Targeted advertising algorithms work: a Q&A
HOW DO TARGETED ADVERTISING ALGORITHMS WORK?
“Let’s use the Facebook system as an example. There are a number of reasons that you can be targeted by ads, generally through one of four possibilities – firstly, retargeting e.g. based on websites you’ve visited or GDPR-compliant data lists you’re on (e.g. newsletters you’ve signed up to). Secondly, through your demographic information e.g. age, location, gender. Thirdly, through ‘lookalike’ modelling, where your online profile is similar to people who have already engaged with a brand or product. Finally, interest-based targeting – this is essentially based on your general activity online e.g. things you’ve interacted with on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and around the web.”
HOW MUCH INFORMATION DO TARGETED ADVERTISING ALGORITHMS HAVE ABOUT THE AVERAGE PERSON? HOW PERSONAL IS THE INFORMATION?
“Generally, quite a lot – dependent on the person. If you’re putting your information onto platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, related apps etc. then it can be harvested by these companies. Again, using Facebook as an example – you’ve put your birthday into the platform to sign up, and as a result you can be targeted with birthday-specific ads in the month before and of your birthday. The more information you give to someone like Facebook, the more they can use to target you. And it extends elsewhere online, where Facebook has tracking pixels they can technically target you based on activity you do across a variety of apps outside of Facebook. All of this, put together, builds a profile of each user which would cover age, gender, location as well as different interests that you may have based on things you’ve interacted with. One of the reasons why iOS14 has caused such a storm with Facebook is that users now have a lot more control in blocking their activity and their interests, meaning that these profiles become less accurate and detailed.”
HOW MUCH OF A THREAT DOES THIS POST TO OUR CIVIL LIBERTIES? WHAT CAN HAPPEN AS A RESULT OF OUR PERSONAL INFORMATION BEING OUT THERE?
“Firstly, it’s important to note that advertisers themselves (e.g. brands and agencies) don’t have access to any personal data. We cannot differentiate between individuals we target in ads, and after recent changes to how Facebook reports data we no longer even see an overall percentage of what ages and genders have purchased products or services based on ads we serve. However, a lot of this data is still there, and the footprint that we leave on the internet means that the platforms still hold this data on everyone who uses the platform. The intention here is to continue to serve relevant ads to people, e.g. to make the experience of being served an ad more relevant and therefore less jarring. However, as we also know, this data all being held in a store presents dangers – for example if there is a data breach.”
WE’VE SEEN PEOPLE TALK ABOUT “PUNISHING” THE ALGORITHM FOR ADVERTISING IN WAYS THEY DON’T LIKE BY REPORTING ADS OR CLOSING THE OFFENDING APPS. WE’VE ALSO SEEN PEOPLE TALK ABOUT DELIBERATELY TRYING TO CONFUSE THE ALGORITHM BY CLICKING ON RANDOM THINGS, SO IT CAN’T KNOW ACCURATE INFORMATION ABOUT THEM.
HOW USEFUL ARE THESE METHODS? ARE THERE ANY MORE EFFECTIVE WAYS YOU CAN STAY PRIVATE ONLINE?
“Any action you take on an ad will have consequences. If you hide an ad or report it, you’re less likely to be shown that product again. It may also have a minor effect on the efficiency of an advertisers campaign as well if a large number of people take this action. However, while clicking on random ads may confuse the algorithms slightly it’s likely that genuine actions you take while browsing are still building a profile of you in genuine ways. If you’re annoyed by ads because they seem irrelevant, or because they seem too personal, a lot of platforms now offer you the option of seeing your own advertising preferences – which you can then edit so that you aren’t advertised around certain things. However, if you want to stay completely anonymous and ad-free online, your only real options are ad-blockers or ad-free browsers. Otherwise, you’ll continue to be served ads, relevant or not, as that’s now how a lot of these platforms can stay afloat or free to use.”
ANY FINAL THOUGHTS?
“It would always be that advertisers generally aren’t interested about knowing intimate personal details about each individual – rather, the aim is to serve an engaging, relevant advert to a group of people who react positively to it. Ultimately that’s the name of the game rather than being some sort of internet stalker!”