KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Santa might know if you’ve been naughty or nice – but increasingly it’s retailers who already know what you want from Santa.
Ben Legg, CEO of Adknowledge – a digital Advertising company based in Kansas City, says retailers have been watching your online activity to tailor ads just for you,
“A great example is Amazon. They know if you’ve been there before, what you bought, therefore they make better recommendations,” said Legg.
But Legg ads it’s not just websites you’ve visited before that know your shopping history. He says many retailers share customer information.
When you’re on Facebook you’re probably seeing ads sent to you based on information gathered from other retailers you have visited.
“It actually it happened to me today,” said Legg. “I logged onto my Facebook page and I saw an ad from Zappos. I haven’t been to Zappos in the last few months but I have been to some shoe sites.”
He says targeted online ads are more focused at Christmas time because there is more money being spent.
This year Cyber Monday is expected to generate $1.5 billion in retail sales, a 20 percent jump over 2011.