Advertisment Stalking

On my quest to find a graduation dress, I feel like I’ve been stalked. I visited all sorts of online clothing stores. I went to Modcloth, JC Penney, Forever 21 and some random ones I’ve never heard of and can’t remember the names of. When I leave those sites though, I’m still followed by the picture of the dress I just looked at and chose not to buy. I’m sure if I bought it, it would still be plastered all over my email and news site advertisement boxes.

It’s not that the picture of something I like bothers me. In fact I think being reminded of what I’ve seen has a chance of working. But when advertisements of things I’ve just looked at pop up, I feel watched. Having a computer keep track of what I’ve been searching online feels like an invasion of privacy.

This comes back to the idea of permission advertising.  I haven’t asked to have this information tracked, though by getting on my computer, I know it will happen. I tried to think of something that I would prefer. In reality, what I would prefer is to be left alone. Modcloth doesn’t have to remind me of the dress I saw online. I think about how much I like it all the time. When I have money, I may buy it, but I don’t have the money now.

But here is an idea anyway. What if these advertisers had me log in to look at their selections and then emailed me to tell me they were running low and I better get on it if I want to buy. Though this might work for my favorite sites, I wouldn’t want to create an account for every site I visited online. What if I could make an account for just the sites I visited most? You might think of these companies as my love brands. Then I could chose whether I wanted email updates on items I was looking at. It sounds fair to me. I don't mind the reminder of a product I like, but when I feel stalked, I start to have a bad view of the company I used to love. So advertisers, just ask.