AdWords is essential for most online businesses, but it doesn’t provide as much targeting as I’d like.
I want to target ads based on the user’s platform.
I’d like to display an ad for InkGestures, for instance, only if the person searching is using a Tablet PC at that very moment. Those are the most likely customers of Tablet software. I might be willing to bid higher if I know the person has a Tablet.
It seems like platform-targeted advertising is going to become even more valuable. Let’s say I’m using my SmartPhone. Might not SmartPhone-oriented ads make the most sense on a SmartPhone? Similarly, what if I’m using a PDA searching for music? Do I want iPod ads to appear? No thanks. Don’t waste my bandwidth.
In looking at Microsoft’s AdCenter I see that additional targeting is going to be provided. I wonder if the targeting is going to include the searcher’s platform?
Of course, this raises the question, how much information would you be willing to give up to get better ads? Let’s say via the Google bar you could “subscribe” to certain types of ads? Would you? I might in the sense that I’d rather filter out the tons of ads that compete for the phrase “Tablet PC” (Ever notice that Dell is the top sponsored ad for “Tablet PC” even though they don’t even have their own Tablet!? Or are you tired of all those “NexTag” ads. Ugh.), for instance, if instead I could get to the one, two, or three ads buried on pages 15 and 16 that contain what I might really be interested in. I’d be a happier consumer and I’m sure the vendor would too.
Privacy concerns being what they are, a smart ad company would treat any personal as securely as a password–hashing values into obscurity if possible and committing to never sharing it to anyone else for any other purpose. Digital amnesia would be most valuable. I get enough junk mail as it is.