Online Advertising: Crash Course Media Literacy #7

You're being watched. That sounded more sinister than I intended, but online, it's true. Facebook, Instagram, Amazon, Netflix... the list goes on and on. They're watching what you do, what you shop for, what you watch... all of it. And have you actually read the Terms of Service? In this episode of Crash Course Media Literacy, Jay talks about how Online Advertising works and why companies want to know everything you're looking at.

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Resources:

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Thanks to the following Patrons for their generous monthly contributions that help keep Crash Course free for everyone forever:

Mark Brouwer, Glenn Elliott, Justin Zingsheim, Jessica Wode, Eric Prestemon, Kathrin Benoit, Tom Trval, Jason Saslow, Nathan Taylor, Divonne Holmes à Court, Brian Thomas Gossett, Khaled El Shalakany, Indika Siriwardena, Robert Kunz, SR Foxley, Sam Ferguson, Yasenia Cruz, Eric Koslow, Caleb Weeks, Tim Curwick, Evren Türkmenoğlu, Alexander Tamas, D.A. Noe, Shawn Arnold, mark austin, Ruth Perez, Malcolm Callis, Ken Penttinen, Advait Shinde, Cody Carpenter, Annamaria Herrera, William McGraw, Bader AlGhamdi, Vaso, Melissa Briski, Joey Quek, Andrei Krishkevich, Rachel Bright, Alex S, Mayumi Maeda, Kathy & Tim Philip, Montather, Jirat, Eric Kitchen, Moritz Schmidt, Ian Dundore, Chris Peters, Sandra Aft, Steve Marshall
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Want to find Crash Course elsewhere on the internet?

[epsereth]

"When something is free, you're the product." This is *such* a good series.

[ryantwombly]

All the episodes have been enlightening, but THIS should be required viewing for everyone. Well done.

[johnemory]

Just wanted to point out that when something is free you're usually the product, not always. The open source community is a great example of an exception. Free software, you're not the product. I do recognize that under most circumstances, you're absolutely correct. Great series, it's been a good one!

[brandoncash]

Perfect timing for the Congressional interview with Zuckerman going on right when this was uploaded.

[pdreding]

"Be wary of anything that seems free?" But this video is free …

[tjdriver]

I'D LIKE TO THANK MY MUM AND MY DAD FOR SUPPLYING MY INTERNET, I'D LIKE TO THANK MY BROTHER FOR SOMETHING, SHOUTOUT TO CRASH COURSE FOR GIVING ME THIS OPPORTUNITY

[abdelalibarghout]

The best thing i loved about this episod is when something is free, you’re the product ❤️ Thank you so much

[Pfhorrest]

So this video was free. Does that mean I'm your product, Jay?

[jsredrose]

This is such a well-done series. Thank you, Crash Course!

[julieb]

Just had to watch this video for class and it was the first time I've watched a crash course video in years... who is this guy??

[hotdrippyglass]

I have had things follow me from store to store but my doctor gave some good drugs and that doesn't happen so much anymore.

[_rrwwcox]

Even if we all read all the terms of service, in many cases you must agree to the terms in order to be able to use the service. Given that these services are so valuable, users don't really have much power in what they agree to (i.e. we don't get to individually negotiate our terms with the company), the only real power comes from being very thoughtful about what we share and how we use the services. Media literacy education should include training on how what we share will be used and could be used against us and how to protect ourselves while still enjoying value these services afford.

[johnnymitchellcollier]

When you said "Take a look around the video, " I was confused. Then I realized that my Adblock was on and I couldn't see 'em.

[Sirake]

Nope, no ads here. Youtube red. I hate ads and love creators.

[AppandaiRaj]

Hey Jey Smooth bro, Loves from India. We love your videos here.

[shaunaaaah]

I've read a few of the terms and service, for my bank and such, and there's the bigger problem than that people don't read them, even if people tried it's written in legal language so it's hard to understand.
Targeted ads are creepy but I get a little less concerned when it slips up and I get an ad I don't usually get, like even though I'm a 27 year old woman I don't normally get baby ads. More often I wish I could just directly tell them things like how yes I spent a while reading a lot about Dutch ovens, I got one I'm not going to buy another, or that the flight I booked is to see family so I'm really not interested in hotels.

[Zedstergal]

Great video!! So important that people understand how their data is being used for commercial ends.

[landofgrundo]

That was interesting but scary. I'll have to be more careful

[FriedEgg]

There are 2 theoretical ways to combat fingerprinting; make yourself look like a completely new user everytime you visit a website, which I don't think is possible, or make yourself look like every other user, which is what the tor browser does. You will still be fingerprinted but it will be harder to find unique identifiers about you if you look like every other tor user.

[hargeongreen]

Twitch has terms that pretty much say (If I recall correctly (Was a while ago)): We can use your voice. We can use your identity. And probably something about your looks too, but I don't remember anything mentioning that.