Mele’s Musings

Facebook Plays Dangerous Game with Targeting

Coming on the heels of my last posting, I thought the NY Times article on targeted Facebook ads was strangely apropos. Central to the conversation around privacy is the question of what will companies do with my data? In this case, Facebook has found an effective way to turn people off of the promise of targeting.

When all is said and done, the dividing line between what feels like and intrusion of privacy and what feels like a tailored communication is relevance. Relevance is a composite of many factors: how much information you know about me, in what context you use that information, and what you offer back to me with that information. To be relevant, all of these factors must work in concert.

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I think about this with my kids ALL THE TIME. They know a lot of things about me based on what I say, what I do, what I buy, what I eat and drink, etc. They can use this information in powerful ways.

• They can embarrass me by using information in the wrong context: My son to the priest at church, “My dad loves to drink beer.”
• They can impress me by using the information to make good decisions: My daughter to her friend, “We shouldn’t tease my brother. He doesn’t allow me to have friends over if we tease my brother.”
• They can touch me by using the information to do or say something meaningful: “Happy Birthday, dad. We know you love to go to movies, so we bought you tickets for a movie this afternoon.”

The most important factor in the use of this data about me is not the recency of the data nor the collection of the data. It is in the care in which the data is used, and the value exchanged between the person who has the data, the person the data is about, and the other people who have access to that data. Based on how careful my children are with this information, the more or less likely I am to trust them, to be open with them, to share with them my true self.

This is the same for any data that is collected. Just collecting the data is not enough. In the ad business, we can get confused by this, as apparently Facebook has. It seems that they have decided that simply exposing the data to advertisers is satisfactory.

However, Facebook is playing a dangerous game. They have been very fortunate so far that consumers have been open to sharing lots and lots of stuff with Facebook. However, if Facebook does not respect this relationship and simply sells the information to the highest bidder, they will lose audience quickly.

And Facebook relying on the community or the individual to police advertisers is simply negligent. As the providers of access to consumers and their data, Facebook is absolutely responsible for the quality of advertising that users are exposed to. Being indifferent to the advertising seems like the safe, democratic, free-market place to be, but it is a mistake.

As with anyone who is burned by inappropriate sharing of information, consumers will only tolerate so much when it comes to sites and products on the internet. The barrier to switching is low, and new options can come up anytime. Ask MySpace about Facebook sometime.

The worst part about it is that it gives targeting a bad name. Targeting, because it is based on knowledge about the customer, must be treated especially carefully by advertisers and publishers. Targeting, when done well, can effectively connect consumers with the things they care most about. When done poorly, it is downright rude.

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