CMNS223A/B - Surveillance Capitalism's Impact on Digital Advertising

This essay examines the impact of surveillance capitalism on digital advertising, focusing on its ethical implications and the practices of companies like AGM Digital Marketing Innovation Company. It defines surveillance capitalism as the monetization of personal data collected through digital platforms and discusses how this practice affects digital advertising, both positively and negatively. The essay explores how companies use data extracted from social media and other online sources to target consumers, often without their explicit consent. It also considers the role of digital marketing agencies in this process, highlighting the ethical responsibilities they bear in protecting user privacy. The analysis extends to the potential for manipulation of consumer buying decisions through targeted advertising and concludes with a call for greater awareness and responsible practices by both companies and individuals to mitigate the risks associated with surveillance capitalism.

Impact of surveillance capitalism on Digital Advertising
With Special Reference to AGM Digital Marketing Innovation Company
Student Details (Name and ID)
6/27/2019

SURVEILLANCE CAPITALISM IMPACT: DIGITAL ADVERTISING
Impact of Surveillance Capitalism on Digital Advertising
Advertising is the technique of a business to promote its products and services in among
of groups of people that might or might not be the target customers of that company. There are
many techniques of digital advertising. It is up to the company and the type of product as well as
service the company sale. In various methods of promotion as well as advertising like print and
digital, most famous and influential now, days can say to be the digital method of advertising.
Print advertising is the form of advertising that involves all mediums through which the
advertising information of the companies can reach to their target customers in print form
(Adriana Schiopoiu Burlea & Ion Popa, 2013). When this information reach to target customers
in digital form then it will be considered digital advertising.
Digital advertising is the form of advertising, which is considered very influential, as it
can bind the customers for more time as compared to print advertising. Digital advertising is also
known with the name of internet advertising (McKinley, 2012). It is the form where businesses
take help from various internet technologies as well as digital companies in order to promote
their product on various online sites. In digital advertising the promotional messages are also be
delivered to various customers in order to make turn them into a loyal customer or to keep loyal
customers for a long time. These messages are delivered to customers through various digital
mediums such as emails, social media websites, banner advertisements, etc (Commission, 2016).
Irrespective of digital advertising ethical as well as rules and regulations, there is a term,
which enforces to make negative use of digital advertising concept. The name of the term is
Surveillance Capitalism. It is related to making use of digital private information of various
people and using them without their permission or their knowledge. It is considered illegal and
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unethical in nature (Oxford, 2017). The detailed explanation of this concept as well as its impact
on digital advertising is discussed in this essay.
Surveillance capitalism is a term that specifies the situation in which data monetization of
people is done by making use of information that is available on digital platform. Many digital
advertising agencies or companies can do capturing of information in order to promote their
product. In this process of surveillance capitalism, many digital companies make use of data that
is posted by many famous people online in their advertisements. This is done in order to promote
the product of their company. A tactic helps those digital companies in advertising their products
or products of other by making false use of information of others even without their consent
(Chonko & Hunt, 2018).
Surveillance capitalism can also be understood in a similar context in which many
marketers bring together the demographic information of various people in order to understand
their needs as well as future wants, this can help those companies in fulfilling the needs of those
people and ultimately the companies will make profit. The demographic information of people
can be the data they post about their personal life, what they like, where they prefer to go, what
they like to eat, etc. These data are usually taken into consideration by companies to benefit
themselves. It is known as Surveillance Capitalism. It affects digital advertising in both positive
as well as negative ways. These impacts are discussed in following lines (Chong, Bian, & Zhang,
2016).
Digital advertising is a component of surveillance capitalism. It is so because surveillance
capitalism is a process in which the data of various people, which is posted on social websites is
used by organizations to use that information of individuals to promote their product. When
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people browse on internet or review their social websites, at that time some pop-up
advertisements can be seen. These advertisements were the result of surveillance capitalism.
With the help of information extracted from those people’s websites and other digital media’s the
organization use that information without taking permission from people for promotions (Sheth,
2018).
When some organization post advertisements on a website or mail it to individuals then
these all things cannot be possible with the help of an expert or an expert organization which can
do these things for that company. the organization which can help another organization in
posting their advertisements digitally, is known as digital marketing organization. There are
many companies in this filed which are helping businesses to promote themselves through digital
advertising. It is the responsibility of these digital advertising organization to keep in mind the
privacy as well as ethical principle while researching their data or posting the advertisements on
various profiles of people. They should not follow them and make them uncomfortable. There is
an organization in this industry of digital marketing. The name of the organization is AGM
Digital Marketing Innovation Company. The aim of this company is also providing digital
assistance to various organizations in marketing on digital platforms (Wymer, 2010).
AGM company is one of the leading companies in this filed and gradually becoming the
market leader. The main aim of AGM is to help many organizations, whether it is finance based,
IT based, entertainment based, small or big, etc., regarding their marketing activities on digital
platforms. The digital platform that AGM company covers range from google, social websites,
etc. the company is in this filed from a very long time and have provided digital marketing
assistance to a range of famous companies. the practices adopted by AGM in order to promote
various organizations digitally, are based on ethical as well as legal principle. However, the
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internal and the core activities are not disclosed in front of the public that the company uses
surveillance capitalism largely and sometimes negatively to extract information regarding
various digital marketing functions of product of other companies. the practices of AGM are
mostly based on ethical values, however sometime in very few cases companies go beyond their
limits (AGM, 2019).
AGM is the partner company of google and continuously serving the customers with the
positive results. The advertising technique of this organization is very influential for customers
as the company have the capacity to digitally design such advertisement that can impact target
buying to a great extent and in turn the clients of AGM company can be satisfied. This in long
run helps AGM company to be leading player of the market. There are many methods, which are
adopted by AGM company to extract the data of people or target customers present all over the
world. The company uses various social media sites, search engines, shopping sites, YouTube,
etc. of people present around the globe. This helps the company in reviewing the needs and
wants of those people. After that according to the advertisement of respective company the AGM
company again make use of those sources to connect with those people by posting
advertisements on those sources or mailing to them for contacting them.
On various social media websites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. AGM company
uses its advance personals as well as technology to extract the basic information about target
customers of a company. The company can belong to any industry; however, the target
customers and their data is selected based on company as well as product type. AGM company
then search those social media sites in identify the target customers for that company. From the
searched data of people, the company can choose them to be their target customers and can make
product according to them. Respective company use this information to make advertisements
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according to the needs of target customers as well as the features of product or service they are
offering. These advertisements are posted on the profiles of those target customers by AGM
company. In this way through Surveillance capitalism, the AGM company helps another
company in digitally marketing their products (Jara, Parra, & Skarmeta, 2012).
There is another way of digitally marketing of products or services that is through online
messages or emails. AGM with the help of its advance equipment as well as specialized
employees, connect with the target customers by advertising them about the products and
services of respective company through emails and message that AGM collected through
surveillance capitalism process. It is also considered to be an effective process of advertising
about the products of companies by various digital advertising companies. Emails are the easiest
as well as convenient way of approaching to target customers, as they don’t take much time and
multiple of customers can me reached at a time (Herman Aguinis, Ryan K.Gottfredson, &
HarryJoo, 2012).
When people browse through different websites on internet, they can see advertising
windows or some popup messages with advertisements in it. one can notice that the product they
watched recently on a different shopping website is coming in all pop-up messages whenever
they are going digitally. It is done through surveillance capitalism. There are many researchers of
AGM company, which are continuously watching every digital move of the customers. The
information they get by this watching, they use it as the medium of digital advertising. This
process of surveillance capitalism done by AGM or any other company is legal and ethical to
some extent, however beyond that their practices are considered unethical and even illegal. The
customer can report such issue if they want (Yolanda (Linda) Reid Chassiakos, Jenny Radesky,
Dimitri Christakis, Megan A. Moreno, & Corinn Cross, 2016).
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The privacy of every one is important, however with the use of internet more and more in
the day to day life of individuals making the private life of people is slowly becoming public,
due to the posting of comments, photos and thoughts on various social media sites. Through
surveillance capitalism the data of people is getting in the hands of many digital marketing
companies. the aim of these digital marketing companies is to use the data of people for the
marketing purpose (Singh, 2012). However, the following back of these companies as well as
AGM is not good for people, it is affecting the buying decisions of customers. The mechanism of
these digital marketing agencies is aiming towards affecting the buying decisions of people
present around them to manipulate and influence them for buying of product. The continues
popping up of advertisements as well as mails can influence the buying decisions of people. It is
a tendency of human mind which enforce it to go in the favor of what is coming again and again
in front of them (Wade C. Jacobsen & Renata Forste, 2011).
The AGM company is digital marketing company that is not using the information of
people for false purposes. Still to some extent surveillance capitalism is legal, however beyond
that it is advised to AGM company as well as all other digital marketing companies to conduct
the activities of their business in most effective manner (Regional, 2019). Among those effective
activities of these companies there should be not such activities that focus towards making
profits by compromising the crucial information of people they are dealing for and with (Lumen,
2019). On the other hand, it is the responsibility of individuals also to share their stories and
photos on digital medias but keeping themselves in the zone of security. Beyond that zone no
one knows what can be done with their information. It is also their responsibility to get
manipulated by these digital advertisements as well as mails to only some extent. Avoid any
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fraud or irrelevant mails or advertisements. It is so because these activities have increased digital
crimes worldwide.
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