# How appropriate to your personal interests are targeted ads you see on Facebook (or other media)? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 6, 2020, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-appropriate-to-your-personal-interests-are-targeted-ads-you-see-on-facebook-or-other-media/847550 "2020-02-06T17:20:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2020, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-appropriate-to-your-personal-interests-are-targeted-ads-you-see-on-facebook-or-other-media/847550/1 "2020-02-06T17:20:17Z")
I’m more curious about this than complaining. My understanding is that Facebook uses sophisticated algorithms to decide what ads to show in your feed based on what you’ve shown interest in in the past and other factors. Yet the majority of ads I see are for things I have never purchased, shown any interest in, or would ever consider purchasing, despite telling Facebook repeatedly that I’m not interested. I frequently get ads for role-playing or other games, cool hip clothing, pets, things for kids, etc. I’ve never played any on line or digital games, I buy functional clothes (especially for camping), and don’t have any pets or children. If I keep seeing such an ad repeatedly, I click “Hide ad,” and when it asks for a reason I say “Irrelevant.” Yet I keep seeing similar ads. On the other hand, I rarely if ever see ads for birding or nature tours, field clothes, camping equipment, binoculars, cameras, conservation organizations, or anything to do with science - all things I have purchased or shown interest in on line. I don’t really mind seeing ads per se. But continually seeing ads for stuff I have zero interest in is annoying. I might actually like to see ads for stuff I like. And Facebook is wasting their advertisers money by showing me ads for stuff I am never going to buy. So what’s up? What is your experience with ads? Why does their algorithm seem so bad? Another anomaly, although not so bad, is their “people you may know” feature. Mostly they show me people who have a lot of mutual friends with me. But they also show me people with only a single mutual contact, and that’s someone who I’ve never interacted with (or interacted with me) besides friending. (They are usually friends or relatives of friends). Maybe they’re showing me every possible contact, but it seems the space would be better used for people with more connections or at least similar interests. Occasionally I’ll get a suggestion of someone with whom I have _no_ friends or interests in common. Over the past few months, I keep getting the same suggestion for “people you may know” of a pretty young woman in Hanoi. Now, I’ve never been to Vietnam and don’t even have any Vietnamese acquaintances. I regularly get “Friend Requests” from pretty young women I have never heard of, which are clearly scamming attempts and which I delete and report as spam. But this one seems to be suggested by Facebook itself. She hasn’t made a friend request attempted contact herself, yet keeps showing up. So why is Facebook showing me this? It’s not just once, it’s repeatedly for months. Could she be influencing this, and if so, how? ETA: I just checked, and my current ads are for vintage boots, weighted blankets, stylish vests, surgical masks, gifts for pets, and “Treehuggers bracelets” to support conservation in Australia. I would only have interest in the last one. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2020, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-appropriate-to-your-personal-interests-are-targeted-ads-you-see-on-facebook-or-other-media/847550/2 "2020-02-06T17:54:59Z")
Most of mine are political or travel related and they can at least be relevant. I still find it amusing to get Visit Manitoba ads constantly. Somehow I don’t think of Winnipeg as a vacation destination especially in winter. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2020, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-appropriate-to-your-personal-interests-are-targeted-ads-you-see-on-facebook-or-other-media/847550/3 "2020-02-06T18:14:12Z")
My ads are pretty well targeted. It might be because I am quite free with letting FB know my browsing habits (as in, I don’t block their tracking cookies that are on other sites). And from time to time I click on ads, so I’m sure that adds to their data. Sometimes ads do get wonky, but it’s almost 100% because I went to a web site for work. Like I keep getting ads for a machinery trade show, because I went to the machinery trade show’s page for work. \*\*Colibri \*\*do you run anything in your browser that blocks FB tracking? I know that the latest versions of Firefox push this as a feature. If FB can’t track your interests outside of itself, it might just be throwing any old ads at you. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2020, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-appropriate-to-your-personal-interests-are-targeted-ads-you-see-on-facebook-or-other-media/847550/4 "2020-02-06T18:15:13Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > Most of mine are political or travel related and they can at least be relevant. That’s another one. Even though my family and friends (who share my politics) post a lot of political links, which I often “like” or share, I can’t recall seeing a political ad for years, and that was for the direct opposite of my political leanings. Maybe I don’t get political ads because I’m in Panama, but that doesn’t stop me from getting other US specific ads. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2020, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-appropriate-to-your-personal-interests-are-targeted-ads-you-see-on-facebook-or-other-media/847550/5 "2020-02-06T18:19:47Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > \*\*Colibri \*\*do you run anything in your browser that blocks FB tracking? I know that the latest versions of Firefox push this as a feature. If FB can’t track your interests outside of itself, it might just be throwing any old ads at you. I use AdBlock for most sites, but I still see ads on Facebook. I do occasionally click on ads on Facebook, and hide ads that are irrelevant, but this doesn’t seem to have any effect. In particular, I would think always telling them that certain kinds of ads are irrelevant would reduce the number of similar ads I see. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2020, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-appropriate-to-your-personal-interests-are-targeted-ads-you-see-on-facebook-or-other-media/847550/6 "2020-02-06T18:27:01Z")
There algorithm is getting scary good. A couple of months ago, I saw a jar of Blue Plate mayo. I remembered people on this board talking about what a great mayonnaise it is, so I bought it. The next thing you know, BP ads are showing up on my FB feed. A couple of days ago, I bought a bottle of Frenches Mustard. Those ads are now running on my FB feed. I never Google searched either one of these, but FB still knows somehow. I’m tempted to say they have somehow tapped into my Kroger’s card. But Kroger doesn’t know my Facebook handle. It’s all very surreal. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2020, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-appropriate-to-your-personal-interests-are-targeted-ads-you-see-on-facebook-or-other-media/847550/7 "2020-02-06T19:13:10Z")
I get a bunch of ads for Kickstarters for RPG gaming stuff. Those are reasonably targeted as I both play RPGs and sometimes buy RPG stuff from Kickstarter. I sometimes get ads for website building software and similar things that have nothing to do with me at all. And I regularly get ads for weight loss shakes and related products that are laughably out of my wheelhouse but usually have an attractive model so there’s worse non-targeted ads I can scroll past, I guess. Sometimes I get an ad for a store or item I looked at online but not often enough to freak me out. I know it’s based off my cookies but it’s not as though it dominates my ads. The suggested groups are often hilariously wrong with it recently spending a month trying to get me to join Indonesian dating groups. Not written in English, either. > [@Colibri](#): > > That’s another one. Even though my family and friends (who share my politics) post a lot of political links, which I often “like” or share, I can’t recall seeing a political ad for years, and that was for the direct opposite of my political leanings. Maybe I don’t get political ads because I’m in Panama, but that doesn’t stop me from getting other US specific ads. I regularly post political stuff and belong to a political group or two but almost never see an ad. I think I got one or two for Warren in the past six months and once got a Trump ad that I X’d right out of. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2020, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-appropriate-to-your-personal-interests-are-targeted-ads-you-see-on-facebook-or-other-media/847550/8 "2020-02-06T21:24:04Z")
This is what I notice on Firefox where stay logged in to my family-friends FB account. Almost every ad I see is about autism either trying to sell me a stupid puzzle piece tee shirt or they’re begging for a DNA sample so they can hurry up and cure all those poor diseased autistic people. It’s infuriating too, because there is really no way to filter these ads. On Chrome I stay logged in to an account I made especially for my work group. I don’t know what the difference is technically but the only ads I see lately have been for overpriced socks and [Chewy.com](http://Chewy.com). It makes sense about Chewy because I search their site a lot and I do order from them but where they get the idea I want to look at 35 dollar socks I do not know. I can’t recall ever searching for any sock at any time and I’m talking about a dozen different companies are pushing their socks on me! In addition to ads I’m curious about their post hiding algorithm. One example: I follow Bill Gates’ official FB account. When I load my timeline if he has posted it will briefly pop up on my timeline and then it goes away like some political ads do. I have to go directly to his page to see what he’s posted. Why is FB blocking Bill Gates from my timeline? I have his posts set to follow, see first, all posts. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2020, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-appropriate-to-your-personal-interests-are-targeted-ads-you-see-on-facebook-or-other-media/847550/9 "2020-02-06T22:13:41Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > A couple of months ago, I saw a jar of Blue Plate mayo. I remembered people on this board talking about what a great mayonnaise it is, so I bought it. > > The next thing you know, BP ads are showing up on my FB feed. This has to be a problem for advertisers, right? I mean it happens all the time that I buy something, and only _then_ start seeing tons of ads for it. Maybe that’s an okay strategy for mayonnaise. If you bought it once, you probably like it, and you’ll probably need to buy it again. So might as well keep that brand name fresh in your mind so you aren’t tempted to try Duke’s next time you’re at the grocery store. But I’m talking about things that are one time purchases, or at least very infrequent purchases. Like the Berkey water filter that’s supposed to last ten years before needing replacement filter cartridges. I didn’t see any ads for the Berkey until I bought it and now they’re everywhere. And the “buy it and then see ads for it” phenomenon is not eternal. I bought a pair of pants I like, and then I got tons of ads for those specific pants (but not any others?). A year or two later though, when I might be considering a replacement pair, those ads are nowhere to be found. That has to be a problem for advertisers, right? Their ads are reactive, not proactive. So often, you’re advertising to people who already bought the product and not the potential buyers who might need to be pushed in that direction. ---
**Author:** ![glaucon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/47e85d/32.png) [@glaucon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glaucon)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2020, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-appropriate-to-your-personal-interests-are-targeted-ads-you-see-on-facebook-or-other-media/847550/10 "2020-02-07T00:15:58Z")
One thing that needs to be considered here is not just how good, or otherwise, Facebook and others are at targeting ads but how well the buyer of the ads has selected their target audience. Case in point, this morning I’m seeing ads for “Used Forestry Equipment”. Now that’s a pretty niche product. It’s possible that an ad server genuinely believes I’m a potential customer based on my previous browsing but I struggle to think of anything in my professional and personal interests which would justify me being shown that. It comes down to a guess in the end but I would say some buyers fail to sufficiently narrow the focus of ads and so people browsing get to see some weird ads due to that and not due to an ad server defect. I never use Facebook (although obviously they use me), the ads I’m thinking of I’ve seen on YouTube and Twitter. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2020, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-appropriate-to-your-personal-interests-are-targeted-ads-you-see-on-facebook-or-other-media/847550/11 "2020-02-07T00:17:11Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > I’m tempted to say they have somehow tapped into my Kroger’s card. But Kroger doesn’t know my Facebook handle. Almost certainly. Kroger knows your credit card number and there are lots of ways to link a credit card to a person. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2020, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-appropriate-to-your-personal-interests-are-targeted-ads-you-see-on-facebook-or-other-media/847550/12 "2020-02-07T00:40:00Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > Almost certainly. Kroger knows your credit card number and there are lots of ways to link a credit card to a person. Yeah, after this thread, I got curious and did some Googling. FB absolutely does have ties to your shoppers card. a list of all the creepy things FB knows about you. (From Gizmodo) Location Age Generation Gender Language Education level Field of study School Ethnic affinity Income and net worth Home ownership and type Home value Property size Square footage of home Year home was built Household composition Users who have an anniversary within 30 days Users who are away from family or hometown Users who are friends with someone who has an anniversary, is newly married or engaged, recently moved, or has an upcoming birthday Users in long-distance relationships Users in new relationships Users who have new jobs Users who are newly engaged Users who are newly married Users who have recently moved Users who have birthdays soon Parents Expectant parents Mothers, divided by “type” (soccer, trendy, etc.) Users who are likely to engage in politics Conservatives and liberals Relationship status Employer Industry Job title Office type Interests Users who own motorcycles Users who plan to buy a car (and what kind/brand of car, and how soon) Users who bought auto parts or accessories recently Users who are likely to need auto parts or services Style and brand of car you drive Year car was bought Age of car How much money user is likely to spend on next car Where user is likely to buy next car How many employees your company has Users who own small businesses Users who work in management or are executives Users who have donated to charity (divided by type) Operating system Users who play canvas games Users who own a gaming console Users who have created a Facebook event Users who have used Facebook Payments Users who have spent more than average on Facebook Payments Users who administer a Facebook page Users who have recently uploaded photos to Facebook Internet browser Email service Early/late adopters of technology Expats (divided by what country they are from originally) Users who belong to a credit union, national bank or regional bank Users who investor (divided by investment type) Number of credit lines Users who are active credit card users Credit card type Users who have a debit card Users who carry a balance on their credit card Users who listen to the radio Preference in TV shows Users who use a mobile device (divided by what brand they use) Internet connection type Users who recently acquired a smartphone or tablet Users who access the Internet through a smartphone or tablet Users who use coupons Types of clothing user’s household buys Time of year user’s household shops most Users who are “heavy” buyers of beer, wine or spirits Users who buy groceries (and what kinds) Users who buy beauty products Users who buy allergy medications, cough/cold medications, pain relief products, and over-the-counter meds Users who spend money on household products Users who spend money on products for kids or pets, and what kinds of pets Users whose household makes more purchases than is average Users who tend to shop online (or off) Types of restaurants user eats at Kinds of stores user shops at Users who are “receptive” to offers from companies offering online auto insurance, higher education or mortgages, and prepaid debit cards/satellite TV Length of time user has lived in house Users who are likely to move soon Users who are interested in the Olympics, fall football, cricket or Ramadan Users who travel frequently, for work or pleasure Users who commute to work Types of vacations user tends to go on Users who recently returned from a trip Users who recently used a travel app Users who participate in a timeshare [Link](https://gizmodo.com/all-of-the-creepy-things-facebook-knows-about-you-1785510980) ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2020, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-appropriate-to-your-personal-interests-are-targeted-ads-you-see-on-facebook-or-other-media/847550/13 "2020-02-07T02:06:39Z")
**How appropriate to your personal interests are targeted ads…** Not. At. All. My problem is that I often click on random links that people post here, or on imgur. Yesterday, I opened an Amazon link to a Legend of Zelda bike bag. Today it was a Spirited Away No-Face piggy bank … … so I know now I’ll be getting ads aimed at gamers and anime fans. I’m still getting targeted with bespoke \*expensive \*leather notebooks because I clicked on a couple back in December (the previous decade, yet!). ETA: On the plus side, if I’m trying to confuse the Marketing Illuminati, it’s working… ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2020, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-appropriate-to-your-personal-interests-are-targeted-ads-you-see-on-facebook-or-other-media/847550/14 "2020-02-07T03:25:50Z")
> [@glaucon](#): > > Case in point, this morning I’m seeing ads for “Used Forestry Equipment”. Now that’s a pretty niche product. It’s possible that an ad server genuinely believes I’m a potential customer based on my previous browsing but I struggle to think of anything in my professional and personal interests which would justify me being shown that. See. You’re getting _my_ ads.:smack: ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2020, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-appropriate-to-your-personal-interests-are-targeted-ads-you-see-on-facebook-or-other-media/847550/15 "2020-02-07T04:08:55Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I use AdBlock for most sites, but I still see ads on Facebook. Disable AdBlock, then make sure your browser is set to allow third party cookies/cross-site tracking and tell us what happens. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2020, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-appropriate-to-your-personal-interests-are-targeted-ads-you-see-on-facebook-or-other-media/847550/16 "2020-02-07T04:37:03Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > But continually seeing ads for stuff I have zero interest in is annoying. I don’t do FB, but in general & for other sites I disagree; seeing ads for things I’d never get makes it easier to scroll past them &/or close them, keeping my $ in my pocket. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2020, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-appropriate-to-your-personal-interests-are-targeted-ads-you-see-on-facebook-or-other-media/847550/17 "2020-02-07T04:57:46Z")
I don’t really see any ads on Facebook, just the typical game ads which have nothing to do with the actual game and occasionally a link to some product. One recent product link was something that a relative on Facebook would be interested in but I posted the link from the website on his wall rather than sharing the Facebook post. Other sites are pretty much keyed to items I recent viewed on sites like eBay. > [@Colibri](#): > > Occasionally I’ll get a suggestion of someone with whom I have _no_ friends or interests in common. Over the past few months, I keep getting the same suggestion for “people you may know” of a pretty young woman in Hanoi. Now, I’ve never been to Vietnam and don’t even have any Vietnamese acquaintances. I regularly get “Friend Requests” from pretty young women I have never heard of, which are clearly scamming attempts and which I delete and report as spam. But this one seems to be suggested by Facebook itself. She hasn’t made a friend request attempted contact herself, yet keeps showing up. So why is Facebook showing me this? It’s not just once, it’s repeatedly for months. Could she be influencing this, and if so, how? There are companies which specialize in accumulating friends and/or likes. I used to be a friend of a local entertainer who utilized one of those services. ---
**Author:** ![Kovitlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/2bfe46/32.png) [@Kovitlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kovitlac)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2020, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-appropriate-to-your-personal-interests-are-targeted-ads-you-see-on-facebook-or-other-media/847550/18 "2020-02-07T14:40:38Z")
I have a bra size that isn’t super easy to find: Small ribcage, larger bust. I’ve spent a lot of time looking online for larger cup bras. So naturally, I get all these plus-size only ads all over :eyeroll: If they aren’t plus-sized, they’re stores with pretty much zero size range, which also does me no good. The one store I do like buying bras from is ALL OVER whatever page I happen to be viewing, which I appreciate, but like, I KNOW they exist. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2020, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-appropriate-to-your-personal-interests-are-targeted-ads-you-see-on-facebook-or-other-media/847550/19 "2020-02-07T15:01:57Z")
Very relevant. Unfortunately (for them) they are usually for things that I’ve already purchased in the last few days. I will say that for the exceptions for that, almost everything I’ve bought on facebook has either been extremely disappointing to downright fraudulent false advertising. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2020, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-appropriate-to-your-personal-interests-are-targeted-ads-you-see-on-facebook-or-other-media/847550/20 "2020-02-07T15:10:22Z")
Well, I can’t say how it is working for anyone else, but I always see the targeted ads AFTER I have bought whatever it is that I was searching for. That’s really not very useful. LOL [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-appropriate-to-your-personal-interests-are-targeted-ads-you-see-on-facebook-or-other-media/847550.md?page=2)