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Shouldn't it be "advertisers are targeting rightwing Facebook users with..."? I was under the impression that it was the advertiser who chooses the target audience.
It's obviously complete BS.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Most of the smartest people of my generation have dedicated their lives to building super-computers to point at peoples' brains and make them want to buy things. I suppose it's marginally better than fractionally growing somebody else's pile of money.
If by "buying things" that includes buying into pervasive detachment from reality (ie, Q related posts) then maybe it's even worse.
Note - gun sales are very strong in the US. Antifa / BLM / Armed protestors.
I am a far leftist who runs a 500+ liked antifa page. I also only see the body armor ads.
Firearms, ammunition (if you can even find it), plate carriers, plates, optics, NVGs, holsters - all of it is selling for at least 200% what it was one year ago right now. Everyone running ad campaigns is seeing ROI > 3 and dramatically increasing spend.
Once bids rise to the point that ROI is normalized, we'll see less of this.
I am a far leftist who runs a 500+ liked antifa page. I also only see the body armor ads.
So basically Facebook is like, you and you, fight! Also buy our weapons.
(generally speaking, people rush to buy guns whenever the specter of gun control comes up, because they think that'll be the last chance they get.)
Yep, here's one for an AR-15 chamber lock that I got a couple weeks ago: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=364409318216958 I was shocked. What's suburban dad doing getting out of his SUV in a mall parking lot with an AR-15??? Full disclosure: I'm not on the right wing or even remotely close.
These companies sell to police, private security companies, military, and yes civilians. That segment of the ad looks like its targeted to more of a private security/police application.
Why does facebook do this rather than let third party advertisers advertise? I thought they got most of their money from third party advertisers, not selling their own products. Note - gun sales are very strong in the US. Antifa / BLM / Armed protestors.
I think that's exactly what FB is doing, to be honest. They are simply letting third party advertisers advertise.
Historically, dem president in power has always been an indicator of increased spending on guns (because hardcore gun people become afraid that the dems will make guns more difficult to purchase, so they stock up). And increase in gun sales means increased budget (including ad budget) for gun-related businesses. Higher ad budget for gun-related businesses means more ads for gun-related businesses popping up on everyone's feed, as they keep outbidding other ads.
Combine that with the fact that a lot more people in your social network graph became more interested in guns for various reasons over the past year (protests on both sides, covid, dem president, etc.), and you have just massively increased the probability of seeing an ad for a gun-related business.
I'm not completely sure this is just political people. Up until recently I only got ads for kickstarter doodads and airtable, but then it suddenly switched to gun stuff. I don't browse any firearm or political communities, haven't bought stuff, don't watch firearm youtube videos, haven't even been window shopping. There were 5 million new gun owners last year. I think the ad networks just view it as a highly probable…
When I was working in the machine shop business around 2016 another shop owner called our shop asking if we had any work to sub out. I was surprised because his shop was running at max capacity the year before, making gun parts. Apparently when a republican becomes president the gun parts market dries up; when a democrat wins, the market booms. I think the arms retailers are having a boom right now and have plenty of…