Getting Rid of Online Advertising 1 - Opt Out at the Network

Network Advertising Initiative is an organization devoted to finding answers to the growing problem of spam, spyware, and other evil things used to monitor your web use for marketing purposes.

Yep, there are "advertising networks" out there keeping track of where you surf through small programs (e.g., cookies) silently placed upon your computer. No one asks your permission, they ride along the internet and grab hold unless you've blocked them somehow. These networks use the data sent by the software to their main hub to compile your preferences. All for the purpose of gearing advertising especially for you, lucky you.

That's why when you surf for netbooks, you suddenly get ads for netbooks showing up on the magazine sites you visit for example. Targeted online advertising.

There's no single magic button to stop this Big Brother type of tactic. However, there are ways to minimize it, and one of them is to Opt Out at the network site.

For example, you can Opt-Out at the NetworkAdvertising site fast and easy. Just follow the steps.

Does it mean that they'll never put a cookie back on your machine? Nope. However, with some other tools that I've already implemented, I'm happy to report that I only had one cookie from this network on my machine - made me all Security Proud.

More on that later.

How To Stop Junk Mail 4 Free

Several websites offer to help stop your junk mail: you can spend around ten bucks for a do-it-yourself package, or you can pay a monthly fee for provided services. However, if you are willing to put in the time and effort, you can stop your junk mail yourself, for free. There's a great list of instructions at the site for Obvious Implementations Corporation, obviously.com.

Why worry about junk mail? Not only is it a daily hassle, it drains both the economy and the environment:

1. 100 million trees and 28 billion gallons of water are used to produce junk mail each year;
2. 250,000 homes could be heated with one day's supply of junk mail;
3. Americans receive almost 4 million tons of junk mail every year;
4. Approximately $320 million of local taxes are used to dispose of junk mail annually; and
5. Transportation of junk mail costs about $550 million per year.

Interesting read: "A Declaration of Independence from Junk Mail," by Donella H. Meadows, adjunct professor of environmental studies at Dartmouth College.

Sources: University of Oregon; nativeforestnetwork.org; charityguide.org; ecologicalmailcoalition.org.