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See the surveillance economy in action
Every time you visit a website, an invisible auction happens in milliseconds. Advertisers bid for your attention based on everything they know about you. These simulations expose how that system works—and what it knows.
THE MONEY TRAIL: The digital advertising industry generated $600+ billion in 2023. Your data is the product. These simulations show you exactly how.
YOU VISIT A WEBPAGE
│
▼ (< 100ms)
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ SUPPLY-SIDE PLATFORM (SSP) │
│ Publisher's tool to sell ad inventory │
│ "I have an ad slot. Who wants it?" │
└───────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┘
│
┌───────────────┼───────────────┐
▼ ▼ ▼
┌─────────────┐ ┌─────────────┐ ┌─────────────┐
│ AD │ │ AD │ │ AD │
│ EXCHANGE 1 │ │ EXCHANGE 2 │ │ EXCHANGE 3 │
│ (Google) │ │ (OpenX) │ │ (Rubicon) │
└──────┬──────┘ └──────┬──────┘ └──────┬──────┘
│ │ │
└───────────────┼───────────────┘
│
┌──────────────┼──────────────┐
▼ ▼ ▼
┌─────────────┐ ┌─────────────┐ ┌─────────────┐
│ DSP 1 │ │ DSP 2 │ │ DSP 3 │
│ (Criteo) │ │ (The Trade │ │ (Amazon) │
│ │ │ Desk) │ │ │
│ Bid: $2.50 │ │ Bid: $1.80 │ │ Bid: $3.20 │
└─────────────┘ └─────────────┘ └─────────────┘
│ │ │
│ YOUR DATA PROFILE │
│ ┌─────────────────┐ │
└────│ Age: 25-34 │──────┘
│ Income: $75-100k │
│ Intent: Shopping │
│ Device: iPhone │
│ Location: NYC │
│ Interests: Tech │
└─────────────────┘
WINNER: Amazon DSP ($3.20)
AD LOADS ON PAGE: < 200ms totalHelps publishers sell ad space. Connects to multiple ad exchanges to maximize revenue.
Helps advertisers buy ad space. Uses targeting data to bid on impressions in real-time.
Collects, organizes, and sells audience data. Builds profiles from browsing behavior across sites.
Aggregates and sells personal data from multiple sources—online and offline. The shadow players.