With the new year upon us, news about advertising returns on some of your favorite sites will be coming along. With that in mind, I thought I’d go over some of the words that advertisers use to help you understand their meaning.

Engage = intrude

When advertisers use the word ‘engage’ they’re referring to getting impressions and clicks by any means necessary. What they say may seem positive, but they’ve used this word since 2014, and ads have only gotten worse. They at least get some profit from clicks.

Personalize = track

This one may be the most obvious to recognize. Tracking is the weapon of online advertising while also being a main factor of ad blocker growth. Thumbing their nose at consumers, advertisers have come to think the solution is more tracking rather than less, as if the ads of current tracking is what leaves a bad taste in the mouth. It’s hogwash. They know it. We know it. They know we know it.

Rich, exciting = worse

These inflated words just mean nothing. The only exciting thing for them is to put trackers in more places while taking as much screen space as possible.

New = “innovation”

Oh boy, I get to choose my YouTube ad?!

Don’t fall victim to their language. Not only are these peoples’ jobs about spinning language; they’re also commenting on their entire industry. It’s all superficial.