No Retargeting Here!

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This site does not get involved with those annoying advertisements which follow you around on the Internet.

When you're wandering around Zyra's website, you won't see any splat advertising and you won't see any of those annoying advertisements which some sites have where they seem to follow you around, almost as if they can spy on you.

What is Retargeting ?: Retargeting is the practice of following you around trying to sell you things that you have already shown some interest in. It's a form of slash-and-burn marketing, as it damages the market by interfering with perception of free choice.

Retargeting is so-called, not because it's a shortened form of "Retarded Marketing", but because it targets you a second time as a "potential customer" on account of you having seen but not bought, something. It then pesters you, in the vain hope that you will change your mind and buy the product.

What Retargeting would be like if such carrys-on happened in the physical world:

Supposing you were having a look around a shop. A salesman comes along to you and says "Can I help you?". You say "No thanks, I'm only browsing". The salesman walks away. You're looking around eyeing-up the range of products on sale, and you happen to notice one particular item that might be of interest. Suppose, for the sake of this story, that it's a lampshade. You're examining it closely because you have not seen one made of that material before. Interesting. You turn it over this way and that, check the price-tag, and then put it back on the stand. In-store security spy-cameras note that you didn't try to steal it, so there's no problem with the security. However, you are being watched. Of course, you don't have to make a purchase, and you've had a good look around, and now you're about to leave the shop. But just then the salesman comes along and slaps you on the back and says "Thanks for visiting this shop!". You leave.

Continuing down the street, you are probably unaware that the salesman has stuck a label on you. A while later, you're looking around another shop, and suddenly out-of-the-blue, a salesman comes along and says "Can I interest you in buying a lampshade?". You are surprised, because there was surely no reason to suppose that was a reasonable thing to ask at that time? Still, could have just been coincidence.

Later that day, you're walking through the street market, and a street peddler shouts as you're going past "Cheap Lampshades! Get your cut-price Shades'o'Lamp here!". Now this is more than coincidence. There's something "going on". It's like one of those fantasy movies where odd things happen. You check yourself to see if you might be dreaming, or maybe there's something about you that's different. But then you notice the label which the first salesman stuck on you. That explains it! How annoying, though, to think they would tag you and retarget you! You rip the label off.

In contrast to the reality, which is that people rightly believe that retargeting is annoying, against privacy, has a rather seedy thing about it, and is advertising based on spying, the marketing people think this: A person who shows any interest in a product is a "potential customer". If the customer doesn't then buy the item, then they are a "missed sale". (Note: 98% of people don't buy the item). Therefore it is fair-game, by some obtuse definition of "fair", to have another go!

Also note: By not buying the item, it could be that you have positively decided not to buy it. Therefore pestering you about it is going against something you've in which you've already expressed a choice.

There are advertisements at this website, but they tend to be discreet. The preference here is for select advertising where you decide what you want and then you look it up in the index and go and buy it.

Advertisers are not allowed to stick ads in your face, and they can't actually do any retargeting in this website even if they wanted to. Of course they can do retargeting after you've left the site, so don't be surprised if you see suspiciously spying-type ads before and after you are here. That's not anything this site can do, as it's outside the control of this site.

How to Avoid Retargeting

I suggest you put a stop to retargeting ads if you don't like them. You can stop persistent retargeting ads pestering you and following you around. You do this by clearing all of your cookies. You do this in the browser options. You don't need to clear them all the time, just every now and then. Then when you want to buy something, you make the choice. I clear all of my cookies whenever I see a retargeted ad which has followed me from another site.

This site has a fun Shopping Portal and many other pages about companies. I don't know of any of the companies that are promoted here which actually do retargeting. If you find any, please let me know, as I am willing to put warnings up on the pages about the companies.

There's not much I can do about other companies and other affiliates doing retargeting ads. However, it doesn't go on here!

Although this site does not do any retargeting ads, some of the merchants have got involved in it. For example, Shabby Apple. After you've visited their website, regardless of whether you buy anything, you should "clear all cookies" afterwards to avoid being pestered at numerous other websites with silly Splat Ads. This was noticed in 2012/05, but they might get this resolved soon.