Although Facebook initially caters to one’s demographic, interests, and buying patterns, its similar/suggested advertised items have potential to become a misinterpretation, causing a flaw in the generated system.
Age & Social Positioning
When one creates a Facebook page, it’s the norm to fill out an “about” section. This includes work, schooling, places you lived, contact info, your birthday, etc.
In my Facebook “about” section, the schooling section says that I’m currently attending Bloomsburg University. Seems pretty harmless, right? I always thought that the schooling section was meant to help connect you to other people in your university. But, there’s more to that.
This section on my profile tells Facebook my where I live and where I attend school.
When the beginning of a new semester comes around, I notice that my ads start to change. More college ads tend to come up- including ads to transfer to other colleges. How did they know that I’m already enrolled in college?
Because I indirectly told them.
Elmira College advertising a transfer program.
Facebook knows that they can’t just send out college ads to everyone. For example, older people aren’t necessarily going to click on this ad about Elmira College. Facebook sends out ads to niche markets; the people who are more inclined to click on the ad and be more interested in them.
Interests and Catered Ads
Catered ads allows Facebook to push certain company ads and posts into your ‘News Feed’ based on your interests and page ‘likes’.
For example, I ‘liked’ the Bloomsburg University Facebook page. The page keeps me updated on campus events and opportunities in the field.
But, since I “liked” them, Facebook pushes Bloomsburg posts and ads closer to the top of my News Feed, especially because they know I go there.
For example, I saw an ad about the student government and athletics department launching a relief effort for Hurricane Harvey. From here, they provided an article, which urges people to donate to their efforts.
Bloomsburg University advertises the students’ #Huskies4Houston program, providing relief for the victims of Hurricane Harvey.
Although the university gets no money from the donations, it still puts Bloomsburg in good light and provides the local community with a sense of pride.
Buying Patterns & Suggested Items
Now, here’s where there can be flaws in your “catered” advertisements.
It was Halloween time, and I wanted to dress up as one of my favorite video game characters: (a female version of) Corvo Attano from Dishonored. So, I went onto Amazon and bought a corset. Once again, harmless, right? No.
After I bought it, I started seeing some very suggestive ads on my Facebook. I kept thinking to myself, “why would I see this? I never buy that stuff”! These included items like lingerie, handcuffs, and adult toys.
Well, apparently buying a corset automatically puts you into a mature audience for ad suggestions. It took me months of buying new things on Amazon to change my suggestions! I was nervous to go onto Facebook in public, just in case one of those ads popped up. For me, Facebook is a family website where I keep in contact with my relatives scattered across the United States. By default, I wanted to keep my Facebook PG.
After this, I realized that Facebook will take whatever you buy on other websites, and make similar ads for that item (even if you don’t like it!). If you buy one item, you’re “bound” to buy other items like it.
At first, these suggestions prove harmless, as they are just trying to match you up with items you’re already interested in, and provide ads that fit to your demographic. However, these similar suggestions may go astray, catering to a more broad interest. My catered interest of corsets was then matched up with a broader interest of adult bedroom accessories.
The Future of Facebook Ads
Angela Moscaritolo, a writer for PC Magazine, wrote an article about the future of Facebook Ads; they’re not going to end. In fact, they are going to expand to other Facebook platforms.
What does that mean?
In Australia and Thailand, Facebook has been testing the use of ads through Facebook Messenger, and they’re not going to stop there. Facebook is working on releasing this worldwide.
Angela links the readers to Facebook’s blog post, which explains that they offer global businesses a chance to “…use Facebook targeting to extend their reach to people in Messenger.”
An example of what ads will look like on Facebook Messenger
However, this isn’t as “evil” as people may think. This change in advertisement may prove beneficial not only to big corporations, but also to small businesses.
In December of 2015, a blogger and small businesswoman Amanda Rose wrote an article regarding her experiences in advertising with Facebook.
Although she initially hated the fact that a social media platform charged to share ads to a small business, she realized that Facebook allows her to reach out to potential customers whom have interests in her work.
She explains, ” I don’t have to have a huge advertising budget to advertise on Facebook. If I only have $10 to spare, than [sic] I can run an effective ad for just $10 and still get plenty of leads out of it!”
Adding advertisements to Messenger will most likely annoy the majority of Messenger users, but this adds another platform for small businesses like Amanda Rose’s to reach out to potential customers.
Final Thoughts
Although I personally had bad experiences with Facebook ads, I know that ads are a necessary evil on platforms like Facebook. It keeps facebook alive. After all, Facebook is a business. It needs to make money, too.
But you can’t discount Facebook’s efforts to catering ads towards your liking. Is it perfect? No! But, it allows smaller businesses a chance to reach out and grab at a potential market, a chance to personalize someone’s buying experience.
Wordpress by Kat Strysky 