Smart advertising and online dictionary usefulness

Abstract Today, online advertisements are smart. Based on targeting, they are highly personalized to match the interests of Internet users. Smart advertisements feature even in high-quality online dictionaries, which is a trade-off for free dictionary content. The aim of the paper is to investigate the influence of targeted advertisements in online dictionaries on language reception, production and learning. The study also identifies the effect of advertisement targeting on the time of online dictionary consultation. In addition, dictionary users’ attitudes to advertisements are explored. The results reveal that either targeted or non-targeted advertisements in online dictionaries do not significantly affect language reception, production and learning, irrespective of sense position in entries. Yet, both targeted and non-targeted advertisements prolong dictionary consultation. Non-targeted advertisements were found only marginally more disruptive than targeted ones, and the assessment of advertisements was not dependent on the experimental condition.