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DATE:
1. Read the text.

Susan Mathews was looking for a new bag, so she went online and began looking at the
bags that were on offer. She found one that she quite liked and placed it in her shopping
basket. Then the phone rang. She abandoned her online search and forgot all about the
handbag – at least for a few hours. Imagine her surprise when she visited an online blog
later that day and was greeted by an advert for the very same brown leather handbag that
she had looked at earlier. And it didn’t end there. For weeks, nearly every site she went to
showed an advert for that same bag. It seemed to be following her wherever she went
online.
Susan’s experience is an example of “personalised retargeting”. This is an advertising
technique which sends Internet users adverts for specific products that they have recently
viewed. It is becoming increasingly common as a growing number of companies are
beginning to make use of this method of online advertising.
Defenders of the new technique claim that there is nothing new about personalised
retargeting. After all, companies have been tracking people online for years. They then use
this information to determine which products an individual is more likely to buy. By closely
monitoring Internet users’ online activity, they can send them adverts that are more
relevant to their interests. Tennis enthusiasts are sent adverts advertising tennis
equipment. Avid readers are sent adverts for books. Personalised retargeting, supporters
argue, is simply a more sophisticated version of the kind of online advertising that we are
all accustomed to.
However, there are many Internet users who are disturbed by this latest advance in online
advertising. Some people object to the fact that someone who shares their computer will
now be able to see which items they have browsed. Others dislike being tracked from site
to site as they navigate the Web. As a result, they are demanding that tighter controls and
regulations be imposed on the digital advertising industry to protect their privacy.
The future of personalised retargeting techniques is still uncertain. Personalised
retargeting is clearly a highly efficient way of making sure that a consumer sees the right
advert at the right time. Yet many advertising professionals feel that it may not be wise for
companies to adopt this advertising technique. They believe companies should not draw
potential customers’ attention to the fact that they have detailed information about them.
According to them, it makes sense for retargeting to be used in a more subtle way. Instead
of sending consumers an advert for a specific product they have viewed, customers could
be sent an advert offering them a discount if they return to an online store they have
visited. Such a use of the technology would still encourage consumers to purchase
products they have looked at online, without making them feel that they are being watched.
1. Choose the correct answer.
1.Personalised retargeting has enabled companies … .
a. to get detailed information about Internet users
b. to send people adverts for products they have looked at online
c. to monitor users’ online activity
d. to find out information about Internet users’ hobbies
2. Some advertising professionals are against the use of personalised retargeting because
….
a. it may make people feel uncomfortable
b. it gives people detailed information about a specific product
c. it is not an efficient form of advertising
d. it is a very subtle technique
2. Decide if the following sentences are true (T) or false (F). Find evidence in the text to justify
your answers.
____ 1. Companies have been using personalised retargeting techniques for years.
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___ 2. Personalised retargeting techniques are here to stay.
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3. Find words or expressions in the text that mean:
1. met (paragraph I) ……………………
2. particular (paragraph II) ……………………
3. used to (paragraph III) ……………………
4. worried (paragraph IV) ……………………
4. Write a composition.
Advantages and disadvantagesof buying Brand Names:
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