Studying ad logic

 I have a scholarly interest in what we learn or think we learn from social media. This topic became a popular research topic after I completed my career as an active researcher, but I still try to follow the studies, thinking, and methods applied in this area. The education types are probably most interested in the learner and the role the learner plays in selecting and interpreting information. The tech types often have a somewhat different interest focus involving how algorithm-based decisions are made about what individuals see. These algorithms are carefully guarded so it is not easy to understand how decisions are made.

This post is mostly related to this second topic. Some weeks ago I began participating in some online research I admit I did not take a lot of time to understand. I knew it was about the ads I viewed as a function of the time I spent online and sites I visited, but I did not read the fine print. Not smart because I was providing access to data based on my behavior and I should have done more to understand what and why. Anyway, I thought no more about my commitment until I saw a couple of news stories and realized I was one of the participants.

What I describe here involves my looking back. I have discovered the study is called the NYU Ad Observatory. One goal as I have discovered now involved trying to reverse engineer why Facebook users see the ads that they see. Some observations related to this goal are included in the content provided in the link I provided above. I started investigating a bit about the project itself because I read that Facebook was not pleased this information was being collected. I can understand their reluctance, but I do agree we all need better understanding of how we are being targeted and what possible consequences might be. 

If what I describe here interests you, you can download the extension required by Chrome or FireFox at the Ad Observer Site. 

The site provides access to the extension needed to add the service to your browser and you should see something when you select the browser of your choice that looks like this image. This page should also contain additional information about the extension and a link to a site explaining the details of the project. The blue botton installs the extension.

Once the extension has been added, you will be asked to provide some personal information (preferences) that will be related by the ad project to the ads you see. From that point, you just browse without any requirement to pay any more attention.

If you are interested, do this. The extension will add a small icon at the top of your browser.

The icon will open a drop-down menu. The “My archive” button will provide some information collected about your activity. It will display ads and the category you are in that targeted you with this ad.

There are limits in the methodology that seem obvious. My access to Facebook is primarily through my phone or tablet. This extension is in the browser on my desktop. I also use two different chrome-based browsers on my desktop (Chrome and Brave) so I doubt the service can generate a composite representation of my ad viewing experience. Still, I think the collection of such data is valuable and we need something to allow thinking about why we see what we see. Read the user agreement.

Yes – as you can see from the ad I am being targeted as a Democrat which is an accurate determination by Facebook. I write often about the value of Facebook. It is not a place to get your news.