Privacy and Cost Concerns in Online Advertising—Literature Review and Analysis

Abstract

Thanks to technological advancements, improvements in data analysis and the widespread of the Internet, online advertising became a growing industry worth billions of US dollars. With large numbers of active users and data on their behavior being easily retrievable, the Internet provides a cost-efficient way of targeting individuals. Through its reliance on the behavioral data of individual Internet users it however also poses a great threat to users’ privacy. Having conducted a keyword search in six independent digital libraries, this short chapter provides a description of the topic of privacy and cost issues of targeted online advertisement in the form of a literature review. Drawing on a sample of 70 unique journal articles, conference papers or book chapters, it introduces the reader to relevant authors and sources and offers an overview of the most salient keywords used in this context.