Gadgets Blog » Minority Report

AMC was certainly onto something when they brought the world Mad Men, a period-accurate drama set in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Providing an in-depth look at a group of people operating a marketing firm, Mad Men has done more than just take us back to a different place in history. The most startling thing for a number of young viewers is getting a look into what a large office functioned looked like in an era before computers. It just goes to show how much the 21st century technology all around us has taken over our lives, let along the actual marketing done by the office.

Targeted-advertising is perhaps the latest innovation in marketing, and it’s one that is powered by the Internet and other computer technology. Google first made this practice come into the public eye, and in the process they built a multi-billion dollar advertising empire. Firms buy advertisements from Google relating to specific keywords, with more common words costing more. Other companies have followed suit, including Facebook, who found themselves in a bit of trouble after users became concerned too much information was being placed into the hands of advertisers. Facebook’s conundrum has always been finding a non-intrusive way to sell advertising in spite of its user base that opposes intrusive ad space.