The Device Graph

Have you ever wondered how the ads that pop up on your devices seem to read your mind? That’s because marketing companies are constantly using your data to track and profile you – the sites you visit, the documents you download, where and when you log in to your social media. With all that information, they can target you with advertisements that are specific to your apparent likes and interests. The ad tech company Tapad has managed to fine-tune this process even more, on over 2 billion devices worldwide. Their ‘Tapad Device Graph’ exploits massive amounts of data to create a full profile of ‘your digital DNA’ across all of your devices, not just one – your phone, laptop, desktop, tablet and your TV. It can even distinguish different users in the same household. Tapad is just one example in a massive industry built on collecting, analysing and trading individual data.