The article discusses how companies bid in auctions to pay for eyeballs on social media, spending up to 50 cents per hour of scrolling, which totals nearly $6 billion annually in Australia. This practice leverages user data to target ads effectively, with Australian households buying from an average of 16 different retailers online in 2025, a figure more than double that from a decade earlier. The piece also highlights the role of buy now, pay later services in increasing spending and suggests strategies like reviewing bank statements and avoiding impulse buys to manage online shopping addiction.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-06,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Did you know that every time you open social media, thousands of companies are bidding for your attention?
asserted
thousands → know → attention
They are bidding in auctions to pay for eyeball time, paying per view for you to see their product, with its slick marketing campaign and shiny wrapping.
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you → bid → campaign
For every one hour of scrolling on social media, companies can spend up to 50¢ just on you.
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companies → scroll → you
It may not sound like much, but that adds up to nearly $6 billion being spent on social media advertising each year.
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that → sound → advertising
That’s almost 10 per cent of what our nation spends on defence.
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nation → ’ → defence
To ensure they aren’t accidentally marketing aged care to teenagers or schoolies tickets to pensioners, the tech companies improve their marketing effectiveness by making it their business to know about you.
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it → ensure → you
This is how they actually make money.
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they → make → money
Every like, search, click and purchase becomes another clue about what you might buy next.
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you → become → what
Companies are bidding in auctions to pay for eyeball time, paying per view for you to see their product, with its slick marketing campaign and shiny wrapping.
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you → bid → campaign
When I checked the “Your algorithm” page on Instagram, it correctly knew that I like AFL, live music, and investing (shocker).
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I → check → AFL
And no surprise, I frequently get advertisements for nearby concerts and investment products.
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I → get → concerts
According to Australia Post research, Australians spent a record $82.6 billion online in 2025, up 14 per cent on the previous year.
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Australians → accord → year
The average household bought from 16 different retailers, more than double the number a decade ago.
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household → buy → number
In Australia Post’s accompanying consumer survey, 60 per cent of shoppers said they use social media to discover products, and one in two had bought something after seeing it there.
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one → say → it
Among Gen Z, 69 per cent use social media for product discovery.
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cent → use → discovery
Plus, with widespread buy now, pay later (BNPL) offerings, like Afterpay and Zip, there are more sneaky incentives than ever to try and get us to spend our money online.
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us → buy → money
A large US study from Harvard University estimates that BNPL use increased total spending by about $US60 ($86) a week.
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use → estimate → US60
I don’t actually have a problem with using social media for shopping, especially if it saves you time.
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it → have → time
If I need a new pair of $25 sunglasses, a quick purchase of something that’s good enough is better than agonising over 20 different products for several hours.
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that → need → hours
The big problem is buying things that you don’t need.
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you → buy → that
Social media marketing can be very effective at convincing us to spend money on products that we wouldn’t have considered otherwise.
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we → convince → that
And once bought, these items may quickly become clutter relegated to the back of the wardrobe.
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items → buy → wardrobe
So, what can you do about this?
Improve your spending habits
First, try and work out the size of the problem.
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you → improve → problem
Go through your last few months of bank statements and see how much you actually spent on online purchases.
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you → go → purchases
As I have written before, AI may be able to help you save time completing this exercise.
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you → write → exercise
If you ever feel the need to buy something from social media, save the link and set a reminder for two days’ time.
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you → feel → time
If you still want it when the reminder goes off, you can have it.
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you → want → it
Common sense applies here, of course.
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sense → apply → course
Purchases over a few hundred dollars may warrant more than two days.
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Purchases → warrant → days
If you are still struggling with impulse buying, remove your saved cards from your devices and websites.
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you → struggle → devices
Research finds a cashless effect, where people tend to spend more when they do not hand over physical cash.
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they → find → cash
So, forcing yourself to enter the card details every time you make a purchase adds a little friction and may make the purchase feel a bit more real.
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purchase → force → friction
If you can’t afford it today, you probably shouldn’t be buying it.
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you → afford → it
Level up your social media privacy settings
On the social media side of things, you can reduce tracking and limit how precisely ads are targeted, although you cannot stop either entirely.
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you → level → tracking
The controls differ across platforms, but looking for “ad preferences” or “ad settings” and disabling as much as you can is a good first step.
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you → differ → much
iPhone users can turn off app-tracking permissions under Settings > Privacy & Security> Tracking.
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users → turn → Settings
If you’re still struggling with your shopping habits after completing all these steps, it might be worth deleting the apps for a while.
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it → struggle → while
Tech companies spend enormous amounts of time and money developing algorithms to keep us scrolling and make advertising more effective.
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advertising → spend → us
It’s about time we put up our defences to protect ourselves, and our wallets.
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we → ’ → ourselves
He previously taught personal finance at Melbourne University.
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He → teach → University
…and 2 more, not listed.
The Aporia
