenses than the traditional advertising processes. As targeted advertising is seen more effective this is not always a disadvantage but there are cases where advertisers have not received the profit expected. Targeted advertising has a limited reach to consumers, advertisers are not always aware that consumers change their minds and purchases which will no longer mean ads are apparent to them. Another disadvantage is that while using cookies to track activity advertisers are unable to depict whether 1 or more consumers are using the same computer. This is apparent in family homes where multiple people from a broad age range are using the same device.