Adcreep

Mark Bartholomew is Professor of Law at University at Buffalo School of Law. He has provided commentary on intellectual property and privacy issues in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, and other news outlets.

"A superb and trenchant critique of the rise of advertising in the digital era. A must-read for anyone concerned about the reach of commercial persuasion."—Sonia Katyal, University of California, Berkeley "Propaganda has migrated online, practiced by algorithms with little respect for human autonomy. Adcreep is the most comprehensive exploration yet of emerging techniques of coercion in commercial media and digital platforms, and why they are simply not okay."—Douglas Rushkoff, author of Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus: How Growth Became the Enemy of Prosperity "The ubiquity of advertisements and commercial surveillance are now standard features of our lives. In Adcreep, Mark Bartholomew elegantly traces how we got to this point, and explores the disturbing places its likely to take us. Bartholomew has a healthy appreciation of what the law can do to bring us to a different future, but what it won't do without a public that pushes back. If there is going to be a fight, Adcreep should be in the pocket of those leading the charge."—Sue Halpern, Middlebury College "Marketers are creeping into every corner of our lives, turning historically ad-free spaces like schools and parks into marketing opportunities, and using digital technologies to spy on us in order to target us with custom ads. In his insightful new book, Adcreep: The Case Against Modern Marketing, Mark Bartholomew, a professor at the University at Buffalo School of Law, examines the impact of this commercial onslaught and the failures of our legal system which have enabled it."—Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood "The volume reviews the very thorough and often disturbing techniques used to measure consumer desires. Many rely on more advanced technology—ranging from physiological scanning to social media—and most are frankly invasive. Despite decades of legislation designed to protect the consumer, the need for greater information has produced an environment of constant surveillance that advertisers are apparently exploiting. The author provides copious detailed and frightening examples to underscore his major point: marketing research has become more intrusive...The book is written at a sophisticated level, and is well suited to an educated audience seeking coverage of a sadly timely subject. Recommended"—S. D. Clark, Choice "With a wide range of case studies at hand, Bartholomew places these increasingly invasive tactics in their historical context....[He] recognizes that a change in the law will require a change in our mindsets."—Samuel Earle, Times Literary Supplement

• Introduction1. Advertising on Trial2. Colonizing New Advertising Spaces3. The New Market Research4. From Market Share to Mindshare5. Sellebrity6. Stopping Adcreep