| This article is just false comparisons and strawman arguments. Why is Facebook's IPO anything like GroupOn's? Completely different business models. G+'s existence is used as an excuse to compare Google with Facebook, but G+ wasn't even a thought when Google IPO'd. Again, completely different business models. The author then makes up the particular case of an "Ivy League Northeast pet lovers" demographic and says that things like Tide, Mission Impossible, car companies don't want to market to them. This is not how targeted advertisement would ever work. * You market Tide to demographics that are in charge of the buying decision for laundry detergent in the household (this knowledge has been around for literally decades: soap operas) - how about people who talk about doing laundry in their status messages? Or how about people who list their children on their facebook profile and don't list an employer? * You market Mission Impossible to people who say they like Mission Impossible (and similar movies/series) in their "Stuff I like" section or by using their "likes" from sources like IMDb, etc. Maybe they also check in to movie theaters regularly - especially if they often check in with a certain group of friends. Show those friends the same ad. * You market cars to people who seem to have the income to afford a car (using job descriptions, maybe seeing how often and where they eat out using checkin information to get some sort of estimate on disposable income) and maybe you even filter that to people who complain about their car. On top of that you could even filter by the last time the user got a vehicle - this is now an event you can add to your timeline. |