Stereotyped advertising aimed at older women at social network sites

 Judith Martin - Advertisements on the internet at top social network sites
are targeted towards different age groups using stereotypes, based on the year
of birth associated with a subscriber's profile, which can look offensive to
older women.

This type of ad targets, often done spontaneously by Google,
occur regularly on a variety of websites, including those where news is
offered.

 Here are examples of
what often happens and the message that’s given the reader:

Under a top social network site, a woman lists her year of
birth as 1948. She will be inundated with ads for wrinkle creams, cures for
sagging bellies, and warnings about foods that will not help her lose weight.
Everything she wanted to know about aching backs, creaking and inflamed joints,
and flabby abs -- it will all be there in ads to click on her home page. There
will also be ads for calculating her "real" age by weight and bone
density, treatments using botox and face lifts... and cruises (showing pictures
of a grey-haired couple), plus coupons for deals at restaurants where probably
only well-heeled seniors would go.

She changes her year of birth to 1968. All the ads with
pictures of heads full of grey hair now disappear. Replacements are ads for
Victoria's Secret and Majongg! Gone also are the ads that promote "your
mom's wrinkle secret". Still, there may be at least one ad for flattening
one's belly. Ads for life and health insurance may appear more frequently at
this age.

Now let’s say the same woman changes the year of birth to
1978, which makes her thirty years younger than her original entry. The first
ads to show up more are likely to be about beauty salons and trendy clothing!

Judging from the pictures with the ads, wrinkle and belly
"blurbs" seem to be directed at women "of a certain age",
meaning over age 30, but particularly of age 60 and older. It appears these
social network sites are trying to remind older women to keep up their
appearances, thereby aiding and abetting the stereotypes that women aren’t
beautiful at any age.

The real message from the website owners, who have no
control over the Google ads that relate in general to topics presented, is that
the attractive young female is celebrated, and the senior woman needs much more
attention to detail in order to compete in this world.

As one of those seniors who believes age has its beauty in
so many ways, the welcome mat from ads should be different, giving something we
elders might want in a way that isn’t depressing but uplifting and well-placed
instead.