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[-] MargotRobbie@lemmy.world 23 points 1 year ago

I've said it here before and I will say it again: Facebook and Google's entire approach to ads from data is based on an incorrect assumption of using enough data to build a profile on a person to predict what they are going to be interested in, when if you stop and think about it, it doesn't make any sense: people's needs will always change with circumstances at the time, ex. no amount of data in the world will help you predict whether I'll want a burger or Thai food for lunch tomorrow even if you do the digital equivalent of creeping on me outside my window and digging through my trash can. If you want to know what people want to buy, why not ask them?

Unfortunately, they've deluded themselves for more than a decade with the lie, so now the rest of the world also think that internet ads by them actually works.

I'm not going to rag too hard on Facebook here because most thing has been said by others already, but I will say that since literally every single one of their social media product took the same approach of maximize data to sell things, why is it that they are all losing people and their most successful place at selling things is actually Facebook Marketplace?

[-] restingboredface@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago

I agree. I hate the idea of Meta or anybody having that much data on me in one place. However - - even Amazon, which supposedly has some of the most sophisticated purchase data and analytics out there doesn't seem to be able to do anything with it. I mean, I buy a blender there and the next thing they recommend to me is... A blender. That only stops until I buy something else which they then continue to recommend more of, as if I only want multiples of the exact things I've already purchased. The recommendation engine is the whole point of having my data to begin with so but they seem unable to recommend anything new to me at all.

It's like they have all this information written in front of them but they can't read.

[-] ryven@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 year ago

Amazon's recommendation engine feels like it is still designed for media, even though they sell everything now. Buying a blender doesn't mean you want more blenders, but buying a science fiction novel probably means you want more science fiction novels.

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this post was submitted on 03 Jul 2023
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