In the last
lecture we discussed how ads work on FB and we tried to create an ad ourselves.
Amazed and amused, I finally discovered the roots of the most annoying (for
customers and for me today) and profitable (for businesses and for me tomorrow)
characteristic of Facebook: ads, indeed.
As a Digital
Marketer, I loved this tool. In a simple way, I can target my potential customers
and delivery my ad right on their homepages. Back in the customer’s shoes (in
which I still feel more at ease), I hate it. I hate ads. I have always hated
them. Except perhaps for those cool TV commercials of the 90s. Some. With years
I developed a useful disease: a complete insensibility to ads. Blindness to ads
on webpages, deafness to radio commercials, blindness and deafness to TV
commercials. If ads had a smell, I would probably be unable to smell it by now.
Facebook ads no: they are persistent, they force me to see them. Even worse:
they are targeted. They know me, or at least think they know me. I was looking
for a holiday a week ago and now I keep on seeing ads of flights, rent-a-car,
hotels. They are terrible and powerful.
We have
seen in class how FB, or better, the advertisers that use FB, targets us. Let’s
now look at how FB collects information. The easiest way is, of course, when we
like something. Easy: we like it, therefore we are interested. Secondly, FB
understands what we are interested in from the data we provide (e.g. our age)
and from what our friends like. More subtly, however, FB gathers information from
every activity we do on the web. Facebook social web apps send information to
FB and can post to our profile and to those of our friends. Also, FB cookies
never expire: they are only altered when we log off, not cancelled.
What can if
we want to stop FB? A lot, starting from 4 steps.
1) FacebookDisconnect: FB gets notified when you visit a page that uses Facebook
Connect and that data can be used to target ads. Facebook Disconnect stops that
flow of data.
2) Facebook
Privacy List for Adblock Plus: This subscription for Adblock
Plus blocks
Facebook plugins and scripts from running all over the web so your browsing
data doesn't get tied to your Facebook account.
3) DoNotTrackMe: DoNotTrackMe is another extension that blocks
trackers and anyone who wants to collect your browsing data to create targeted
ads.
4) Opt out
of the Facebook Ads that use your actions (liking a page, sharing pages, etc)
to promote ads to your friends. Disable Social Ads.
If you want
this tools can help you protect your privacy from the intrusions of FB.
However, we are digital marketers after all. So, keep them for yourself and don’t
tell your client!
To know
more:
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