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> Google offers the least precise targeting compared to Facebook and Amazon. In my experience, Amazon has _incredibly poor_ targeting. Search and place an orde

> Google offers the least precise targeting compared to Facebook and Amazon. In my experience, Amazon has _incredibly poor_ targeting. Search and place an order for cat food, and the next day you'll get an email with: > Based on your recent activity, we thought you might be interested in this. > > ... cat food, the exact same brand I bought already ... Not only that, their targeting doesn't seem to be based on my past purchases nor my frequent purchases, but almost solely based on what I have searched for recently. They don't seem to use the _massive_ amount of data they have on my purchase history _at all_.

Macha 8y ago
Hey, at least cat food is something consumable and that your cat'll use up and you'll need to order more of. Unlike say, consumer grade CPUs or specific video games.
- freehunter 8y ago
  I bought a TV on Amazon a while back, they knew I looked it up and they knew I paid money for it and they knew I received it and I even left a review so they knew I used it. I got ads to buy that same TV that they knew I already bought for months after I bought it.
  - varjag 8y ago
    Relevant https://twitter.com/AliceAvizandum/status/1015988289642299392 https://twitter.com/AliceAvizandum/status/101598828964229939...
  - albertgoeswoof 8y ago
    The most predictable purchase for someone who has purchased one TV and reviewed it positively is the exact same TV for another room. They are just following the money, it might not make sense to an individual, but product recommendations are optimised for sales based on historical data.
    - scarface74 8y ago
      Unfortunately, that’s true. I bought three Roku TVs of different sizes in the course of year from Amazon. Actually four. I bought one for my dad.
    - bscphil 8y ago
      That's a really good point that I hadn't considered before: sometimes the ad that maximizes the expected return won't be the ad that is most accurately targeted. If an ad for a $10 HDMI cable for your new TV snags 10% of consumers, that's a well-targeted ad, but if 1/200 consumers will purchase another $500 TV if you remind them about it occasionally for the next six months, that's the ad it makes sense to run.
    - freehunter 8y ago
      That is true... I bought a flash drive on Amazon with the intention of buying more of the same flash drive if I liked the performance of the one I bought. And when I liked the first one, I bought four more. A TV seems excessive though, but maybe that's just me. I mean it was a $700 TV, how much money does Amazon think I have to buy two of them?
      - scarface74 8y ago
        Well, if you had bought the TCL Roku TV....2 /s
ethbro 8y ago
I'm guessing parent's comment was speaking more about potentials than current realities with regards to Amazon targeting. The fact is, I assume Amazon really doesn't care about the ad business. They've offloaded that via affiliate links to third parties (a smart move). Putting more effort into offering ad targeting now seems less about making money and more about draining value from Google and Facebook.
- hayksaakian 8y ago
  You're mixing things up, the affiliate business is a totally separate thing from the ads you see on amazon.com
  - ethbro 8y ago
    They both fulfill the same purpose from Amazon's perspective: driving sales. Amazon has always been driven by volume. Get enough of it, and no one else can survive. From that perspective, selling ad impressions is... tangential. So they make "a few" (billion) on the side, it doesn't further their primary business. Whereas Google or Facebook without ads would be... what?

Macha 8y ago

Hey, at least cat food is something consumable and that your cat'll use up and you'll need to order more of. Unlike say, consumer grade CPUs or specific video games.

freehunter 8y ago
I bought a TV on Amazon a while back, they knew I looked it up and they knew I paid money for it and they knew I received it and I even left a review so they knew I used it. I got ads to buy that same TV that they knew I already bought for months after I bought it.
- varjag 8y ago
  Relevant https://twitter.com/AliceAvizandum/status/1015988289642299392 https://twitter.com/AliceAvizandum/status/101598828964229939...
- albertgoeswoof 8y ago
  The most predictable purchase for someone who has purchased one TV and reviewed it positively is the exact same TV for another room. They are just following the money, it might not make sense to an individual, but product recommendations are optimised for sales based on historical data.
  - scarface74 8y ago
    Unfortunately, that’s true. I bought three Roku TVs of different sizes in the course of year from Amazon. Actually four. I bought one for my dad.
  - bscphil 8y ago
    That's a really good point that I hadn't considered before: sometimes the ad that maximizes the expected return won't be the ad that is most accurately targeted. If an ad for a $10 HDMI cable for your new TV snags 10% of consumers, that's a well-targeted ad, but if 1/200 consumers will purchase another $500 TV if you remind them about it occasionally for the next six months, that's the ad it makes sense to run.
  - freehunter 8y ago
    That is true... I bought a flash drive on Amazon with the intention of buying more of the same flash drive if I liked the performance of the one I bought. And when I liked the first one, I bought four more. A TV seems excessive though, but maybe that's just me. I mean it was a $700 TV, how much money does Amazon think I have to buy two of them?
    - scarface74 8y ago
      Well, if you had bought the TCL Roku TV....2 /s

ethbro 8y ago

I'm guessing parent's comment was speaking more about potentials than current realities with regards to Amazon targeting. The fact is, I assume Amazon really doesn't care about the ad business. They've offloaded that via affiliate links to third parties (a smart move). Putting more effort into offering ad targeting now seems less about making money and more about draining value from Google and Facebook.

hayksaakian 8y ago
You're mixing things up, the affiliate business is a totally separate thing from the ads you see on amazon.com
- ethbro 8y ago
  They both fulfill the same purpose from Amazon's perspective: driving sales. Amazon has always been driven by volume. Get enough of it, and no one else can survive. From that perspective, selling ad impressions is... tangential. So they make "a few" (billion) on the side, it doesn't further their primary business. Whereas Google or Facebook without ads would be... what?