Last week I went to a restaurant with some friends and while checking the menu we saw that there was a cocktail with Campari (alcoholic liqueur) - this triggered a 30 sec conversation about the drink. Following day I open my FB feed and something weird happened - there was a Campari ad just in front of me! In the last months of my online life I didn't search for Campari, cocktails, beverages or anything related so I think it would be great if there was a way of finding why that ad end up there!
Ask HN: Can we find out why a specific ad appears in our Facebook feed?
1–10 of 65 posts
Re: Ask HN: Can we find out why a specific ad appears in our Facebook feed?
#2I wonder the same too; I get a lot of weird stuff, that I talked about, but have NOT put down in text messages, emails, etc. I took some screenshots, to prove it and share with friends later. I end up doing some research and apparently is not related from voice/keywords. Officially addressed in the following link:
http://newsroom.fb.com/news/h/facebook-does-not-use-your-pho...
Other references: http://marketingland.com/no-what-facebook-hears-on-your-phon... http://www.computerworld.com/article/3079412/security/facebo...
Re: Ask HN: Can we find out why a specific ad appears in our Facebook feed?
#3Press "x" on the ad. There's an option to see how you're being targeted.
Re: Ask HN: Can we find out why a specific ad appears in our Facebook feed?
#4Perhaps you're not the only ones at this restaurant to notice and discuss this same cocktail, such that Facebook has learned of a "Campari thing" from others before you?
I assume FB would have learned several friends have joined together in the same location.
Re: Ask HN: Can we find out why a specific ad appears in our Facebook feed?
#5"Facebook does not use your phone's microphone for ads or News Feed stories."
http://newsroom.fb.com/news/h/facebook-does-not-use-your-pho...
The phenomenon you're observing is due to various interesting human psychological quirks, such as priming effects.
Re: Ask HN: Can we find out why a specific ad appears in our Facebook feed?
#6Here's a theory: after your conversation with your friends, one of your friends checked out the Campari product on the web, and from there FB deduced that you might also be interested.
Re: Ask HN: Can we find out why a specific ad appears in our Facebook feed?
#7Here's a theory: after your conversation with your friends, one of your friends checked out the Campari product on the web, and from there FB deduced that you might also be interested.
And here's another theory: you were already targeted by the Campari ad before, but you were not consciously aware of it. This triggered the conversation with your friends.
Re: Ask HN: Can we find out why a specific ad appears in our Facebook feed?
#8voice is not realistic in any scenario. Amazon echo or google doesn't understand everything, wide range microphone recording can't go unnoticed, the apps don't have access to it.
You are just one of Billion Facebook users, those numbers are high enough to have coincidences.
Re: Ask HN: Can we find out why a specific ad appears in our Facebook feed?
#9Here's a theory: after your conversation with your friends, one of your friends checked out the Campari product on the web, and from there FB deduced that you might also be interested.
or facebook knew you were at a restaurant that served it
searches for "Campari" are 1000x normal in this geographic area
Re: Ask HN: Can we find out why a specific ad appears in our Facebook feed?
#10Here's a theory: after your conversation with your friends, one of your friends checked out the Campari product on the web, and from there FB deduced that you might also be interested.
or facebook knew you were at a restaurant that served it searches for "Campari" are 1000x normal in this geographic area
> Following day I open my FB feed and something weird happened - there was a Campari ad...