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Facebook apps and ads appeal to a market very far away from us tech guys so it can be hard to think of how it works. Think of things as random as bored at home

by elai 18y ago

Facebook apps and ads appeal to a market very far away from us tech guys so it can be hard to think of how it works. Think of things as random as bored at home fat housewives and Swedish people as your money makers. Also facebook ads can be hyper local, because people in facebook tend to actually put accurate information in! Imagine local businesses and organizations advertising their cancer runs, concerts or what not.

gaius 18y ago
Hmm, yes and no. Facebook ads are generally well targeted, I think. I get ads mainly for diving and snowboarding (which I have followed), dating (I am single and looking, not quite ready to take the plunge into online dating yet tho') and fitness (and I know those "get a six pack" ads are all scams, but showing them to me is a reasonable decision by the algorithm). I also get "become a fan of X" as sponsored ads which is just plain stupid. Google's ads seem to be simple keyword matches and are context-free, I think Facebook could have the edge here, but they really do need to get rid of the scammers and actually pay attention to feedback (e.g. if I flag an ad as uninteresting, FB is wasting my time and its advertiser's money by showing it to me ever again).