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Blog Post 5: Influencers & How You Can Benefit from Online Advertising

Unpacking the Hidden World of Online Advertising: How You’re Being Targeted

If you've ever been scrolling through Instagram or TikTok and thought, “Wow, what a cool product,” right after an influencer mentioned it, guess what? You’ve likely just seen a native ad in action.

Native advertising is when brands create ads that blend in with regular content. Unlike traditional ads that pop up and interrupt you, native ads are designed to feel like part of the video, article, or post you're already engaging with. The most common form? Influencer marketing.

Influencers are people with a large following on social media who can ‘influence’ what others buy, wear, eat and even how they think. When an influencer casually mentions a product in a “get ready with me” video or flashes a logo during a vlog, that’s often paid or sponsored content. But it can be hard to tell between a personal recommendation and an advertisement. This makes it harder to tell when you’re being marketed to, and that is the whole point.

Although there is a rule against doing that according to the Federal Trade Commission's guidelines, however, it doesn’t seem to be enforced as much. One example is the Kardashian family's many native ad posts. A University of Alberta Professor, Timothy Caulfield, commented on these ads as pernicious as they are a powerful new form of marketing, and they are taking over a medium that's getting more and more impossible to ignore. He commented on Kim Kardashian’s famous waist training pic in a post which natively promoted waist trainers saying "You don't know if they use it, but I bet it moved a lot of product."

Many companies now work with micro-influencers that have around 20,000 followers or even nano-influencers that have around 5,000 because their smaller audiences often trust them more. A nano-influencer might just be someone from your school or neighbourhood sharing a product they were paid to promote. But since they seem authentic, the ad comes off more like advice from a friend.

You may question why this matters to you. The answer to that is that understanding how these techniques work helps you avoid being misled. It also opens up opportunities if you want to get into content creation yourself. If you’re passionate about something be it fashion, gaming, tech, books, etc. you can grow a niche audience and eventually partner with brands. It’s a way to turn your social media time into something productive (and maybe even profitable). But remember: with great influence comes great responsibility. Always be transparent if you're sharing sponsored content, and think critically about what you promote.

Visuals

Relevant Source: 

CBC - https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/marketplace-celebrity-endorsements-1.3841922 

Final Project Group Members: Rahaf Al-Ashqar, Bilal Agha, Dalal Altarkawi

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Blog Post 4: The Dark Side of Digital Ads: How to Protect Your Data

Unpacking the Hidden World of Online Advertising: How You’re Being Targeted

Have you ever searched for something online (like for new sneakers, or a phone case) and then suddenly, ads for those exact items follow you everywhere? Well, guess what? That's not a coincidence. It’s actually how digital advertising works.

Modern advertising relies heavily on tracking your online behaviour. Every time you visit a website, scroll through a feed or tap an ad, you leave behind a digital footprint. Companies can then collect this data, like what you search for, which pages you visit, and how long you stay there and then use it to target you with ads they think you'll click on. All happening without your full consent.

Websites and apps will often ask you to ‘accept’ their cookies, but they don’t tell you what exactly you're accepting for the cookies to do. Cookies track way more than just your browsing. They collect details about your device, location, interests, and even your interactions with other apps and sites. According to a 2023 report from The Markup, many apps collect data they don't need and then sell it to third-party companies acting as data brokers in the digital ad ecosystem.

This fact is also backed up by the CBC reports of data leaks beginning back when you were kids. Those popular games and apps you loved to play had noted on their privacy policy that it is for ages 13 and up, yet on the app store it shows as “E for Everyone”. SuperAwesome noted that by the time a child is 13, more than 72 million pieces of personal data will have been captured about them. 

There is a data leak detector tool (Disconnect) that tracks how many leaks there are in any site you visit that asks for cookies. In a personal experiment, we were shocked to see how our information was being leaked to more places when we accepted cookies than when we rejected them.

So, what can you do about it? Here are three simple tools to help protect your data:

Ad Blockers: These browser extensions stop most ads from loading and limit tracking scripts. Popular options include uBlock Origin and AdBlock Plus.

VPNs (Virtual Private Networks): A VPN masks your IP address and encrypts your internet activity. This makes it much harder for companies or even your internet provider to track what you're doing.

Privacy Settings: Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Google allow you to control what data they collect. Take 5 minutes to check your privacy settings and you’d be surprised by what you can disable.

Your data is incredibly valuable to advertisers. But if you learn how tracking works and take action, you can protect your privacy and still enjoy being online.

Relevant Source(s): 

CBC - https://www.cbc.ca/news/marketplace/mobile-games-kids-data-privacy-1.7476587 

The Markup- https://themarkup.org/the-breakdown/2023/08/03/how-to-quickly-get-to-the-important-truth-inside-any-privacy-policy 

Final Project Group Members: Rahaf Al-Ashqar, Bilal Agha, Dalal Altarkawi

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Blog Post 3: The Digital Ecosystem: Who’s Watching You?

Unpacking the Hidden World of Online Advertising: How You’re Being Targeted

You may unconsciously scroll through your favourite apps without paying much attention to who is watching. However, behind the screen, there is a complex digital advertising ecosystem that tracks every move you make online. 

Let's break it down, the key players are:

Advertisers, who are seeking your attention

Data brokers, who collect and sell your personal information

Social media websites, where most of the tracking occurs

Third-party apps, which often add more trackers that you do not even see

These businesses gather data about your internet browsing, app usage, where you are, and even your online shopping. It sounds harmless, but that data is purchased and used to create extremely targeted advertisements intended to get your attention and influence what you buy. It's not only what you click. It’s how fast you scroll, your search history, and how long you stay on a post that tells more to advertisers than you think. According to Pew Research (2018), 95% of Gen Z smartphone users are online almost constantly. That makes them a prime target for these tactics.

 Tracking methods aren’t always fair or respectful of your privacy. Some companies push boundaries by inserting extra trackers, paying to bypass ad blockers, or even using fraudulent tactics like fake ads and malicious links (Wu, 2017). Ad fraud includes questionable methods like click farms, pixel stuffing (hiding invisible advertisements on websites), and domain spoofing (masking as major sites). This type of fraud cost advertisers an estimated $5.8 billion in 2019 alone (South China Morning Post, 2018). 

You may question why companies resort to these methods, and the answer to this is to keep your attention at any cost. Knowing how your data is used puts control back in your hands. You don't need to vanish from the web, but knowing who's tracking you and why, can help you stay in control while using apps and media, and be more mindful of the footprint you leave online.

Visuals:

Relevant Source(s): 

References:

eMarketer. (2019). Ad Blocking Growth Is Slowing Down, but Not Going Away.

Lardinois, F. (2016). Allowing Acceptable Ads in Adblock Plus.

Pew Research Center. (2018). Teens, Social Media & Technology.

South China Morning Post. (2018). Click Farms of Phantom Users Flood China’s US$50 Billion Online Advertising Market.

Wu, T. (2017). The Attention Merchants: The Epic Scramble to Get Inside Our Heads. Knopf.

Final Project Group Members: Rahaf Al-Ashqar, Bilal Agha, Dalal Altarkawi

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Blog Post 2: The Evolution of Advertising

Unpacking the Hidden World of Online Advertising: How You’re Being Targeted

Advertising has changed significantly over the last decades. What was previously filled with print ads, television ads, radio ads, and billboards has shifted to digital media that reach the user via personalized, data-based channels. Contrary to traditional advertisements targeting a larger audience with generic messages, digital advertising targets individuals with specific messages.

Today, the ads we see on the internet are based on our activities, what we click, search for, watch, and even our locations. Algorithms log this information to personalize ads that are tailored and relevant to each user. That is why you might be looking for a shoe one time and then suddenly start seeing ads for sneakers on Instagram, YouTube, and other social media platforms. This is done through channels like cookies, which build up data about your activity on other sites and media. You can learn more about cookies with the help of Kaspersky.

One of the main distinctions between old and new is the way communication moves. Older marketing, such as television or print advertisements, is based on one-way communication with minimal feedback opportunities. Online marketing, though, invites two-way communication, allowing brands to get instant insights into what consumers want (Bennewcomm).

Additionally, the rise of influencer and native advertising also contributes to this shift from traditional to digital. Sponsorship of a TikTok video or Instagram content can often be displayed as personal material, but occasionally it is an intentional component of a marketing campaign. This blurring of content and advertisement complicates things and makes it harder to understand when you're being marketed.

Kaspersky - https://www.kaspersky.com/resource-center/definitions/cookies

Bennewcomm - https://bennewcomm.com/traditional-vs-digital-marketing-know-the-difference/

Final Project Group Members: Rahaf Al-Ashqar, Bilal Agha, Dalal Altarkawi

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Blog Post 1: Welcome to the World of Online Ads

Unpacking the Hidden World of Online Advertising: How You’re Being Targeted

Welcome to this blog series focused on online advertising, a topic that concerns nearly all of us but is poorly understood. In this series of posts, we'll discuss how advertising transformed the internet, how it influences our daily lives, and how we can become more aware digital citizens. This first post establishes the framework for understanding advertising today.

Advertising is found in nearly every corner of the internet. Whether surfing social media, watching a YouTube video, searching on Google, or even watching a live concert or game streaming event, ads are everywhere. What’s easy to miss is just how targeted and personalized these ads have become.

Using the internet to scroll through social media, watch YouTube or Netflix, or make a Google search, you are likely seeing advertisements whether you are aware of it or not. These ads aren’t random; they’re influenced by your search history, content interactions, location, and sometimes even what you’ve said out loud near your device, and they are embedded in the content we interact with daily. It’s all powered by algorithms that continuously learn from your online activity and digital footprint.

Using programs like Disconnect, which is a third-party tracking extension, can give users more ability to control how information is being collected and distributed on the internet.

This blog series will explore in more detail how advertising is conducted online, how it gets into our heads, and how we can get through it more effectively. Being aware of how targeting works helps digital users, especially students to make smarter choices and better protect their privacy.

Visuals: 

Disconnect - https://disconnect.me/ 

Final Project Group Members: Rahaf Al-Ashqar, Bilal Agha, Dalal Altarkawi

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Dear Digital Users

As we shape our shared digital future, we must thoughtfully emerging technologies toward building a comprehensive, transparency, and innovation society.

Achieving true web accessibility founded on perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust (POUR) principles is critical. By investing in accessible technologies, we bridge the digital divide by ensuring all people, no matter their ability, are equal in potential to participate and flourish on the web. Addressing algorithmic bias is key. Algorithms are the core of creating our online world, but unless they are equitable and transparent, they could do biases that are unapparent. Staying true to responsible algorithmic design ensures representative diversity and building trust in digital systems and cultivating visual literacy in an era of deep fakes and fake news media will enable people to distinguish fact from fiction. Education and practices about the visual media ethics can be employed to mitigate disinformation's negative impacts, supporting evidence based and resilience communities Cybercrime needs to be addressed. Cybercrime can be committed without physical co-presence and constantly evolving, and it poses a serious threat to privacy, security, and trust on the internet. Proactive education, strict cybersecurity practices, and good the ethical application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has much to offer. AI based on value driven principles of openness and social responsibility, can change medicine, prolong environmental conservation, and promote economic equality. However, our future depends on embedding human rights, accountability, and privacy protection with every AI innovation. Looking to the future, let us gather all these leadership values into one open, expansive, and human digital world. Our best digital future is at risk, and it needs conscious effort, intelligent governance, and strong commitment to common principles Together, we can overcome obstacles and understand the possibilities that technology presents to create an expanded world which makes the most of rather than reduces our humanity. Let our mutual respect and cooperation be the building blocks of a successful digital society for coming generations.

Best regards

Dalal

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GreenAid: Revolutionizing Urban Energy Management with Advanced AI

As the GreenGrid AI chief technology officer, I'm excited to introduce our cutting edge solution to the world's biggest issue urban energy waste. To develop a smart city energy management system that optimizes municipal power utilization, combines unconventional sources of power, and reduces emissions by orders of magnitude, my start up uses blockchain, AI, and big data processing. Our reply is supported by an artificial intelligence driven predictive analytics engine built with deep learning and neural networks. We use the technologies to sweep through large quantities of energy consumption data, showing the three Vs of big data: variety, velocity, and volume. Our reply correctly forecasts energy demand with live data from millions of sensors across urban infrastructure. fluctuations. This predictive capability not only makes load allocation efficient but also lowers wastage when idle. In addition, our proposal is not exposed to the weaknesses of conventional energy grids since it uses blockchain technology that will provide data transparency and reliability. Blockchain technology enables us to have a more decentralized ledger that records energy transactions verifiable and reliable. The innovation enables consumers and small-scale producers to be integrated into the energy market as active participants in the energy market, bringing into place a more robust and well balanced grid system. All of these new technologies together have the following benefits: dynamic energy price, reduced cost of operation, and deep impact on the environment because of less carbon emission. Our best solution for energy storage and distribution ensured not only the efficient use of energy in the city but also ushered in the era of smart and green cities. GreenGrid AI aims to make cities smart, productive places. Our interdisciplinary solution combining the wise decision making capability of AI and Big Data's holistic data processing capability with the openness of blockchain sketches for us a vision of the future of power management for cities. We envision a world where every watt of power is tracked, optimized, and used efficiently and takes us one step further towards a cleaner, greener world.

World Economic Forum. (2019). Data explosion: More bytes than stars. Retrieved from :

https://www.weforum.org

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My game of the Nova Cybersecurity Lab Game instantiated three big concepts of our course book: web layering, encryption, and ongoing threat of cybercrime. To begin, the game reminded me of how many "layers" of the internet provide individual threats and vulnerabilities. I was forced to think about how activities like banking online are part of the "deep web," not searchable by search engines and relying on secure, encrypted connections. Secondly, the game also showed me how encryption is essential in protecting sensitive information. Through the observation of situations where I was asked to encrypt data transfer, I realized how encryption hides data so that even an intruding third party cannot open it—a very vital security on something as simple as email or even bank transfers. Last but not least, the game depicted how cybercrime was evolving, consistent with the ongoing cat and mouse game between hackers and cyber security professionals. From phishing campaigns, malware to sophisticated hacking, hands-on within the Lab portrayed how the hackers are exploiting the weaknesses and the way the protectors need to keep pace. The Nova Cybersecurity Lab Game was an excellent way of turning classroom theory around internet layers, encryption, and cybercrime into life in terms of actual cybersecurity challenges.

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Disinformation : This video is a good example of disinformation video that makes false statements regarding diabetes. It employs selective editing of raw footage to introduce fake audio, showing a fabricated statement allegedly said by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that he never made. Disinformation is defined by the intention to mislead and manipulate. Any such reader can easily recognize it by comparing the statements in the video with trusted sources such as the real interview. If that which is stated differs from what was stated and seems written to provoke an extreme response with no firm facts, then most likely it is disinformation

Misinformation:

That Twitter suspended the Afghan president but not two others is false news. False news is information that is given inaccurately without attempting to mislead. Twitter temporarily suspended several Amrullah Saleh, Afghan ex-vice president, accounts as well as the government account and not the president account. This reader may verify the president of Afghanistan's Twitter handle and cross-check with authoritative sources, e.g., official Twitter reports or news announcements verifying which accounts were suspended, in order to validate this misinformation at once.

Malinformation:

The headline suggests that those who are on Ozempic are going blind , an exaggerated claim. While there have been reported vision side effects, the headline exaggerates the threat in an effort to frighten and frighten off readers. This will cause readers to think that blindness is a common occurrence from being on Ozempic, which is not supported by extensive facts.

The facts are presented in a form that seems likely to be threatening or frightening. In this instance, the title uses sensational terminology to attract notice.

Verify statements with multiple credible sources. Official health agencies' reports and studies can provide a balanced view as to the risks associated with Ozempic

By considering these factors

Readers can recognize malinformation and its ability to mislead and cause harm

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Musk's tweet announcing SpaceX 's starship flight & leverage engaging content, high interest to abroad audience. The tweet contains a thumbnail of a video that makes it further appealing to make people click and watch. Post at the right time and pin to make sure most people see it. It also receives many interactions in the form of comments and retweets. This helps create a community across Space X; here we may see Elon musk using techniques for personal online branding. Thus, while the posting is promotional in nature, it respects Online Netiquette by getting straight to the point without wasting words. Elon Musk is great at personal branding, always aligning his online presence with his entrepreneurial ventures and public persona. Similarly, Donald Trump's tweet of a new official meme uses humor and popular culture to engage his followers. Memes are highly shared and liked ; hence, this tweet is attention-grabbing. The bold imagery of the tweet with the word ' Fight Fight Fight ' in gold letters catches the attention of many viewers in no time. Similar to Musk's tweet, this tweet also receives a huge number of comments, retweets, and likes, hence promoting engagement and visibility. Donald Trump is here, too, using strategies of online personal branding. Both show how interesting content, visuals, and timely posting have a great deal of followers and attractiveness. However, interactions shall be managed because not every comment may come out positive. Even if the number of engagement is high, some responses might be controversial. This is because both Musk and Trump are polarizing figures. This kind of interaction needs management in order to keep up a good image. Summarily, through their contents, visuals, and timely updates, these tweets are able to make a very interactive platform that portrays good social media practice. Besides, they also portray the importance of managing the nature of engagement in relation to maintaining a positive brand image. Personal branding by public figures is important in garnering a consistent following.