DISQUS

Robert Seidman · 8 months ago

I've always wondered if there was more money for Facebook in selling its users data to advertisers than in advertising itself.

Jim Connolly · 8 months ago

Louis - Nice post sir!

Bryce R · 8 months ago

But can you imagine the outrage that would occur if they did!

micah · 8 months ago

Its one of the things we are trying to do at Lijit, except all of the "hints" we receive are on the publisher side (for example historical searches help us understand if the query is for "seal" is for the Musician or the sea mammal). But understanding what ads individuals should receive gets a bit dicey ever since DoubleClick got in trouble for cookie-ing users back in the early '00s. Within Facebook it makes sense. Each user of FB, at some point, approves those types of targeted ads.

And how much data is too much? What if the site could determine that you just got divorced? Or, god forbid, lost a child? Declared bankruptcy?

I dont think that the right definition of appropriate data collection and usage has been determined as of yet. We are a different sort, Louis, we live out in the open in so many ways. Most people dont, and find the exactness of FB ads to be creepy.

Maria Reyes-McDavis · 8 months ago

Seems so strange that companies like Facebook can't seem to grasp the obvious, the data is right there for them to use. Good, common sense insight, as usual :-)

Dr_Azrael_Tod · 8 months ago

Why should Facebook give the Data to the Ad-Creators at all? It should be no problem to sell "specialised" Ads on big Networks like Facebook. So any advertiser could by "100k Klicks from profiles of maried people" and Facebook would just place the Ads there...
This way there would allways be direct Controll by Facebook what is sold (no "klicks on profiles of people divorced in last 2 weeks") and no ad-company could track the data directly.

of course this will never work in small Websites, but we are not talking of those.

Nicholas James · 8 months ago

Bryce, I don't see why there would be an outrage? Google are already integrating DoubleClick and are analysing your data when visiting sites which are using Adsense if they are Tech based etc to make the ads more relevant. The same should apply to Social Networks.

Zack Brandit · 8 months ago

Maybe they should use F-Connect to give the websurfer a more personalized surfing experience.
I think FB can provide a lot of value if the ads you see on your favorite blogs and websites are connected to the content AND your personal data.

While you don't have any ads on your blog Louis, you still have a F-Connect button and many other might add it if they find value in it. Could it be that FB should look out of its actual boundaries?

Adam Singer · 8 months ago

Yes, and yes. I believe we've had this discussion before - how can sites with so much meta data be failing so badly to serve me ads that I like? I buy a lot online personally. These people are leaving money on the table for sure.

John E. Bredehoft (Empoprises) · 8 months ago

Louis, while you have an excellent point, and while I agree along with you and Steven Hodson that our current so-called contextual advertising is anything but, there is the counter-argument of misuse of your data. I know that all of us signed all sorts of legalese (or implicitly did so) when we visited all of these websites, but have we truly thought through the implications of this data being passed around from one place to another?

For example, let's say you interact with a certain group of people on one social network (say Facebook), and engage in a conversation there that you wouldn't necessarily engage in on another social network (say Twitter). Now let's say that Twitter buys your data from Facebook, and Twitter starts presenting ads based upon your Facebook activity. While on the one hand this is wonderful, because the ads are presumably more targeted to your personality, on the other hand it's a bit troubling - especially if you use the two social networks for different purposes. While the ramifications may be innocuous (for example, Louis visiting a business website and being presented with diaper ads), there could be scenarios that could be more troubling.

Doug Schumacher · 8 months ago

I think the controversial aspect of this sounds worse than it is. Per the Google reference above, they're going even further than partnering with ad serving technologies. They're already serving ads based on the content of your email. The Facebook idea could only pull info from something we have posted publicly.

While I certainly understand concerns about privacy, if I've stated publicly that I'm in a relationship, I'd rather not see the singles ads. The creative is always bad on those, anyway :|

Allison Davis · 8 months ago

I agree, almost all the sites I visit through the day are travel and local sites, however very few sites utilize behavior or social targeting to show ads that would be relevant to me.

ZuDfunck · 8 months ago

It's the simple ideas that make the most impact
No doubt it wouldn't be simple to implement
But it would make a lot of sense
You have already divulged a lot of info
Let the mongrel dog capitalists
Use it to sell you toothpaste
Motor oil & Lawn furniture!

ZuD

VlogHog · 8 months ago

This sounds like a scenario this will happen sooner or later as more and more companies like Google and Yahoo gather our information for their purposes.

Pamela Gleeson · 8 months ago

I agree, I'm tired of seeing ads I have no interest in.

partywedo · 8 months ago

I am still trying to figure out why advertising still seems to be the business model of choice in most of the social networks. Facebook and others mentioned should be selling stuff themselves. How about letting Facebook sell GM cars at a mark-up? The auto manufactures build cars to a specific buyer profile. Let Facebook know the profile and they could sponsor the pages based upon targeted profile information.

Mark Essel · 2 weeks ago

I hear your consumer need. I'm jonesing for it as well. We'll see just how feasible it is very shortly. There's plenty of folks that want to make advertisements more relevant.

The conflict is in paying for attention, it's related to our bias.

If we find a great product or service because our friends recommend it, they should get the affiliate $$.