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How Facebook Sold You Krill Oil
An anonymous reader writes with this look at how Facebook tries to make and sell "thumbstopper" ads compelling enough to get people to stop scrolling through their news feeds. With its trove of knowledge about the likes, histories and social connections of its 1.3 billion users worldwide, Facebook executives argue, it can help advertisers reach exactly the right audience and measure the impact of their ads — while also, like TV, conveying a broad brand message. Facebook, which made $1.5 billion in profit on $7.9 billion in revenue last year, sees particular value in promoting its TV-like qualities, given that advertisers spend $200 billion a year on that medium. "We want to hold ourselves accountable for delivering results," said Carolyn Everson, Facebook's vice president for global marketing solutions, in a recent interview. "Not smoke and mirrors, maybe it works, maybe it doesn't."
I have a problem with my fish oil sales, it tastes like shit, it does not outperform a placebo and costs twice as much as other competitors that also do nothing. Can you help?
Of course Facebook can help, that is exactly what social media is for.
Advertisers want a piece of the place where, FTA, one in 5-6 online minutes is spent.
I have left instructions for my family per what to do in the event of medical brain death, or evidence of a Facebook account... but I repeat myself.
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Ernest Hemingway
When Facebook says they have 1.3 billion users worldwide, do they count inactive accounts such as mine, which I had to create to make sure nobody else could create a fake account about me and fill it with slander?
Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
For the first time in my life I feel good about being a misfit.
I do not have a facebook account nor a LinkedIN account for that matter - don't get me started on them!
Anyway, reading that article it reminded me of something Henry Ford said (Bio on Netflix) with regards to GM/Sloan's success:
To paraphrase:
People were shrewd consumers looking for value. Now, they want to be sold to.
When an advertising company like facebook or Google can make billions and fantastic margins, while companies who make things or provide services that actually add value to people's lives just survive, I just wonder where people's heads are. Everyone works so hard, but throws money on shit. And opportunities are drying up for work because of off-shoring, automation, and our demographic changes in our society.
It's like the future of this country is going to be Medical (especially elder) or sales. That seems to be the only opportunities left.
If you want to get rich quick - like Mark Zuckerberg - figure out how to see to people. Selling anything.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm taking my library card and getting out of here. If I believed in God, I'd become Amish for Christ's sake! It's the only way to get off of this merry go round!
AdBlock Plus.
All the world's an analog stage, and digital circuits play only bit parts.
Dress sweat pants are a thing, which I know only because of Facebook.
Hail Eris, full of mischief...
E pluribus sanguinem
Millions of people voluntarily give all kinds of relevant information about themselves to Facebook. Even without any serious data mining, and ignoring the people who deliberately create garbage data accounts, Facebook probably already have more accurate demographic data about their users than most advertising channels. For example, knowing about major life events like someone getting married or having a baby are advertising gold for some markets.
At the scale they're working on, even trivial analysis of the underlying graph is probably quite informative as well. If 60% of your friends are interested in a certain thing, there's a fair chance you are too, even if you didn't explicitly indicate this.
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
Facebook and other online "commercials," are going to have to borrow from the more mature TV advertising business model and fold ads in with content. Product placement will increase, as well.
The other day, on Jeopardy, the category was, Ford Models. The answers were, like, Explorer, Fusion, etc. Blatant advertisement.
On Shark Tank, the sharks did a schtick where Barbara says, "Oh, let me take a picture of that using my smart phone on T-Mobile!"
Regular program-interrupting ads are doing the job.
Online sites have much more malleable tools to work with. There will be more targeted ads, ads embedded in the content, and content will be blocked for those using ad blockers.
Email spam is so yesterday.
Content-embedded ads is the way to go.
It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
If you are using a credit card in a store like Target, they not only know your likes and dislikes, they know exactly what you buy. Sometimes they know more about you than your family.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ka...
No one has commented so far about the creepiest aspect: according to the NYT article, Facebook knew how many of the people they showed the ads actually bought the product.
You see, stores sell your personally identifiable information regarding everything you buy to data brokers, and Facebook bought the data from the data brokers. Ergo, FB knew what percentage of people they showed these ads subsequently bought the product.
It's enough to make me seriously reconsider using anything but cash for certain purchases. How many insurance companies buy data regarding your alcohol and tobacco purchase frequency, for example?
Here's the problem: Facebook will never not show you an ad. At the end of the day, if you don't fit a better model, they revert to lowest common denominator advertising. "Over drinking age? Male? Cue up the alcohol ad with women in it!"
And that's the thing, Facebook's advertising as a result is like all the other advertising in the world: you know where it is, you know it mostly never applies to you, so you tune it out. If they make it more prominent, you turn on ad block. Which says worlds about their actual confidence in their data: they don't have any. They don't know what you will do next. Which is why they always show you something - because they can't afford not to. They won't leave ads turned off, then strategically show them right when you show a high probability of being interested in X and could be swayed to a brand. They have no idea when that is, or what it will be.
Isn't linking to a paragraph on a paywall just a horrible shitty advertisement as well?
Why is it so hard to only have politicians for a few years, then have them go away?
I find that Facebook, Google, and every other "targeted" ad system does the same thing: they show me ads for the thing that I just bought and won't need to buy again for several years.
- For the complete works of Shakespeare: cat
Interestingly, I've noticed that leaving abandoned shopping carts triggers ads with the same products, but discounted. I've used this more than once to get a 10-20% discount