Selling Access to You: Facebook Experiments with Personal Data
By Karla Robinson
October 4, 2012
October 4, 2012
- Facebook is getting pressure from privacy advocates to lock down user information while also receiving a push from investors to ramp up digital advertising. In a move that reportedly complies with privacy laws, Facebook has released new ad offerings that allow marketers to more effectively target users.
- One method uses email addresses and phone numbers listed on profiles. Another option, called retargeting, pulls information from Internet surfing outside of the social network to be “retargeted” as ads.
- Facebook has also teamed up with data-mining company Datalogix to study the correlation between Facebook ads and users’ shopping habits at brick-and-mortar stores. According to Facebook, the research shows every dollar spent on its advertising equates to $3 in incremental sales.
- Using its massive user data, Facebook has also expanded its ads to other websites and apps. “Analysts think the experiments point to Facebook eventually establishing its own advertising network, making Facebook ads omnipresent across the Web and smartphones,” reports the Wall Street Journal.
- Even though some of Facebook’s new methods aren’t new to the world of online advertising, privacy concerns have been raised. “Facebook maintains it doesn’t sell data about individual users to advertisers, or even let them directly see the data,” notes the article. “But privacy advocates say Facebook deserves special scrutiny because it has in many cases more personal information about people’s real identities than other Internet companies, raising the potential for abuse.”
- Better-targeted ads have better click-through rates, and retargeting has shown increased ROI.
- Previously, Facebook “has not been the best place for us to advertise,” says Shoebuy CMO James Keller. “Now we are taking whatever inventory we can in the Facebook Exchange because it is working.”
No Comments Yet
You can be the first to comment!
Leave a comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.