Along the righthand side of one's Facebook newsfeed, one finds "Sponsored" links. Willingly exposing ourselves to these targeted ads is the price we pay for the privilege of reading our friends' status updates and looking at funny cat pictures. Fair enough. The promise of reaching consumers with specific advertisements tailored to each person's individual interests and buying history was what made the Facebook IPO so irresistible, at least until it wasn't anymore. Based on what Facebook's algorithm deems appropriate for my perusal, though, I think I have some insight into why advertisers may have some reservations about the value of Facebook.
Today, for example, the sponsored links on my page include some that make a reasonable amount of sense: People are trying to sell me season 4 of "Damages" and Michael Crichton audiobooks. As I mentioned last week, I am a fan of "Damages," and we can hardly condemn the advertisers for not taking the time to actually read the post wherein I mention having just bought season 4. Maybe they figure I liked it so much I want a second set. And I also like Michael Crichton, even if I have never bought an audiobook in my life.
Other sponsored links are more perplexing. I'm not sure why I got an ad for "Trunk Club," a luxury online men's clothing retailer. Sure, fashion is my life, but how did they know that?
And then there are the somewhat disturbing links, like ads asking me to stand with Mitt Romney or Sarah Palin, or an ad today that asks me to join a movement to get the United States to create jobs that build upon America's greatest resource: our abundance of coal. As any regular reader of this page knows, I hardly support Republican causes. Sure, I believe the gays should be strictly regulated and that illegal immigration causes rickets, but those are minor exceptions to a generally left-leaning worldview.
Ah, but as I typed the above, I realized why I was receiving these curiously targeted ads: Obviously, Facebook's advertising algorithms can't process sarcasm. And therein lies the fundamental flaw in the whole program. Because if, to paraphrase Harlan Ellison, there is any element more common in the universe than hydrogen, it is internet snark and sarcasm. Any system that fails to take this into account is doomed to fail.
No comments:
Post a Comment