How Ads Follow You Around the Internet & What to Do About It

As a consumer, seeing ads follow you around usually leaves an intrusive and uncomfortable taste in your mouth. But for businesses, it might just be the best thing since sliced bread. This advertising tactic enables brands to give consumers more personalized and relevant experiences so they can be compelled to buy.

Whether you're a consumer trying to understand what's happening behind the scenes or a marketer looking to use these tools effectively, today we'll help you understand how ads follow you around the internet.

And we'll finally answer whether the big tech companies are listening to your conversations so they can serve you targeted ads.

How do ads follow you around?

Ads following you around is usually a strategy used by businesses to ensure that a shopper completes a purchase, or a similar action, such as downloading a guide or signing up for an email list.

How exactly are they able to do that?

It all comes down to cookies.

When you land on a website, you're usually presented with a (mostly annoying) option to 'accept/reject cookies' before browsing further. Most of us click 'accept' without thinking twice, just to get on with our browsing.

However, that click sets off a chain reaction that explains why you'll see that same product haunting you around the internet for the next two weeks.

If you accept the cookies, that site saves tiny text files in your browser to remember things about you. 

Cookies are comparable to little sticky notes your browser keeps about your activity. They're not inherently bad. In fact, many of them make your online experience better.

What do cookies do?

Cookies serve several purposes, as shown below.

1. Remember who you are: If you log into a site, a cookie keeps you logged in as you move from page to page. Without this, you'd have to enter your password every single time you clicked a new link.
2. Remember your preferences: Cookies save small bits of information about how you use a site, such as your language, preferred theme (dark or light), location, or items added to your cart. Have you ever noticed how your shopping cart still has items in it when you come back days later? That's cookies doing their job.
3. Help websites function: Some cookies are essential for the site to load, process payments, or show the right content.
4. Measure performance: Cookies can track the pages you visit, the time you spend on each page, and the actions you take. These types of cookies help companies improve the site since they can see if people are abandoning checkout at a certain step or if a particular page is confusing.
5. Personalize ads: Some cookies follow your browsing activity across multiple sites so advertisers can show you targeted ads.

This last function, as you might have guessed, is the most important factor for why ads follow you around.

There are primarily two types of cookies: first-party and third-party cookies. 

The difference between first-party and third-party cookies

First-party cookies are created by the website you're visiting. These are generally less invasive and help the site remember you and work properly.

Third-party cookies, on the other hand, are created by companies other than the site you're on. 

Typically, third-party cookies are created by social media platforms, such as Meta, or search engines, like Google.

When a website installs a Meta or Google pixel, those companies are now able to drop their own cookies on your browser, even though you're not on Facebook or Google directly. These third-party cookies are the ones that track you across the internet and build a profile of your interests and behaviors.

Third-party cookies are the reason an ad for running shoes can follow you from a sports website to your social media feed to an entertainment blog. They're all connected through these tracking technologies.

A 6-step process on how ads follow you around the internet

1. You land on a home goods site and click on a stainless steel coffee maker. You read reviews, check the price, maybe even add it to your cart. However, you then get distracted or decide to think about it.
2. Invisible to you, there's a tiny piece of code (called a pixel) embedded in that website. It's tracking your actions.
3. The moment you interact with that product, the pixel places a cookie in your browser. This cookie now contains information about what you looked at.
4. That cookie sends a signal back to Meta, Google, or whatever ad platform the business is using.
5. The ad platform adds you to a viewed product audience. You're now in that group, along with hundreds or thousands of others.
6. The business runs ads targeting that audience. Now, whether you're scrolling through Instagram, watching YouTube, or reading the news, that coffee maker keeps popping up in the form of a digital ad. It's following you because you've been tagged as someone who's interested in that product.

Why do businesses use retargeting ads that follow you around?

We're exposed to hundreds, if not thousands, of ads every day. 

Most of them blend into the background. 

However, a personalized retargeted ad will stand out like a sore thumb because it's showing you something you've already looked at. You recognize it, and that familiarity changes how you respond to it.

In fact, based on a recent retargeting statistics roundup by Cropink:

• Users who see retargeted ads convert at a rate 43% higher than those visiting for the first time.
• Conversion rates can jump as much as 150% when retargeting ads are used.
• Seven out of ten consumers show a higher likelihood of purchasing after viewing retargeting ads.
• Customers who have already interacted with a brand are 3X more likely to click on its ads compared to new audiences.

Businesses, therefore, use retargeting because consumers are more willing to engage with products they've already seen. 

Retargeting is about revenue, but it's also about relevance.

Yes, ultimately, brands use retargeting to increase sales. However, achieving this requires businesses to deliver an experience that is useful, personalized, and relevant to the consumer. 

For instance, if you're vegan and a brand keeps trying to send you ads for frozen beef patties, it would be annoying, and maybe even offensive. However, with the help of cookies and tracking, you'll notice that most of the ads you receive are usually relatable and relevant to your lifestyle.

Most shoppers don't buy a product the first time they see it. They need time to think, compare options, check reviews, or wait for payday. Retargeting fills that gap. 

It keeps the product in front of you during the consideration phase, so when you're ready to buy, the brand is the first option that comes to mind.

Now to the big question?

Are apps listening to your conversations to use for ad targeting?

No, companies (at least ethical brands) are not literally listening to your conversations.

There's no secret employee at Meta listening to you talk about a new blender so they can send you ads for blenders.

But here’s why it feels like they are.

1. You generate far more data signals than you realize

Ad platforms are incredibly good at predicting what you're likely to want next. They don't need to ‘listen’ when they already know so much from other signals.

For example, everything you click, search for, pause on, scroll past, save, or revisit is tracked. Over time, these small breadcrumbs build a detailed picture of your interests and shopping habits.

2. Location clustering

If you spend time at a certain gym, a baby store, a restaurant, or a coworking space, ad platforms infer your interests based on the people who also visit those places. You don't have to search for baby products online. Just visiting a baby store is enough for the algorithm to start showing you ads for strollers and diapers.

3. Lookalike audiences

Ad platforms typically group you with people who behave like you. If hundreds of similar users recently got into hiking boots, you might start seeing hiking boot ads too, even if you've never searched for them yourself. The platform assumes that if people like you are interested in something, you probably will be too.

4. Shared devices and accounts

If you live with someone and both of you are on the same WiFi or share a device occasionally, ad platforms connect those dots. You might see ads based on their behavior, not yours. If your partner searches for golf clubs, you might suddenly start seeing ads for them too.

5. Context and timing

If you browse a wedding venue, the algorithm knows you’ll likely need dresses, photography, décor, etc, and will start showing ads for those as well.

How to prevent ads from following you around

If retargeting ads feel too invasive, you're not powerless. There are several ways to limit how much you're tracked online. Combining a few of these methods can reduce the number of ads that follow you around.

Reject cookie permissions

When a website asks you to accept cookies, take a second to click ‘Reject’ or ‘Manage preferences' instead of automatically accepting. Most sites are required to let you opt out of non-essential cookies, which include the ones used for ad tracking. 

Delete browsing data

Regularly clearing your browsing history, cookies, and cache removes the data that advertisers use to track your online activity. Keep in mind that this also means you'll be logged out of websites and will lose saved preferences, so there's a trade-off.

Use ad blockers

Ad blockers hide ads and also block many of the tracking scripts and pixels that follow you across websites. The latter prevents third-party cookies from being placed on your browser in the first place.

Opt out of personalized ads

Both Google and Meta allow you to opt out of personalized advertising. It won’t stop you from seeing ads entirely, but it does mean the ads you see won't be based on your browsing behavior.

Use privacy-focused browsers

Browsers like Brave, Safari, and DuckDuckGo are able to block third-party cookies by default, prevent cross-site tracking, and don't store your search history. 

How to implement non-creepy retargeting for your business

Retargeting can be powerful and privacy-friendly. Here are a few ways to do it right.

1. Invest more in first-party data

First-party data is information people give you directly. It can include the following:

• Email signups
• Purchase history
• Browsing behavior on your own site
• SMS lists
• Loyalty program data

Since users actively opt in, retargeting with this data is transparent and respectful. They've already agreed to hear from you, which makes your ads feel less invasive. 

First-party data is also more accurate and reliable than third-party tracking, which means your campaigns will perform better.

2. Set clear expectations

Inform users about the data you collect and its purpose. Don't bury it in a 50-page privacy policy no one will read. Rather, be upfront about it on your site, in your emails, and when people sign up.

People are okay with personalized ads if they understand that sharing their email means they'll see relevant product recommendations.

3. Lean more on dynamic retargeting

Use dynamic product ads because they are more relevant and personalized to users. These ads display products that match the consumer's behavior and past experiences. 

Dynamic retargeting is less intrusive because it capitalizes on what a buyer is already interested in. 

4. Use frequency caps

Frequency caps limit the number of times a consumer sees your ad within a set time period.

Set a reasonable limit, such as one to three times per week. If someone hasn't converted after seeing your ad multiple times, showing it again, in the same exact messaging and format, probably won't change their mind. It will just irritate them more.

Final thoughts

Ads are able to follow you around because of cookies and tracking pixels that are stored in your browser. However, you can opt out of online tracking using the methods we outlined above. 

As a business, retargeting is still one of the most powerful tools for converting interest into sales, but you have to use it without crossing the line into creepy. 

If you're a business owner looking to do retargeting the right way, check out these guides:

• Shopify Facebook Retargeting
• Social Media Retargeting
• Facebook Retargeting Ads

FAQs

Sources

1. Cropink. 50+ Retargeting Statistics Marketers Need to Know