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by CodesInChaos 1943 days ago
Some level of targeting is necessary, for example it clearly makes no sense for a typical restaurant to advertise globally.

The interesting question is much tracking adds on top of simpler targeting based on location and context.
3 comments
harrisonjackson 1943 days ago
Facebook should just make a user's location required - not the ios permission to constantly track a user all over... but just a field on a user - city/state/country.

Or make it optional and just show that ad to users that have set their location field.

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esrauch 1943 days ago
I don't think that's relevant here: the new prompts aren't about collecting gps data but correlating your identity across contexts. If you manually chose a city in Facebook, I think the ad in the other random app which used fb ad network would only be able to use it if the user said "yes" to the prompt.
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nojito 1943 days ago
That's not targeting. That's simply location based advertising.

Facebook and others have convinced people that they can do better than simple location based advertising.

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esrauch 1943 days ago
I think theres a spectrum of techniques and no bright line. If you are temporarily in NY but live in LA, is it location based advertising to show the user an ad targeted to LA? What if you're at a regional airport and the only flights today are to LA? What if the ad network knows you have a flight booked to LA today? What if you have a lot of friends in LA so there's a good chance you will be there soon?

People would call the last one personalized and not "location targeted", but it's pretty hard to see where that flips.

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runarberg 1943 days ago
Be careful not to conflate necessary with convenient. Static ads can still be local, e.g. in the local newspaper, on the radio station, on a sign post, or websites for local businesses/communities.
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CodesInChaos 1943 days ago
I consider these targeting based on context or location. I'm fine with that, since it doesn't require invading the privacy of the user.
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runarberg 1943 days ago
Agree. The spying part is what is wrong (and should be illegal without a consent and paid compensation). Ad agencies should not be allowed to track and model my behavior, and then use these models to sell me stuff. Or if they do they should pay me for it.
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