Data points that Facebook uses to target ads • Hacker News Board

Re: Data points that Facebook uses to target ads

#61

Post by erikb » Sat, Aug 20, 2016, 7:36 AM UTC

"perfectly targeted ads"? Never had that experience.

Even if I summarize all the analytics solutions out there, like ads, Facebook stream, Youtube, Amazon, Netflix. What they usually do is they figure out what I did in recent history or in general and present me more of that. I don't know about other people, but that's absolutely not what I want. That's boring, or maybe even unnecessary.

Like, if I just bought a book about Linux system administration the only reason I would buy a second one would be because the first one sucked (and Amazon knows the ratings of the books). A reasonable suggestion after that would be something people do with Linux, like hosting a Wordpress blog. Honestly I might not even know what I would do with my newly acquired skill once I succeeded with that topic. Also it's quite tiresome to learn. Maybe after reading 30% of it I would like to insert a simple but interesting novel or comic book. Why not suggest something like that to me?

Or I just watched an action movie on Netflix. Then I don't need other action movie suggestions. After that maybe I want to watch a character focussed tv show.

What we need is not a "I know what you did and here is more of that" suggestion engine. What we need is a "oh that's getting boring, here is other awesome stuff that may surprise you" suggestion engine. Figure out the stuff I don't know I want and then suggest that.

And honestly, not a single of these billion-dollar-engines out there do that for me at the moment.

Re: Data points that Facebook uses to target ads

#62

Post by sfifs » Sat, Aug 20, 2016, 7:40 AM UTC

newsat13 wrote: post #2

Does anyone know of any startups or upcoming projects that are trying to compete with Facebook (i.e building a social network?). I still haven't managed to wrap my head around how exactly facebook makes money. Do so many people actually click on ads? And this somehow makes billions? I find it very hard to imagine (for myself).

The objective of much of the advertizing money in the world is to get impressions and not clicks. Clicks are chased by companies who are primarily selling products and services on the web - and that is really a small part of the economy.

Think of companies like beverage giants, car manufacturers, large consumer products giants, financial institutions etc or almost anyone who advertizes on superbowl on TV. Their primary objective is to build awareness & a certain brand perception among a large segment of consumers so that when you buy their category, you will choose their brand. Coca Cola doesn't necessarily want you to buy it that instant online you see the ad (though if you do, it's a nice bonus). Rather the objective is to build an equity that will make you think of yourself as a "Coke person" instead of say "Pepsi person".

Remember that bulk of the advertizing money in the world comes from such players. They pay facebook a premium for being able to deterministically show your advertizing to a given target audience.

Re: Data points that Facebook uses to target ads

#63

Post by wlievens » Sat, Aug 20, 2016, 7:42 AM UTC

erikb wrote: post #61

"perfectly targeted ads"? Never had that experience. Even if I summarize all the analytics solutions out there, like ads, Facebook stream, Youtube, Amazon, Netflix. What they usually do is they figure out what I did in recent history or in general and present me more of that. I don't know about other people, but that's absolutely not what I want. That's boring, or maybe even unnecessary. Like, if I just bought a book…

So true, and it's often even worse in that you get peppered with ads of stuff you already bought.

Re: Data points that Facebook uses to target ads

#64

Post by nl » Sat, Aug 20, 2016, 7:43 AM UTC

13of40 wrote: post #48

chirau wrote: post #7

Contrary to popular opinion, people want to see ads. A good ad is very much appreciated. This is why magazines still make money. This is why the SuperBowl is popular amongst non-football fans. Unfortunately, most ads are spammy which is why internet ads have earned this terrible reputation.

I kind of agree with you. What I would love is a system where I could preemptively put in all of my preferences and have some AI go and hunt for things to advertise to me. Like, if I'm in the market for a watch or a car, it knows that, and suggests deals to me. Right now, even during the 99.9% of times I'm absolutely not looking for a car, I have to see the ads, and the ad people lose money on each view. And once I'v…

There's a thing called perfect adverting. Exactly the right product presented to you at exactly the right time.

Re: Data points that Facebook uses to target ads

#65

Post by nl » Sat, Aug 20, 2016, 7:46 AM UTC

igk wrote: post #24

shubhamjain wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even if you don't click on ads, it's not possible for you to cut them out of your sight. People see ads. They learn about the brand. If they are interested, they click on it to see more about it and if not, the brand getting registered in someone's mind is in itself a valuable asset. I believe that's the genius of Facebook, they have made the ad experience so seamless and intuitive. Note that, people generally don't…

Not possible to cut them out of your sight... unless you use adblock

Which is why lots of people are very bullish on FB. No adblockers on the FB app, and so the more AdBlockers take off the more it helps FB.

Re: Data points that Facebook uses to target ads

#66

Post by ThrustVectoring » Sat, Aug 20, 2016, 7:48 AM UTC

nsxwolf wrote: post #54

I like when they show me ads for the expensive thing I already bought, as if I'm going to buy it again. Had they predicted I wanted to buy that thing, and shown me ads for things like it first, that might have been useful.

"People who have done things that suggest they're interested in buying this" is a highly valuable segment. Even if half of those people have bought the thing, it's worth advertising to them if it means you get the other half's eyeballs. They don't know that you bought it - they just know that you do things like those who want to buy.

Like, I went to a coding bootcamp. Making that decision means browsing the web like someone who is interested in that bootcamp. I ended up seeing a ton of advertisements for the bootcamp I was currently enrolled in. If you do things that are similar to what a company's target market is, people will notice that and turn that into cash.

Re: Data points that Facebook uses to target ads

#67

Post by johannkaupen » Sat, Aug 20, 2016, 7:51 AM UTC

erikb wrote: post #61

"perfectly targeted ads"? Never had that experience. Even if I summarize all the analytics solutions out there, like ads, Facebook stream, Youtube, Amazon, Netflix. What they usually do is they figure out what I did in recent history or in general and present me more of that. I don't know about other people, but that's absolutely not what I want. That's boring, or maybe even unnecessary. Like, if I just bought a book…

Experiencing this with Instagram now. I used Instagram to follow lots of different accounts but basically didn't like anything apart of places I want to go to based on pictures posted by NatGeo and the likes to have a list of that at one point. Now Instagram only shows me this stuff and I'd have to scroll very far to find posts by friends. Now I'm not using Instagram anymore.

Re: Data points that Facebook uses to target ads

#68

Post by dmoy » Sat, Aug 20, 2016, 7:59 AM UTC

erikb wrote: post #61

"perfectly targeted ads"? Never had that experience. Even if I summarize all the analytics solutions out there, like ads, Facebook stream, Youtube, Amazon, Netflix. What they usually do is they figure out what I did in recent history or in general and present me more of that. I don't know about other people, but that's absolutely not what I want. That's boring, or maybe even unnecessary. Like, if I just bought a book…

It's remarketing, and it's on the newer end of ad tech. Presumably it will get better...

Re: Data points that Facebook uses to target ads

#69

Post by seszett » Sat, Aug 20, 2016, 7:59 AM UTC

wlievens wrote: post #63

erikb wrote: post #61

"perfectly targeted ads"? Never had that experience. Even if I summarize all the analytics solutions out there, like ads, Facebook stream, Youtube, Amazon, Netflix. What they usually do is they figure out what I did in recent history or in general and present me more of that. I don't know about other people, but that's absolutely not what I want. That's boring, or maybe even unnecessary. Like, if I just bought a book…

So true, and it's often even worse in that you get peppered with ads of stuff you already bought.

The worst for me is getting back from holidays and having to suffer several additional months of ads for hotels in Japan everywhere on the web, reminding you that you're not there anymore.

That's actually what made me install adblock on my new system even though I was resolved to try to withstand ads this time.

Re: Data points that Facebook uses to target ads

#70

Post by pritambarhate » Sat, Aug 20, 2016, 8:01 AM UTC

erikb wrote: post #61

"perfectly targeted ads"? Never had that experience. Even if I summarize all the analytics solutions out there, like ads, Facebook stream, Youtube, Amazon, Netflix. What they usually do is they figure out what I did in recent history or in general and present me more of that. I don't know about other people, but that's absolutely not what I want. That's boring, or maybe even unnecessary. Like, if I just bought a book…

Totally agree with this. Even after collecting so much data, Google and Facebook fail at showing me ads which are useful for me.

However, even with their inferior targeting FB and Google are making billions. So it might be the case that there is no further incentive to improve in this area and they are focusing on making their core product better to get even more users.