Lips, ears, snout and all, today’s sausage factory of data is complicated and convoluted. Data is repackaged and re-sold as inventory. It flows through the online advertising ecosystem without clear accountability as to what is being tracked and sold. And what is the quality of data in that sausage? Is it consumable? The sophistication with which digital marketers can accurately target a specific customer segment continues to develop and my recent consumer experience highligh

Digital ads are becoming noticeably more targeted and this is due to the fact that consumer data has become big business. Online consumer data is disassembled, repackaged, sold and then re-sold again as inventory. Online browsing habits are big business and this repackaged data has become the lubricant for the online advertising ecosystem. Online advertising has become extremely sophisticated, particularly within social media. For example, on Mother’s Day I was served two in-