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Facebook targeted ad crosses the creepy line

Written on
Aug 7, 2009 
Author
Edward Barrera  |
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Facebook targeted ad crosses the creepy line

target1.jpgADOTAS — A friend of mine was freaked out recently when she saw an ad on her homepage that appeared to know more about her than she wanted.

She opened the Facebook page and this popped up:

fb-ad4.jpg
The above is a screen capture of the image. The name of the so-called social media expert and picture were (ahem) obviously changed.

My friend is a former reporter, and the veiled hint that there was more information gathered about her made her joke (uneasily) that the ad should’ve included, “and we know what block you live on, so click here or else.”

I asked Mark Ghuneim, who takes online and offline privacy protection very seriously, what he thought. Ghumeim, CEO and founder of digital agency Wiredset, said that the advertisement most likely fell within the acceptable standards and practices of behavior targeting currently being recommended, but it didn’t make it any less creepy. There is a thin line between targeted ads making an user’s experience more relevant and the psychological terrorism that comes when an ad is so targeted it makes you feel like big brother is at work, he said.

“Consumers should own their own metadata and be able to edit it,” he added later. “I should be able to decide what is public and what is private and what is said about me by my behavior.”

Facebook is certainly not the worst offender. Despite the naysayers out there, I think it does a good job of protecting information and giving users control over their personal information. But it’s this type of thing that makes consumers take a step back when it comes to targeting. Beside that, this self-proclaimed social media expert might want to brush up on…you know…social media etiquette.





Reader Comments.

What’s the big deal?

One should assume that any info uploaded to even a semi-private site like Facebook will be viewed by other people.

Posted by Brian | 12:42 pm on August 6, 2009.

Oh, come on. SRSLY? Facebook uses keywords to target ads. If your friend put her occupation in her profile, which is public “metadata”. She may have decided to put that information out there for public consumption, which makes it available for use in targeting.

That’s the kind of information which really needs to be included before terms like “Big Brother” are included in the articles.

Posted by Jillian | 12:49 pm on August 6, 2009.

I agree it’s creepy, but I’m up for voting on what’s creepier:

Hypertargeting used poorly vs. clowns.

I posted alternatives here to help voting:

http://measuringtalent.wordpress.com/2009/08/06/why-is-this-facebook-ad-creepy/

Posted by Jeremy | 12:50 pm on August 6, 2009.

Brian and Jillian,
Agreed. But there is a difference between people who understand how targeting works, and those that don’t. She didn’t as I believe most don’t. She has now taken that information off.

But as Facebook connect becomes universal, what information will be passed along? This is a pretty tame example obviously, but we ignore that type of reaction at our peril.

Posted by Edward Barrera | 1:30 pm on August 6, 2009.

The clown is creepier.

Boggles my mind how many people don’t understand the reality of the Web. People who:
– send naked pics of themselves to others, then wonder why it’s posted on the web.
– blog/tweet bad things about their employer then wonder why they’re in trouble
– use free public online services, then complain about advertising

The majority of these people are likely only to learn the hard way. But this education process has to happen.

Posted by Jordan | 2:00 pm on August 6, 2009.

Jordan,
Geez, a lot of clown-haters out here.
Anyway, there is a difference between going to a site, say the New York Times, and seeing advertising and going to Facebook, with its walled-in protections.
Set the privacy to only friends, believe the info has the same guidelines, and it’s not surprising that people are taken aback when some third-party says they know what you do. Even though Facebook is the only one that actually has the data. As a number of social media executives told me, if the ad made her feel creepy, the ad crossed the line.

Posted by Edward Barrera | 3:34 pm on August 6, 2009.

There’s no such thing as privacy on the internet. By design it is a public, open system. Don’t be fooled by “friends only” settings or other such rubbish. They’re only for naive users. If you blog, publish, email, or websurf, you’re doing it in public, being tracked by governments, ISP’s, marketing companies, and criminals. “Restrictions” on data exchange are, at best, partial.

Posted by Brandt Dainow | 4:11 am on August 7, 2009.

the clown is by far the creepiest part of the ad. it doesn’t surprise me that my ads on myspace are pertaining to NASCAR racing, particularly Dale Jr, I am a huge fan and it says so on my site. Just cuz my keywords get sent on to the advertisers doesn’t mean they can log in and view my photos!! duh!

Posted by Sandi V | 8:05 am on August 7, 2009.

The whole clown thing is becoming an interesting online advertising rorschach test. Who knew? I was thinking bozo the clown, not serial killer John Wayne Gacy.

Posted by Edward Barrera | 9:10 am on August 7, 2009.

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