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DailyDirt: Creepy Ads From Big Data
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
Lots of advertisers are turning to data mining techniques to try to squeeze more value out of their budgets. Given all the data that gets collected by our phones/browsers/credit cards/etc, it's not too surprising that ads can get pretty creepy, pretty fast. Here are just a few stories about ads that aren't technically doing anything wrong -- but that haven't quite gotten their privacy behavior right either.
- Target has been highlighted for its uncanny ability to predict when women shoppers are pregnant. Public birth records just aren't updated anywhere near fast enough for retailers who want to know when to start sending targeted ads to new parents ASAP. [url]
- Marissa Mayer said credit card companies can predict a divorce with 98% accuracy two years before it happens. Considering 50% of marriages end in divorce anyway, that might not be considered impressive..? [url]
- Facebook uses photos from some of its users to help promote various products, and sometimes the results are far from flattering. Becoming the new spokesperson for 55 gallon tubs of lubricant probably isn't what Nick Bergus wanted to be. [url]
- To discover more interesting advertising-related content, check out what's floating around on StumbleUpon. [url]
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POPSCI: Speech Jamming Gun Freezes Any Talker Mid-Sentence By Clay Dillow Posted 03.01.2012 at 3:04 pm 7
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pirates still remain unaffected:
ARRGGG matey, me and me parrot still be talking!
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http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/01/android-photos/
Now that is a scary bug.
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I read lots of things on the internet. I have an inkling some of them aren't true. Just a suspicion. I wonder if she will provide a citation.
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Re: [citation needed]
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Re: Re: [citation needed]
FTFY
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Here's a trick that - I just read - that most journalists use
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Re: Here's a trick that - I just read - most journalists use
'UPDATE: After this story ran, the company responded with the following statement. “Visa does not track or monitor cardholder marital status, nor does it offer any service or product that predicts a potential divorce. These claims are false and any media outlets or authors citing that Visa has such capabilities are inaccurate and wrong.”)'
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/04/06/how-mastercard-predicts-divorce.html
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Re: Re: Here's a trick that - I just read - most journalists use
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Divorces and Separations.
Probably, one fairly good diagnostic measure would be the purchase of airline tickets for unescorted children. The airlines tend to price tickets in such a way that taking the kids to visit grandma doesn't cost much more than sending the kids to visit grandma. That's sensible-- it is comparatively expensive to have the flight attendants look after unescorted children. That means, of course, that people who chose to pay the full rate are likely to be estranged spouses, who cannot just casually become each-other's house-guests. If you just go and stay with your ex, the family grapevine is likely to announce: "Hey, Jack and Sue are getting back together again!"
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This is not creepy
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Glad you clarified
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