If you have encountered Instagram, TikTok, or any other social platform recently, chances are you got served an ad specifically tailored to you. Maybe it was for a gift you were planning to purchase for the holidays, or perhaps it was for an item you’ve been simmering on for months. Whatever it may be, this is modern marketing as we know it today, and it is a common concept defined as targeted advertising.
To put it simply, targeted marketing is often characterized as collecting data such as cookies, search history, and demographics to build user profiles and then serve information most relevant to the consumer. It is intended to drive higher engagement in hopes that strategically placed ads will encourage interest or even purchasing.
Essentially, this kind of personalization works in simple ways. For example, if you are searching for a new computer on Google, the search engine will take note of this and feed you computers for sale the next time you browse on your algorithm. Or say you want to invest in a new car. If a particular model is of interest to you, it is more than likely you’ll see multiple ads on your feed based on what you searched initially.
AI also plays an important role in tailored advertising. With the help of automation, large language models can analyze existing user data to deliver hyper-relevant ads in real time, increasing conversions and ROI through dynamic content, optimized targeting, and automated bidding to show what users might be likely to click on or buy next. They transform the ad experience by turning ads into personal conversations, using consumer interests to deliver timely information.
Yet, while this is marketing meant to reach audiences better, it is not necessarily the smartest move. Consumers are feeling more creeped out by the minute, and it is becoming a major concern around personal space and privacy.
As Aby Varma, founder of Spark Novus warns, ads that go far beyond personal are reaching a critical turning point, and brands need to take this momentum with serious caution. He explains, “People don’t mind relevance. They mind surveillance. The moment content feels like it’s powered by data they didn’t knowingly give, trust starts to erode. AI is unlocking a new level of personalization, but brands need to approach it with intention.”
Without proper control, businesses risk a number of compliance issues. On one end, consumer trust erodes and users feel increasingly manipulated. In addition, companies start to misuse data without explicit permission, raising ethical challenges and concerns around integrity.
There also becomes the threat of inaccuracy. Like any technology, AI can make mistakes and incorrect guesses about users. Sometimes it can serve irrelevant ads, and so much to the point where topics can become sensitive in a disturbing way.
As personalization accelerates, what companies need instead is a real strategy that will speak to consumers with greater transparency. People like getting served topics tailored to them, but not to where it crosses the boundaries of invasion. If brands want to succeed, this is where a friendlier approach comes into play.
Varms continues, “The next phase of AI-enabled personalization isn’t about squeezing more signals out of people. It is about clarity, restraint, and explaining why you are using the data in the first place. The brands that win are the ones that will design AI systems that feel respectful, not invasive.”
Just like any emerging tool, it is hard not to play into AI and its capabilities. What it can do is unmatched, and it makes work and operations that much easier.
However, if it shifts to a problem of privacy, that is when the process has gone too far. There is nothing wrong with personalization, but there is something wrong with invading personal well-being.
For all the marketers wanting to customize the ad experience, it is important to not get carried away just yet. Otherwise, users will lose all hope and refrain from the strategy altogether.