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Ask HN: How does Facebook know what I buy on Amazon or vice versa?
61–70 of 131 posts
Re: Ask HN: How does Facebook know what I buy on Amazon or vice versa?
#62DMPs. Amazon buys (and sells) data to/from DMPs. That data can (and often does) include a hash of your credit cards, all the e-mail addresses you go by, etc. Amazon can basically buy programmable ad inventory that says "I want to show this ad for chainsaws to kmonad" and the DMP resolves who 'kmonad' is through a variety of methods. Realistically, the opsec you would need to have to avoid this would be astronomically…
This is most likely. To take it one level further, since you bought something, it can be DLX data (or Oracle now) or some other purchase-based data (from Visa or Nielsen Catalina). Facebook can ingest these as custom segments to target. For instance, I can buy a data segment of past purchasers of Giant bicycles for $1 CPM that will be layered on whatever partner is integrated. With every "match" there will be drop of…
Right; I think it would really creep people out to know what data is available to target for advertising purposes and how deeply it goes.
Basically, there are a bunch of methods for tying your session back to your identity, and most DMPs will run through a good dozen or two. Most will fall back on geolocation patterns (which are surprisingly accurate themselves) but it's actually very hard to totally anonymize your internet activity. We are creatures of habit, but our patterns betray us. :)
Re: Ask HN: How does Facebook know what I buy on Amazon or vice versa?
#63Straightforward: 1) Amazon tracked your research and likes to use " ad retargeting" if they see you leave before checking out to remind you to come back and purchase. 3) FB offers advertisers a variety of retargeting means + insanely advanced cross-device tracking. Like a building full of PhD's advanced. Maintaining privacy by logging in from different devices / accounts / etc is a thing of the past if you EVER cross…
But... what about step 2? > Like a building full of PhD's advanced. On a more serious note, it's unfortunate that so many smart people use their intelligence to enable this kind of gross technology. It's all about "solving puzzles" rather than making the world a better place. There's gotta be more productive ways to advance your career.
> It's all about "solving puzzles" rather than making the world a better place.
I'd figure it's more about getting paid. Making the world better usually doesn't make anyone money, or at least, costs too much before it starts making anyone money.
Making the world truly better requires us to give up a lot of what gets ingrained into us since childhood. We've made money an ends instead of a means. I'm not making a political statement – this is true of every human society, culture and country today. We should collectively rethink what it means to be a successful human and have a fulfilling life (without abandoning technology and progress.)
What's the end goal of civilization? Are we to just multiply and expand, ad infinitum?
Re: Ask HN: How does Facebook know what I buy on Amazon or vice versa?
#64Re: Ask HN: How does Facebook know what I buy on Amazon or vice versa?
#65It's just Amazon cookies. In short, you didn't see the ad because of what Facebook know about you (though they'll know a great deal more than Amazon), just that the two cut a deal to allow Amazon to read Amazon cookies from Amazon ads on Facebook.
Re: Ask HN: How does Facebook know what I buy on Amazon or vice versa?
#66Straightforward: 1) Amazon tracked your research and likes to use " ad retargeting" if they see you leave before checking out to remind you to come back and purchase. 3) FB offers advertisers a variety of retargeting means + insanely advanced cross-device tracking. Like a building full of PhD's advanced. Maintaining privacy by logging in from different devices / accounts / etc is a thing of the past if you EVER cross…
I love picturing a room full of PhDs developing a crazy complicated algorithmic wonderland. Their celebrations at the complexity and genius of their work probably cut short, when users are targeted with ads telling them to buy something that they just bought. When human male user "Joe" purchases a women's bath robe 1 week before Mother's day, does he really need ads for women's bath robes for the next month? Of cours…
This has always bothered me too - guess they focused more on tracking users and building a strong graph rather than actually making good recommendations.
Perhaps the coming A.I.pocalypse™ will give us better predictive suggestion algorithms before turning on us... Or the sentient networks just start recommending really dangerous products to wipe ourselves out with! ;(
Chatting with friends, I've discovered FB are also really, really good at showing me adverts for what other people are buying my chums for Xmas, which is of limited use frankly.
Re: Ask HN: How does Facebook know what I buy on Amazon or vice versa?
#67I am working at FB but not in ads or related team. But I had talked to a person who is directly working on it. Amazon is different to other AD buyers. Amazon does not want FB to know what customers are doing on its own site, so there is no FB tracker on Amazon at all. However, Amazon can choose what ad to deliver to you on FB backed up by its own team.
OP says they have different email addresses for Amazon and FB. How would Amazon know which user to target ads on FB in this case?
Amazon customers connect their Facebook friends to find people with wishlists. Someone who has the contact could have information that could link the two accounts, for instance if the OP has someone in their friends' wishlists and they have someone with OP's name in theirs. Or could be connected to a subsidiary like IMDb.
Re: Ask HN: How does Facebook know what I buy on Amazon or vice versa?
#68Straightforward: 1) Amazon tracked your research and likes to use " ad retargeting" if they see you leave before checking out to remind you to come back and purchase. 3) FB offers advertisers a variety of retargeting means + insanely advanced cross-device tracking. Like a building full of PhD's advanced. Maintaining privacy by logging in from different devices / accounts / etc is a thing of the past if you EVER cross…
But sort of silly to be advertising you for something you've already bought? They think maybe you liked the bike so much you'll buy another, but only if you see an ad?
tracking you as you browse around is relatively easy, which is what I believe these particular scripts are doing.
To actually track checkouts/purchases correctly so that you don't advertise to those people requires a completely different setup.
Re: Ask HN: How does Facebook know what I buy on Amazon or vice versa?
#69Straightforward: 1) Amazon tracked your research and likes to use " ad retargeting" if they see you leave before checking out to remind you to come back and purchase. 3) FB offers advertisers a variety of retargeting means + insanely advanced cross-device tracking. Like a building full of PhD's advanced. Maintaining privacy by logging in from different devices / accounts / etc is a thing of the past if you EVER cross…
But... what about step 2? > Like a building full of PhD's advanced. On a more serious note, it's unfortunate that so many smart people use their intelligence to enable this kind of gross technology. It's all about "solving puzzles" rather than making the world a better place. There's gotta be more productive ways to advance your career.
The banality of evil. So many engineers just want to make the trains run on time with a better algorithm. Never mind that they cary oil or weapons or the victims of our next genocide. Engrossing technical problems are convenient blinders for inconvenient truths.
Re: Ask HN: How does Facebook know what I buy on Amazon or vice versa?
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
But... what about step 2? > Like a building full of PhD's advanced. On a more serious note, it's unfortunate that so many smart people use their intelligence to enable this kind of gross technology. It's all about "solving puzzles" rather than making the world a better place. There's gotta be more productive ways to advance your career.
The banality of evil. So many engineers just want to make the trains run on time with a better algorithm. Never mind that they cary oil or weapons or the victims of our next genocide. Engrossing technical problems are convenient blinders for inconvenient truths.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions.