What is Digital Advertising, How It Works And Tips to Spot It

It happens to everyone: in the middle of a movie, you realise that this is the third time that drink has made an appearance in the hero’s hand, or you scroll through a celebrity’s Facebook feed and realise that all their clothes are from the same brand. Digital advertising can be hard to spot because of how innocuous it can seem.

What is digital advertising?

Digital advertising, also known as online advertising, uses the Internet and online channels, like social media platforms to promote products or brands to people online.

What are examples of digital advertisements?

• Adverts that play or are displayed before you can access a YouTube video or a news article
• Sponsored posts on social media platforms, e.g., sponsored photos that look like a normal Facebook post, except you do not follow that company
• Post by celebrities, who are paid to advertise certain brands
• Email advertisements that market specific brands
• Search engine marketing (SEM), where businesses bid on certain keywords so that their website appears higher on the results when someone searches that word

How does digital advertising work?

Companies can encourage people to buy things online in very subtle ways. For example, if you are shopping online and click on a listing of a shirt, phrases like “Last one in stock!” or “20% Discount” might appear.

However, did you know that these advertising pitches may not the same for everyone looking at the shirt? Companies collect your data and study your buying patterns to figure out which type of message is most likely to convince you to buy a product. If you are someone who is more likely to want something very few people have, the site may automatically puts up “Last one in stock!”. If you like buying things on discount, the site may load “20% Discount” instead. In reality, there might still be hundreds of that shirt left, and the price you pay after the discount may not differ from the original price because of mark-ups.

Plus, companies collect information on all our online activity. When you search about the holiday you want to take to Krabi on Google, hotels and restaurants begin to be advertised on your Instagram and Facebook feeds. This is because all the information we give online is put into an algorithm that decides which ads are most likely to be relevant to us – that is, which we are most likely to fall for!

How does digital advertising affect me?

Digital advertising has the same effect as normal advertising: it makes you buy things. By convincing you that you want certain products or services enough to spend money on them, it can encourage you to spend beyond your means or purchase what you may not truly need. The reason digital advertising is considered such a widespread risk is due to how much time we spend using digital media and social media platforms – it makes this form of advertising impossible to avoid.

It can also be frightening to consider the effects that advertising has on our ideas and thoughts – after all, have you ever wondered where the need for a diamond engagement ring came from? With digital advertising, it is easy to how waves of products and services can become popular for a short period of time, and it is difficult to predict whether these will have a long-lasting effect on the way we think of the world.

How can I spot digital advertisements?

Since digital ads can be so subtle, it can be hard to know what is an ad and what is not. Here are a few things to look out for:

• Check the hashtags: online celebrities promoting products usually label their sponsored videos/posts as advertisements using hashtags like #ad or #sponsored
• Know which companies and brands you follow on social media: ‘native advertising’ refers to advertisements that look like part of your normal social media, like a photo that appears alongside your friends’ when you scroll through Facebook or Instagram – so keep an eye out for unfamiliar names and brands
• Use ad-blocking tools: for all your digital devices, download ad-blocking tools that can help block website ads.
• Be aware: while watching movies, TV shows, or even music videos, take note of instances of product placement – awareness is the first step to protecting yourself against the effects of digital advertising