Most entertainment sites focus on fun for the reader. They get there for many reasons, such as checking up on celebrities or enjoying videos related to movies, TV shows, and any pop culture trends. However, behind the scenes, many entertainment sites utilize various types of digital tracking programs that keep track of how much information the readers have when they use the website.
These digital tracking programs (which are used by many companies) have now become an industry standard for tracking how people interact with websites, what their interests are, what they might want to purchase, etc. However, there is still some uncertainty as to how much information entertainment companies collect about their visitors and where this information is being sent. Because so many people are now concerned about how companies are gathering information about them, the EOnline.com Privacy Investigation has been published to investigate how visitor data will be treated on entertainment websites.
Advertising is extremely important to online publishers. To help make advertising more effective, a large number of websites now utilize tracking technologies, such as cookies, tracking pixels and third-party analytic tools (many of which are embedded directly in webpages). These tools are used by publishers to track things like which articles have been read, how long someone has been on a specific page, how long someone watched a video, or what link was clicked. The same tools are also used by advertisers in their efforts to measure the success (or failure) of their advertising campaigns (this is often referred to as "ad tracking"), and to target advertisements based on specific users (this is called "targeted advertising").
Tracking websites generally do a poor job of providing transparency to visitors regarding the degree to which their activity is monitored, and to what extent the information gathered may be shared with third-party entities who participate in advertising networks, analytics services or marketing platforms.
This issue has gained increased prominence as privacy laws in the United States continue to be revised. Several states are now starting to pass laws that govern how companies collect, use and disclose individuals' personal information online. In some instances, the courts and regulatory agencies have considered whether the use of various tracking technologies may transfer data regarding website usage to an external platform without providing users with adequate notice and obtaining their consent.
Online publishers rely heavily on Advertising; as such; a variety of tracking technologies have become prominent across many sites to improve ad effectiveness. Cookies, tracking pixels, and third-party analytic tools are the primary tools being used by most website owners to track visitors' behaviors from page views to clicks through each article. Advertisers also use tracking tools to determine how successful (or unsuccessful) their ads are at delivering results (this is known as ad tracking) and in targeting specific users across the web with ads based on their behaviors (this is also referred to as targeted advertising).
Most tracking sites do not provide users with adequate disclosures regarding how much they have been tracked and the various third parties possibly receiving that information through advertising networks, analytic services, or marketing platforms.
Electronic publishers depend on Ad. Many on their web sites use Tracking technologies; cookie, tracking pixels, and other third-party analytic tools are the main tools used by many web site owners to record visitor behavior from page-views to clicks through the entire article. In addition, Advertisers use tracking tools for ad tracking to measure the success and/or failure of their ads by providing actionable results, by measuring the effectiveness of their ads by analyzing user behavior (targetted advertising), and by keeping track of user behavior across the Web for targeted advertising to users and potential clients.
There are often not sufficient descriptions or disclosures available at many tracking websites to inform users of how extensively they have been tracked and of any third parties who may have received that information through advertising networks, analytic services, or marketing platforms.
