Origins, Evolution, and Impact on Privacy
Over the past decade and a half, advertising has become a fundamental element of the internet economy. It fuels most prominent services and platforms, including search engines, social networks, and news sites. Online advertising differs from offline advertising in many ways. It is a complex and continuously evolving field that uses a variety of formats, targeting techniques, and pricing models.
In all its forms, however, it relies on data about users. As a result, privacy has become a central topic for industry and policy discussions. This paper surveys the evolution and various forms of online advertising, and examines the privacy-related issues that any serious policy in this area needs to address. It foresees that online advertising will be shaped by the struggle between proponents of government regulation on the one hand, and of self-regulation on the other.
Read the full report here: Mapping Digital Media: Online Advertising
The Open Society Media Program has commissioned background papers on a range of topics that are important for understanding the effects of new technology on media and journalism. The papers accompany a series of reports, “Mapping Digital Media,” on the impact of digitization on democracy in 60 countries around the world.