OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - FEBRUARY 27: Democratic presidential candidate, former New York City mayor Mike ... [+]
I’ve stated for the record that this column will never get political. I’m not about to break that rule, but I have to say: Michael Bloomberg, you are wasting your time.
I’m not sure why I’m such a target for ads, but it calls into question how modern analytics, advertiser modeling, and ad targeting works these days.
Let me back up a little.
As someone who has investigated ad networks quite a bit, I know there are quite a few options available — especially to political candidates.
It’s far more than selecting targets who live in a certain area or fall into a specific age group. In fact, I believe one of the reasons social media companies are so successful is because the ad networks are so rich and varied. Obviously, Google makes most of their revenue from ads. This is also true for Facebook and Twitter, and if you have ever used their advertising engines, you know they’re robust.
I wonder sometimes if it is also totally and completely useless for politicians when it comes to political nuances.
It's one thing when someone is trying to sell me a product on social media. I know companies use cookies to track my web visits and can determine, without much effort, that I’m in the market for a new snowblower. They might not technically know the one I have is just losing power, but they can certainly find out that I’ve been shopping for them online. Advertisers can also find out easily enough that I like adventure hiking, coffee, beef jerky, and that I’m shopping for a new car.
Do they have any clue about my voting record? Sure they do. Do they have a good grasp about my political views? Perhaps. What they really could never predict is where I fit precisely on the political spectrum. The goal, of course, is that politicians can parse out some information about me. They might know a little about my track record — I never search for hunting rifles so it’s not a priority for me. I prefer fishing and would rather shoot a deer with a Nikon or a Canon than anything else.
Do they know whether I’m for gun control or against it? No way.
I believe the algorithms and analytics for political ads are not that advanced right now when it comes to targeting. I am not sure any politician is using artificial intelligence and machine learning to find out about my actual viewpoints, and it might be decades before this is possible. The reason is that I barely share my views with close friends or my wife. I rarely state anything about my political views in person, let alone on a Google search, posting on social media, or visiting a myriad of political sites.
Am I a swing voter? Apparently Michael Bloomberg thinks I am. I’m seeing ads all over the place, served to me on a silver platter of advertising demographic data. I don’t even know if I’m a swing voter myself, so I doubt if Michael Bloomberg or any other candidates know this.
The problem is that sentiment analysis and the nuances of my political stance are not a good fit for social media ad networks. They are not currently able to parse out hate speech or online abuse, how could they ever know my view on immigration?
Now, I don’t have access to the algorithms and analytics they use. I am not sure if there is machine learning involved. I suspect a political adviser is telling campaign staffers to run Facebook ads based on my age, gender, location, and a few other factors. I’m sure they have a profile on me somewhere, maybe buried in a database. I just think they are totally misinformed.
It’s a waste of time and money. I’d be surprised if they have a clue about my views. To be honest, I’m not even completely sure what they are...yet.
