Online harms bill on hold
BC boosts milk production
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UN workers charged 
Trudeau in Saskatoon 
$620 million for Ukraine 
5 die crossing channel
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Tourism operators struggle 
Leafs even series
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Warriors even series in OT
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Photo: Contributed
Last week I saw an advert with a model in it and the model looked very familiar.
I decided to do some research and see if I could find out if it was the girl I thought it was. She was a very good friend’s daughter and I heard she had done some modelling in the past.
The advert was for insurance services of some description. A pretty bland advert but with my friend's daughter prominently featured.
Google delivered all the results I wanted and after some research I was able to determine it was in fact the same girl.
As I typed my questions in to Google I was treated to responsive answers that came pretty close to answering my questions.
I still find it amazing that a company can become one of the largest companies in the world by never answering a question you ask correctly. Think about it, you ask for the best restaurant in Kelowna for example and Google says, I don’t know, but here are 2,400,000 answers that might help you…
That being said, the way it works is fascinating, because what Google does is attempt to answer your question… something we refer to as responsive marketing.
On the other hand, ever since I went through that process, I now see my friend's daughter several times an hour on my Facebook page, YouTube channel and Google searches as Google attempts to “interrupt” my train of thought with an unsolicited advertisement.
It is not just me that this happens to, the problem is so prolific, from unwanted spam to junk mail and advertising that one of the fastest growing software and app sectors is for “Ad Blocking”.
The truth is, “Interruptive Marketing” is starting to be a nuisance because, just like Google, the data that has been gathered about us online allows the marketer to target to us and “interrupt” us without us ever asking a question.
This is one reason that video marketing is gaining such momentum. Google loves videos and when you ask a question in Google as I did, you will find that Google is putting videos at the top of the first page because we like the ability to learn through video and favour the results heavily.
So for now, we have to put up with the interruptions, but you are already able to purchase ad blocking software for your smart phone and computer.
This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.
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