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How this company is 98% certain you want that Parka

• madcaptenor 12y ago
  It seems quite unlikely to me that they'd actually be able to get 98% on anything involving what humans want. Especially with retail. You might be able to figure out from the other warm clothes I'm buying that I would like a parka if I don't have one - but how do you know I don't already have one. Fortunately this kind of accuracy isn't actually necessary.
  • mathattack 12y ago
    I thought the percentage dubious too, but even if the # is 5% likely (vs 0.1% in the general population) it's very valuable to an advertiser.
    • madcaptenor 12y ago
      As long as they're not doing something stupid like saying "this person has a 98% probability of buying a parka, let's send them one and bill them for it, but let them return it with free shipping." Then you'd need the accuracy. (Also that's probably illegal, and even if I wanted something I wouldn't want a company sending it to me without my permission.)