Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Looking for Trump leaker ads on Facebook

Facebook ads are being used for a very specific target audience – people working for certain federal agencies. As the new president continues to lash out on media and intelligence community, Gizmodo Media Group is looking for people to anonymously send tips. Facebook has been running political ads during the election. The goal is for the Facebook ads to steer potential leakers to TellOnTrump.com which shows secure ways of passing sensitive information. Additional physical ad spaces are planning to be bought near the federal agencies the website targets.


These ads are targeting extremely specific segment, who not only has to work in the agencies but also has a level a security clearance to have access to certain information and on top of that be willing to leak it. I imagine success would be defined by even a single digit percentage of conversion rates on leaking classified information. If we remember what happened to Edward Snowden, it would be rather difficult to imagine someone taking such risk, even if the website assures security and anonymity. However, seeing how David Petraeus is being considered for national security adviser with the current administration, there might be less concerns of the consequence which makes the ads effective. 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/gizmodo-ads-target-potential-trump-leakers-1487191482

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