With the democratization of mobile applications, more and more location-based data is being shared with third-party companies to improve advertising targeting. This data sharing can have a significant impact on users who are not always aware of this constant monitoring. According to New York Time magazine, more than 1,200 Android applications and over 200 IOS applications share location-based data with third-party companies. This trend, also known as location-based advertising, is becoming increasingly widespread and is challenging users' rights and dangers. It is well known that on the net nobody is anonymous. It is possible to make your traceability more or less difficult, but it is impossible to hide your identity.
But what is digital geolocalised advertising in the first place?
It is above all an online advertisement that is broadcast exclusively to Internet users located in a predefined geographical area. This advertising can vary and be personalized according to the location of the individual exposed to the message. This geolocation is done using GPS data based on the principle of geofencing which consists in defining the geographical perimeters according to the individuals present or entering the area.
But then why do so many companies make geolocalized advertising?
It is important today to be able to correctly target potential prospects interested in the various offers in order to be as effective as possible and to have a quality targeting. In order to make it as suitable as possible, in parallel with traditional tools, it is essential that e-merchants go and find the customer where he is, i.e. on the Internet. Here is a list of the best tools used to guarantee the effectiveness of geolocalized campaigns.
1) Google Adwords Local
This tool allows you to broadcast ads on specific geographical sectors, the campaign concerns the city, neighbouring municipalities or the entire department.
https://ads.google.com/intl/fr_fr/home/
2) Local Inventory Ads
These ads allow you to display via google shopping the entire product catalog, when the user clicks on the ad it will be automatically redirected to a showcase page of the brand.
https://www.google.com/retail/solutions/merchant-center/#?modal_active=none
3) Facebook Local Awareness
it allows you to promote your business to customers living in a perimeter chosen by you. In addition to generating traffic on your website, this tool also allows you to create a link with the local audience where Internet users can send messages, call easily, get directions and go directly to your Facebook page.
The little extra: Facebook directly indicates the number of people likely to be reached.
https://www.facebook.com/business/news/facebook-local-awareness
4) Waze Ads
When a motorist passes close to partner points of sale. Waze displays a notification, this is a way to target criteria not like age, gender etc) but more according to the area he is in.
https://www.waze.com/business/
Geolocation remains a very effective tool today because it allows a detailed analysis of user behaviour, but it is necessary to have a good mix because too much use could be perceived by the consumer as an invasion of privacy.
In order to target even more precise information, more and more tools are being developed today with the aim of knowing the real identification of each user.
Cookies on the internet
The cookie was originally developed as a service to provide websites with a memory, with the aim of enhancing the user experience and simplifying the interaction between site and user while making it more intuitive.
But what is a cookie?
A cookie is a small piece of text that is automatically stored on your computer when you browse a website. It allows the site to recognize each user and to store specific information about them, such as login details.
This tool makes the digital life easier but also personalises the browsing experience, by memorising users' preferences and recognising them on each new visit. Cookies also make it possible to provide suggestions tailored to users according to their needs and interests.
But for what purpose and how often?
A cookie is basically a simple text file that can contain anything you want to put in it for different uses.
There are different categories of cookies:
Cookies used to optimize the user experience such as performance or functionality cookies that are used to record key information and thus optimize identification. Others are also used to optimize customer targeting and to implement more accurate marketing./
Although many cookies expire at the end of a session, others may also persist for several years. Each cookie has a name and an expiration date, some are programmed to last even longer than 7000 years...There are different types of cookies that have different life spans :
Session cookies: essentially temporary cookies that expire as soon as the user leaves the site.
Permanent cookies: they can remain on a disk for a certain time even after the session has ended, they retain data on the connection, contact details, account number, etc... the law requires that they be deleted after a maximum of 12 months.
Internal cookies: These are generally created by the website and serve to remember your data and the preferences of each user.
Third party cookies: In parallel with internal cookies, third parties do not come from the same website that the user visits, but from another website, e.g. simply clicking on "Like" on Facebook will activate a cookie that can be read by Facebook. They are often used to learn about user behaviour for targeted marketing purposes.
In order to best respect user privacy, there are two important aspects to take into account. Firstly the way user data is stored in the company and where the cookies (own or third party) come from, secondly the adjustment of the legal disclaimer linked to the consent of the cookies is also an important part.
According to the requirements of the RGPD a good consent to cookies must be above all informative, the user must know explicitly what he consents to, and have the possibility to accept or refuse the different types of cookies, but also, based on a real choice or the user must have the possibility to access a site and its functions even if some cookies have been refused. Moreover, if the user gives his consent, the action must not be misinterpreted and susceptible to other uses. It must be easy for the user to change his or her mind and withdraw consent.
It is important to distinguish between the "ePrivacy" better known as the "cookie law", the European directive on privacy and electronic communications that requires prior consent from users, while the DPMR requires each site to archive each consent. In addition, the requirements are becoming more and more important and the data is more difficult to access. Upon request, the user has the right to be forgotten and the data must be deleted. These new requirements are for some companies a brake on the collection of information, and force them to sometimes turn to other alternatives .
