Introduction
Amazon, the e-commerce giant, uses a wealth of information to personalize the user experience on its services as well as other platforms. This data allows Amazon to refine the advertisements served to each user based on their interests, preferences and online behaviors. In this article, we’ll explain how Amazon uses personal information and cookies to provide a personalized advertising experience.
Use of personal information
To display relevant advertisements to its users, Amazon collects various types of personal information. Among these are:
- The history of videos viewed on Prime Video: this allows Amazon to offer ads related to the cinematographic or television tastes of each user.
- Demographic information provided by third parties: this data includes age, gender and geographic location which can be used to more precisely target ads.
Use of cookies
In addition to the personal information mentioned above, Amazon also uses cookies to personalize the advertising experience. Cookies are small text files stored on your device when you visit a website or use an application. They allow the website or app to recognize your device and remember your preferences, such as language or items added to the cart.
Amazon uses different types of cookies to personalize ads, including:
- Internal cookies: these cookies are created by Amazon and allow information to be recorded about your browsing on the site, such as the pages visited or the products searched for. They are used to display ads based on your interests.
- Third-party cookies: These cookies come from other Amazon partner companies that provide advertising services. They also collect data about your online behavior and may be used to provide you with targeted advertisements on other websites you visit.
Choices offered to users
In order to respect the privacy of its users, Amazon offers several options regarding the use of personal information and cookies:
- Refuse cookies: it is possible for each user to refuse the use of cookies by modifying the web browser settings. However, this may affect some functionality of the Amazon site and make the experience less smooth.
- Personalize your advertising preferences: from the “Advertising Preferences” page accessible from the Amazon account, each user can choose what type of ads they want to see (for example, avoid those related to certain topics).
Cookies, essential to the purchasing experience and the improvement of services
It is important to note that cookies are essential for the proper functioning of the Amazon site and help to improve its services. In fact, they allow:
- Track items added to cart: Without cookies, it would be impossible for Amazon to remember the products you want to purchase.
- To memorize your preferences in terms of language or currency: this facilitates your navigation on the site by avoiding having to enter this information each time you visit.
- Improve the relevance of advertisements: thanks to the data collected by cookies, Amazon can display more relevant advertisements for each user and thus offer a less intrusive advertising experience.
Conclusion
In summary, Amazon uses personal information and cookies to personalize the advertising experience offered to users on its services as well as on other platforms. This data includes, among other things, the history of videos viewed on Prime Video and demographic information provided by third parties. Users have the ability to decline or customize their cookie and advertising preferences. It should be noted, however, that these practices comply with Amazon’s Cookie Policy and greatly contribute to improving the shopping experience as well as the services offered by the e-commerce giant.
