Facebook Starts Targeting Ads in Real-Time
Facebook already uses pretty much everything you put on your profile to direct ads at you. But they aren't targeted to your words at the very second you type them onto the Internet. But that could change with a new real-time ad targeting system, which Facebook is currently testing on about 1 percent of its users.
Here's how it works, according Ad Age: "Any utterance will become fodder for real-time targeted ads. For example: Users who update their status with 'Mmm, I could go for some pizza tonight,' could get an ad or a coupon from Domino's, Papa John's or Pizza Hut."
Awesome! And if a user types "Man, I am super depressed by the encroachment of commerce into my most personal interactions," an ad for Xanax could pop up. If you type, "Whoa, why the hell is everything I say being targeted instantly with an ad," an ad for the self-help book "Dealing with Targeted Advertising" pops up. And if you type "Seriously, STOP IT... I'm so afraid," an ad for a remote country farm pops up, where you can go and live in obscurity for the rest of your days, un-targeted by advertising but completely friendless.
[Image via Getty]