Martech: Martech is Marketing Logo
  • Topics
    Digital Transformation
    Marketing Operations
    Data
    Customer & Digital Experience
    Performance Marketing
    Marketing Management
    Special Reports
    MarTech Topics
  • Conference
  • Webinars
  • Intelligence Reports
  • White Papers
  • What is MarTech
    Mission
    Staff
    Newsletter
    Search Engine Land
    Third Door Media

Processing...Please wait.

MarTech » Customer & Digital Experience » On the internet, advertisers want to know if you’re really a dog

On the internet, advertisers want to know if you’re really a dog

In the last century, a famous cartoon illustrated the central reason behind people-based marketing, ad transparency and anti-fake news.

Barry Levine on June 26, 2017 at 3:22 pm

In 1993, as the commercial internet was being born, one New Yorker cartoon in particular seemed to capture the essence of this new medium.

It showed a dog sitting at a desktop computer, speaking to another dog sitting on the floor. The caption: “On the internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.”

It defined a key uniqueness for this new thing, the internet. You could be your true self. Or you could get away from your true self. You were defined by your actions.

Now, nearly a quarter of a century later, three of the biggest drivers of change in marketing, advertising and content have one thing in common.

Essentially, they are looking to rewrite that cartoon.

People-based marketing — such as from Viant/Time, Acxiom’s LiveRamp, Publishers Clearing House or Sonobi — is a growing wave these days for targeted marketing and advertising. It offers real people, so targeting can be more precise and, in many cases, more related to users’ actual purchase intent.

In ad tech, a key driver of today’s changes — arguably the main driver — is transparency. Advertisers, who actually pay the bills, want to make sure they’re not being ripped off from fraud, overpricing or other schemes in a murky ecosystem.

And the central force behind how content is handled these days — especially news, but other types of content as well — is the drive against fake news. If someone can fake a presidential election story, they can certainly fake a story against a competing product.

All three of these major trends come from one motive. If expressed as a question, it would be:

Who are you, really?

Really a dog?

Are you really a dog? A human? One pretending to be the other?

The charming realization in that New Yorker cartoon was that you — a consumer or a creator of products and content — could wear a mask, or you could be yourself.

You would be judged by your deeds online, your behavior. If you looked at product pages for red sneakers, you’d later be shown discounts on red sneakers. It didn’t matter if you had four paws but no feet, because the internet was unrestricted by time, place or fortunes of birth.

Now, there’s a different impetus. Although not as funny, the same cartoon could be recaptioned:

“On the internet, advertisers want to know if you’re really a dog.”

Instead of anonymous cookies traded throughout the ad universe, many users and marketers now prefer to know the person they’re pitching.

Instead of unverified — in some cases, unknown — website or app screens where your ads will run, advertisers now want verification that the destination is who it says it is. And that these ad events really happened.

And, instead of realistic-looking news items that get you and your friends talking about what is going wrong in the world, many readers now want to know if the news source is credible and genuine.

It’s not exactly buying and selling through the corner store, but it’s related. Doing business with — and accepting information from — people and organizations you can identify is coming back in a big way.

In other words, there’s a new dog in town.


New on MarTech

    How clean, organized and actionable is your data?
    Replacement Survey: The top 5 solutions replaced
    What’s the biggest hidden secret in Google Ads?
    Native video tops social media in brand awareness study
    Worsening economy has more shoppers getting online info before making in-store purchases

About The Author

Barry Levine
Barry Levine covers marketing technology for Third Door Media. Previously, he covered this space as a Senior Writer for VentureBeat, and he has written about these and other tech subjects for such publications as CMSWire and NewsFactor. He founded and led the web site/unit at PBS station Thirteen/WNET; worked as an online Senior Producer/writer for Viacom; created a successful interactive game, PLAY IT BY EAR: The First CD Game; founded and led an independent film showcase, CENTER SCREEN, based at Harvard and M.I.T.; and served over five years as a consultant to the M.I.T. Media Lab. You can find him at LinkedIn, and on Twitter at xBarryLevine.

Related Topics

Customer & Digital ExperienceMarketing OperationsPerformance Marketing

Get the daily newsletter digital marketers rely on.

Processing...Please wait.

See terms.

ATTEND OUR EVENTS The MarTech Conference logo.

September 28-29, 2022: Fall

Start Training Now: Master Classes

Start Discovering Now: Spring



The SMX Conference logo.

Start Training Now:: SMX Advanced

November 14-15, 2022: SMX Next

March 8-9, 2022: Master Classes

Webinars

Agencies: Grow Revenue Streams Through Web Accessibility & Compliance

Protect Your Paid Advertising Spend Against Ad Fraud and Invalid Traffic

Build an Integrated Search Strategy Across Google, Amazon and YouTube

See More Webinars
Intelligence Reports

Enterprise SEO Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide

Enterprise Identity Resolution Platforms

Email Marketing Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide

See More Intelligence Reports
Featured White Paper

Site Search 101

See More Whitepapers

Receive daily marketing news & analysis.

Processing...Please wait.

Topics

  • Transformation
  • Operations
  • Data
  • Experience
  • Performance
  • Management
  • All Topics
  • Home

Our Events

  • MarTech
  • Search Marketing Expo - SMX

About

  • What is MarTech
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Marketing Opportunities
  • Staff

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Newsletters
  • RSS

© 2022 Third Door Media, Inc. All rights reserved.