Are you feeling happy, sad or spontaneous? eBay might have the perfect product for you. With access to data that allows the company to infer shoppers' emotions based on their online activity, eBay can peer into people's minds and suggest products based on how they're feeling.

In an attempt to keep snail mail useful, Royal Mail is experimenting with targeted ads. These promotions will be delivered through your letterbox, but based on online activity. But considering junk mail is the seventh most annoying part of modern life, won’t this be met with similar disdain?

With 79% of Brits rarely or never clicking online ads, brands are wasting huge sums of money on ineffective advertising. So how can companies entice consumers to voluntarily eyeball their content? Canvas8 sat down with 15 British men and women to find out what they think about online ads.

Native advertising has exploded over the internet in recent years. But for many consumers, figuring out what’s been paid for and what’s strictly editorial can be confusing. Nathaniel Evans, who studies the phenomenon, explains to Canvas8 why people often don’t recognise sponsored content.