Facebook and Google's custom-targeted advertising can yield some hilarious results.
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Watching a video of a car crash? Let me offer you a new car.
By Matthew Shaer | 04.30.09
Over at the NYTimes’ Bits blog, Saul Hansell wonders how often targeted ads on Facebook or Google actually hit their mark. He uses as an example a blurb advertising the arrival in New York of a well-known musician:
Facebook knows I live near New York and that I’ve put in my profile that Béla Fleck, the jazz-bluegrass banjoist, is one of my favorite musicians. The ad was for screenings of “Throw Down Your Heart,” a movie about a trip by Mr. Fleck to Africa, where the banjo originated. This is advertising at its best. The film’s producers were telling me about something I didn’t know about and giving me a chance to buy it.
He goes on to argue that such connections are few and far between. How often do the algorithms accurately – and compellingly – interpret a user’s interests?
I just don’t think there are enough cases like this to be significant. Mostly, people will see more Alpo ads even though they know their dog eats Purina Dog Chow.
Crossed wires
What Hansell doesn’t discuss is the ways in which Google’s algorithm can often tie itself in knots – producing some truly ghastly results. Today, for instance, I was watching a video of the recent car attack on the Dutch royal family. The video was produced by the Associated Press, but featured advertisements by Google. As the camera zoomed in on the wrecked car, an ad popped up from Volvo, offering me a peek at its new sedan.
Maybe next time.
For those about to rock
For my money – and for its worth – the best way to find out when new bands are coming to town isn’t a Google advertisement. I prefer sites such as Tourfilter, which send me regular notifications when one of “my bands” will be playing nearby. Anyone out there have a favorite concert related site? Send ‘em along. Until then, why not listen to the best?
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2. The editors | 04.30.09
You may need to check your computer for a virus. A fairly common one
infiltrates individual computers through the Web and takes over the
advertising spaces on any Web site the computer opens. Check to see if some
of the same ads appear on other sites that you’re seeing on CSMonitor.com.
That would be a further clue that need to have someone delete the so-called
“trojan” from your machine.
The Monitor blocks pharmaceutical ads from appearing on our site. It’s been
a fairly reliable filter.
3. R D Roberts | 04.30.09
Not only are ads not targeted; Websites are not focused to the people the advertiser is trying to reach. A recent line in “Harper’s Index”, May, Issue, cited a statistic that a hit on a site such as the Drudge Report lasts about 118 seconds and a hit on a major newspaper site last about 28 seconds according to a Nielson Company Survey.
4. Courtenay | 04.30.09
Sorry (if my previous comment is published), I think I accidentally submitted it before finishing it… I meant, it’s heartening to see the Monitor isn’t going down that path of smothering their site in ads (regardless of their appropriateness or otherwise) just to make money. Removing the not-so-targeted Google ads also suggests the staff are listening to readers’ comments and willing to act on them, and to put the Monitor’s values above quick ways of making extra cash. I say good on ‘em!
5. Jan | 04.30.09
I’m a novice on Facebook and didn’t even know these ads are called “targeted ads until I read this column. I’m glad to see this subject addressed. I play some word games on Facebook, nothing remotely connected with violence, but recently an ad popped up asking me if I wanted to suck a friend’s blood and it named a specific friend. I think it was advertising a game but I wasn’t about to click and find out. I was so repulsed that I deactivated my Facebook account. I want to learn how to navigate and use social networks but not if I have to put up with such ads. For me this targeted ad really missed its mark and erred on the ghastly side. Three cheers for every effort to improve this type of targeted inappropriate advertising.
6. Ardis E. Parshall | 05.01.09
I wrote a story for my local paper recently about the poignant aftermath of a military plane crash during the Korean War. The Google ad that popped up on the newspaper’s website invited me to eBay to bid on plane crash memorabilia. Ick.
7. JustOneKalpa | 05.01.09
I actually love the odd little pop ups. I work on ships so I get ads for expensive cruises, have an Issa poem sent to me daily so get ads in Japanese script and am writing a commentary piece opposing drug ads in medical journals so get lots of drug ads. Reminds one of the difference between data and knowledge.
8. Henrietta of RedINKdiary | 05.27.09
Not even sure if we are talking about the same thing here but I find ‘targeted ads’ in online newspaper articles telling me that a man from my town is making $7K a day or a Mom from my town lost 35# of belly fat yesterday.
This is downright untruthful, not to mention deceptive. My ‘town’ is actually the name of our farm and I know both people who live there. I did not lose 35# of belly fat yesterday and my husband is not making $7K a day on the interwebz.
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1. Connie Lovejoy | 04.30.09
I’ve been trying to contact the CS Monitor about it’s many google ads not being targeted. It looks like this online publication is only using them for click through appeal to make money. I don’t know if this publication is still affiliated which the Christian Science Church which at one time believed in prayer for healing disease and sin. But recently, I’ve seen a number of google ads on this sites web pages that provide diet pills for losing weight.
I’ve also seen ads for allergy relief medicine. There was nothing on the webpage news article that talked about allergies. The Monitor needs to fix this situation of untargeted and inappropriate ads.