What Are You Getting for Christmas? – Google Knows

Monday mornings especially during the season of Advent I love to browse through various blogs and websites reading Advent reflections. This morning I was disgusted to see my last night’s online Christmas shopping perfectly reflected in all the ads that appeared as I browsed. I put up with them on facebook and gmail but this is the limit as far as I am concerned.

Surprisingly I discovered that, according to the 5th Annual Consumers and Convergence survey. many consumers are quite comfortable with online tracking by retailers and service providers as long as it results in discounts on the products they are buying.

52 percent say they would be willing to let usage patterns and personal information to be tracked by advertisers if this resulted in lower product costs or free online content. In addition, 43 percent are willing to receive advertising in exchange for lower fees or service. Consumers aged 16-34 are more inclined to permit both tracking and advertising, compared to those above age 34

Read more: http://www.bradenton.com/2011/12/08/3711616/many-consumers-would-allow-online.html#ixzz1gNBX8OWd

This kind of a trend concerns me and is a very graphic indication of how insidiously we have all been overtaken by the consumer society without any protest. And it is hard to go against the flow without turning off the very technology that for many of us has become the central core of our work. Most of the time I can blank out the ads without even looking at them. But then I find myself drooling over the latest technological marvel and I realize that I am just as susceptible as the next person.

There is an antidote however. Really entering into the spirit of Advent and the coming of Christ usually effectively inoculates me against the tug of consumerism. In fact I often do my Christmas shopping weeks in advance so that I can focus more effectively on the coming of Christ during this season.

I would love to hear from others though. What keeps you focused on the real meaning of the season and enables you to stand against the constant barrage of seductive online ads telling you there is one more thing you need to buy.

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