6 ms·

As someone who has clicked less than maybe 20 Internet/mobile ads in their life, thus clearly not party of the demographic companies target, I wonder what is wr

by GoNB 13y ago

As someone who has clicked less than maybe 20 Internet/mobile ads in their life, thus clearly not party of the demographic companies target, I wonder what is wrong with my brain if the majority of people click on ads. (And probably spam mail too)

Spearchucker 13y ago
I use their mobile web site because the app automatically slurps up my contact list. When I scroll down on my news feed I have to be careful to avoid starting the swipe on an ad, because just touching an ad is a click. Touching a legit news feed item doesn't affect my swipe like that. The cynic in me wonders how many others are caught out like this.
- mikeswiss 13y ago
  I would guess a good amount :)
nuclear_eclipse 13y ago
Disclosure: I'm a Facebook employee working on something completely unrelated to ads, and I always use AdBlock on my desktop machines, but I will say this for our mobile advertisements: they can be genuinely useful. Just last week, I got an "offer" on my phone, from The Gap, for 25% off my next purchase. Claiming the offer didn't send any of my information to the gap, but it prompted me to shop there for pants when I normally would have gone elsewhere, and I actually ended up buying something. At 25% off, it cost less than or comparable to my normal shopping locations, so it was a win for me, and I bought something from The Gap that I otherwise wouldn't have, so it was a win for the advertiser. A far cry from the bad taste that online advertising usually leaves in my mouth.
- arkades 13y ago
  That sounds to me like the argument people always provide in favor of targeted advertising. What distinction do you see between desktop and mobile that made the latter more useful for you?
  - nuclear_eclipse 13y ago
    Desktop advertising has never before offered me a discount for having seen the advertisement; it's usually along the lines of "go look at this". By having a more tangible "carrot", if you will, I was much more receptive to the request for attention.
- jypepin 13y ago
  and who didn't buy that portable usb charger from beyond the rack for something like $12? At least ~10 of my peers, me included, bought one! It is, literally, the first time some sort of ads works for me and my friends. I think the way it worked is 2-3 of my close friends bought one, so it started to pop in my feed too, I bought one and it continued to jump to our friends feed.
  - salgernon 13y ago
    "beyond the rack" seems like one of those sign up clubs. Do you have to pay a subscription fee with them? What is a "portable usb charger"? A 12v car adapter or something else? Did it really cost $12? Who makes it? Did you pay for shipping? I'm asking because I'm trying to figure out if your comment is sarcasm or not - to me $12 seems like a lot of money for something that doesn't have a brand name guarantee behind it. I may just be completely off base, but I'm confused on why this was such a great deal.
    - jypepin 13y ago
      Sorry, no it was not sarcasm. It was from nomorerack not beyond the rack. I did not pay for shipping, not sure about the brand, etc... it's an item equivalent to this one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/141025286801?hlp=false&var= http://www.ebay.com/itm/141025286801?hlp=false&var= not sure if same brand or not, it was tagged at ~$40 on nomorerack, with the special deal at $12. it works well and I'm really happy with it :)
- objclxt 13y ago
  The counterpoint to that would be that many brands would prefer to not use discounting as an advertisement strategy. I can see how mobile offers at Facebook can be beneficial, but it's not totally clear how that gets extended out to advertisements without discounting.
pessimizer 13y ago
A small minority of people ever click on ads. Of course, a small minority of Americans watch American Idol, too:)
baddox 13y ago
> if the majority of people click on ads The majority of people do not click on ads.
pbreit 13y ago
Before the interweb, advertising was primarily about impressions. After the interweb, impressions are actually still valuable, even if the advertising is not obviously priced that way.

by GoNB 13y ago

Spearchucker 13y ago

I use their mobile web site because the app automatically slurps up my contact list. When I scroll down on my news feed I have to be careful to avoid starting the swipe on an ad, because just touching an ad is a click. Touching a legit news feed item doesn't affect my swipe like that. The cynic in me wonders how many others are caught out like this.

mikeswiss 13y ago
I would guess a good amount :)

nuclear_eclipse 13y ago

Disclosure: I'm a Facebook employee working on something completely unrelated to ads, and I always use AdBlock on my desktop machines, but I will say this for our mobile advertisements: they can be genuinely useful. Just last week, I got an "offer" on my phone, from The Gap, for 25% off my next purchase. Claiming the offer didn't send any of my information to the gap, but it prompted me to shop there for pants when I normally would have gone elsewhere, and I actually ended up buying something. At 25% off, it cost less than or comparable to my normal shopping locations, so it was a win for me, and I bought something from The Gap that I otherwise wouldn't have, so it was a win for the advertiser. A far cry from the bad taste that online advertising usually leaves in my mouth.

arkades 13y ago
That sounds to me like the argument people always provide in favor of targeted advertising. What distinction do you see between desktop and mobile that made the latter more useful for you?
- nuclear_eclipse 13y ago
  Desktop advertising has never before offered me a discount for having seen the advertisement; it's usually along the lines of "go look at this". By having a more tangible "carrot", if you will, I was much more receptive to the request for attention.
jypepin 13y ago
and who didn't buy that portable usb charger from beyond the rack for something like $12? At least ~10 of my peers, me included, bought one! It is, literally, the first time some sort of ads works for me and my friends. I think the way it worked is 2-3 of my close friends bought one, so it started to pop in my feed too, I bought one and it continued to jump to our friends feed.
- salgernon 13y ago
  "beyond the rack" seems like one of those sign up clubs. Do you have to pay a subscription fee with them? What is a "portable usb charger"? A 12v car adapter or something else? Did it really cost $12? Who makes it? Did you pay for shipping? I'm asking because I'm trying to figure out if your comment is sarcasm or not - to me $12 seems like a lot of money for something that doesn't have a brand name guarantee behind it. I may just be completely off base, but I'm confused on why this was such a great deal.
  - jypepin 13y ago
    Sorry, no it was not sarcasm. It was from nomorerack not beyond the rack. I did not pay for shipping, not sure about the brand, etc... it's an item equivalent to this one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/141025286801?hlp=false&var= http://www.ebay.com/itm/141025286801?hlp=false&var= not sure if same brand or not, it was tagged at ~$40 on nomorerack, with the special deal at $12. it works well and I'm really happy with it :)
objclxt 13y ago
The counterpoint to that would be that many brands would prefer to not use discounting as an advertisement strategy. I can see how mobile offers at Facebook can be beneficial, but it's not totally clear how that gets extended out to advertisements without discounting.

pessimizer 13y ago

A small minority of people ever click on ads. Of course, a small minority of Americans watch American Idol, too:)

baddox 13y ago

> if the majority of people click on ads The majority of people do not click on ads.

pbreit 13y ago

Before the interweb, advertising was primarily about impressions. After the interweb, impressions are actually still valuable, even if the advertising is not obviously priced that way.