Last week I went to a restaurant with some friends and while checking the menu we saw that there was a cocktail with Campari (alcoholic liqueur) - this triggered a 30 sec conversation about the drink. Following day I open my FB feed and something weird happened - there was a Campari ad just in front of me! In the last months of my online life I didn't search for Campari, cocktails, beverages or anything related so I think it would be great if there was a way of finding why that ad end up there!
"Facebook does not use your phone's microphone for ads or News Feed stories."<p><a href="http://newsroom.fb.com/news/h/facebook-does-not-use-your-phones-microphone-for-ads-or-news-feed-stories/" rel="nofollow">http://newsroom.fb.com/news/h/facebook-does-not-use-your-pho...</a><p>The phenomenon you're observing is due to various interesting human psychological quirks, such as priming effects.<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priming_(psychology)" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priming_(psychology)</a>
I can relate and you won't believe it. Last Sunday I was at a cocktail bar and while checking the menu with a friend I had the exact same short conversation about Campari, prompted by wanting to know what's in a Negroni.<p>There's a phenomenon that explains this kind of illusion as a psychological effect, called the Baader-Meinhof complex. Coincidentally later that night we mentioned it too. It's basically a trick our brains play on us partly explained by the psychological processing of information, selective attention and confirmation bias.<p>Or maybe Facebook is spying on me, on you, and Hacker News too.
I've had similar experiences. One in particular: I had a private, in-person conversation with a work colleague about a very niche company that until that point I'd never heard of. He does not use Facebook. Advertising profiles may have been connected from other services, but no way to connect directly due to any proximity / micro-location service.<p>After that conversation and without me searching for anything further relating to that subject I began being targeted with ads for the same company.<p>When that popped up I deleted Facebook from all personal devices. It may have been co-incidental, but there have been to many other similar situations that have made me question the validity of their official statements.
Here's a theory: after your conversation with your friends, one of your friends checked out the Campari product on the web, and from there FB deduced that you might also be interested.
I wonder the same too; I get a lot of weird stuff, that I talked about, but have NOT put down in text messages, emails, etc. I took some screenshots, to prove it and share with friends later. I end up doing some research and apparently is not related from voice/keywords. Officially addressed in the following link:
<a href="http://newsroom.fb.com/news/h/facebook-does-not-use-your-phones-microphone-for-ads-or-news-feed-stories/" rel="nofollow">http://newsroom.fb.com/news/h/facebook-does-not-use-your-pho...</a><p>Other references:
<a href="http://marketingland.com/no-what-facebook-hears-on-your-phone-isnt-triggering-ads-146057" rel="nofollow">http://marketingland.com/no-what-facebook-hears-on-your-phon...</a>
<a href="http://www.computerworld.com/article/3079412/security/facebook-advertising-microphone-itbwcw.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.computerworld.com/article/3079412/security/facebo...</a>
I'm surprised no one mentioned 3rd party audience lists. It's more than likely in this case you used your credit card at the restaurant and this data was passed to a data service like DLX or Neustar, which Campari will pay a fee to get audience lists such as: Datalogix » DLX CPG » Alcohol Beverage Buyers » Spirits or AdAdvisor Audiences powered by Neustar » AdAdvisor Consumer Audiences » Alcohol (Restricted to Best Practices) » Consumption Location » Liquor-Where Consumed-Restaurant<p>As to why Campari specifically, that could just be a coincidence. Have you seen other alcohol ads lately?
Related to privacy, I just found out that Google has detailed data about everywhere I go, because it's tracked by default by Android phones. Check yours here if you haven't (and maybe turn it off): <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/timeline" rel="nofollow">https://www.google.com/maps/timeline</a>
voice is not realistic in any scenario. Amazon echo or google doesn't understand everything, wide range microphone recording can't go unnoticed, the apps don't have access to it.<p>You are just one of Billion Facebook users, those numbers are high enough to have coincidences.
Maybe you didn't search for Campari, but perhaps a significant number of people going to this restaurant also notice this cocktail (maybe it's presented more prominently?) and google it. Maybe this topic also comes up more frequently within group of friends of a certain age, etc. So for FB, This restaurant + group of friends = show a Campari ad.
I meet a girl. She had a smartphone in which she had the Facebook app installed. I had a iPod which had a Facebook app installed too. But there was no wifi in the place we met. And my location services are always off in my device. I come home, and Facebook shows her as "People you may know." I had 32 mutual friends with her. So I let it go thinking it might be a coincidence.<p>Few days later, I meet a guy. Don't know if he had a smartphone or not. But I had my iPod. And there was no wifi. Location services are off. I come home. I see that guy as "People you may know." This time I had 2 mutual friends with him. Coincidence?
Not directly related, but tangential anecdote:<p>I was visiting another state and while there I decided to check out a local, independent book seller. While browsing I found a very interesting and niche book a had never heard of about the linguistic and archaeological history of the proto-Indo-European language and the people who spoke it. I purchased it with cash. Perhaps a week later, the book was suggested to me by Amazon. Of course I had already bought it, but I took it as an example of how accurate their recommendation algorithm could be.<p>For anyone interested, the book was The Horse, The Wheel and Language.
If you want to know what Facebook thinks about you, visit this page while logged in <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ads/preferences" rel="nofollow">https://www.facebook.com/ads/preferences</a>. FB profiled you using tons of internal data (your page like, activities, etc) and external data (bought from Epsilon, Acxiom, etc). There is a good chance Facebook already know about your habit and your choice of drinks even before you visit the restaurant.
I suspect it is Campari season and they are just pushing their ads around this time of the year. I also have been "spammed" with Campari ads on YouTube for no apparent reason. I don't like it. Never searched for it. But live in a country where campari-orange is a staple night-out drink.<p>(Edit) to complete my 'theory': Campari has been advertising a lot, including pushing its use in bars/restaurants and pushing ads online, increasing likelyhood of that coincidence to happen.
Perhaps you're not the only ones at this restaurant to notice and discuss this same cocktail, such that Facebook has learned of a "Campari thing" from others before you?<p>I assume FB would have learned several friends have joined together in the same location.
A case, or you had an app in background ... that recognize the voice and send data ... well it could be more near to reality than you maybe can imagine ... i'm impressed by the way, on how users install apps of any kind on their smartphone ... they really ignore how many data are transferred in background ... one day, or also right now, also the voice ... same users, often may are complaining that his phone credit get critical, and they do not know why! :)
I went on Facebook yesterday and there was an ad from a retailer I used once ages ago that said, "We noticed you haven't shopped with us for a while, blah blah, here's a special offer". I use uBlock and have Pi-hole blocking stuff like this at the DNS level, so how have they been able to connect my accounts in such a way the retailer can target me? They even use different email addresses.
Something similar happened with me. I don't have Facebook's app but I use Messenger (location - allowed), So I'm guessing this is location based. You went inside a restaurant, spent time there. And Campari turned out to be a hot selling thing for restaurants.
I remember a post on here last year about Facebook suggesting patients of a psychologist as friends. It did this by location. Perhaps you or one of your friends had a facebook app on their phone with the location information turned on?
Every Facebook ad has a dropdown in the top right corner, and one of the options is "Why am I seeing this ad?". It will show you details on that ad's targeting and why you are seeing it.
A case, or you had an app in background ... that recognize the voice and send data ... well it could be more near to reality than you maybe can imagine ... this can be SO real, but rue or not, i'm impressed by the way, on how users install apps of any kind on their smartphone ... they really ignore how many data are transferred in background ... one day, or also right now, also the voice ... same users, often may are complaining that his phone credit get critical, and they do not know why!
Its a well known fact Facebook stays open on your phone even after you close it. Gps and your bar seem to have told Facebook to serve you an ad. Crazy that Facebook can do this, I can only imagine what the govt agencies do with this data.