Lesson 1A: Online Advertising
This lesson will allow students to reflect on their online activities and explore how advertisers attempt to reach them through this medium.
Students will understand how advertising is used on the Internet.
1. Begin with a discussion about how students use the Internet. Invite students to talk about the activities they do online—social networking, playing games, shopping, research, etc.
2. Ask students to talk about the kinds of ads they’ve seen online. Tell students that sometimes, online advertising is obvious, but sometimes, it is not. Review these examples of online advertising:
- Banner ads and other web page ads: These ads appear on websites, usually at the top or sides of the page. They direct you to a website for more information about what is being sold.
- Ads based on your interests: Some online ads you see are placed there based on your interests. But how does an advertiser know what you like? Businesses may track the websites visited and searched for on your computer. Then, they put ads for those products on your computer. However, they can’t tell exactly who is doing the searching. For instance, if your brother searches for sports scores and visits team websites on the family computer, everyone in the family will see more sports-related ads (even family members not interested in sports).
- E-mail Ads: Sometimes, you see ads in your e-mail from a store you’ve shopped at online. Other times, you might sign up to be on a mailing list for a company or a store. Businesses or organizations often use e-mail to send you messages about special sales, promotions, or events. But be careful–e-mail ads also could be spam and contain a virus. Be cautious about opening attachments, downloading files, or clicking links in emails, no matter who sent them.
- Viral Marketing: Just like a joke or story spreads from person to person, advertising spreads that way, too. You might get a link to a funny video or message from a friend – and you might send it on to other friends if you like it. If the video or message shows a product (like a soda, movie, new song, gadget), chances are it’s an ad.
- Advergaming: This is a commercial in the form of a game. For example, you may go online and play in a food brand’s made-up world, using codes you get on the package. These ads let you interact with a business’s characters and logo—a symbol used by companies to identify their products.
3. Remind students that all ads want to grab your attention. To do this, ads can try to make us have different feelings: happy, excited, surprised, curious, etc. Ask students to think about how they feel as they complete the next activity.
4. Have students pair up. Distribute copies of Web Worksheet 1. Direct students to complete a scavenger hunt for online ads for a favorite food, film, or TV show. NOTE: To ensure that students are looking for ads on safe sites, provide students with a list of approved sites to visit during their hunt.
5. Once each pair has completed the scavenger hunt, invite students to share some of their experiences from the activity. In particular, ask students to talk about how successful the different types of ads were–did they think the target audience would buy that product?