Facebook Interest Targeting Fails at about 30% Rate

Liam Alexander 06 Apr 2022

North Carolina State University issues a study on the accuracy of ad targeting on Facebook. The results of it are far from the illusion of Facebook’s all-embracing knowledge. The accuracy of targeting turns out more fallible than one might expect, misfiring at about 30% rate. Why do the myth and the reality differ that much?

To conduct the research, the scientists created a bunch of accounts which were led by humans, with various demographic parameters (age, gender, etc.) Under these accounts, various activities were executed, like humans do. In addition, a control study involved 146 real persons from various countries and regions of the world, in which the accuracy of interests was evaluated. The control study corroborated the results of the one with artificial user accounts.

As both studies show, the accuracy of ad targeting had the similar rate of inaccuracy – about 30%. Why does the service that is supposed to know everything about you go wrong so often? The researchers came up with a set of possible explanations.

First, Facebook takes into consideration too many actions, many of which are random and irrelevant. Even if you accidentally click a link and scroll down the page a bit. Facebook lists it among your interests. Second, it counts both positive and negative reactions; so, if you happen to like one post, heart another, and get angry at the third, all three will count. The same applies to negative comments. Finally, Facebook’s AI still can’t properly process natural language, confusing, say, common and proper names, and trademarks along with them.

And what about you? Are the ads shown by Facebook always relevant in your case? Do they reflect your real interests and requests? Welcome to the comments where you can tell us more about your Facebook experience!