Social Media Advertising Revisited

Thingamabob
www.jimbodetools.com

There is a lot of buzz on how we are influenced or even manipulated by social media.  There is a rather intense and somewhat frightening Netflix video, The Social Dilemma, that I wrote about on in January of this year:  A January Potpourri.  I tend to agree with the theme of this video.  But social media can be inept or at least used to be.

Let’s say I was considering buying a specific product e.g. an adjustable desk or an electric mandolin.  I might have done a Google search and, more likely, an Amazon search for the product.  In short order, I would start seeing advertisements of the product on Facebook.  Clearly, there was some kind of sharing behind the scenes on my laptop or phone between Google with Facebook as well as Amazon and Facebook.  This I would say was a pretty smart and clever ploy of Facebook’s to generate focused advertising.  I was, of course, a bit offended by the Big Brother nature of them knowing what I was shopping for.  But, this was only mildly irritating. 

What I find even more irritating is when Facebook keeps advertising for an electric mandolin or an adjustable desk well after I actually bought one.  It’s a head scratcher to me.  If they were able to know that I was searching for an item, it would stand to reason that they should know when I bought one and stop pestering me with ads.

Lately, I have been getting advertisements from Amazon on Facebook that are different.  I use Amazon a fair amount, so I expect to get some targeted advertising from them.  About half of these newer ads are items related to items I have bought and would probably buy again, namely clothing and food.  Amazon Essentials is their clothing line and I get offers for pants and shirts of various types.  I am OK with these ads.  In the realm of music, I start seeing offerings that makes me wonder what their new algorithm is.  I play stringed instruments, specifically the oud and cumbus and less frequently the mandolin.  So, I have to wonder why I am getting ads for polymer tubas, trumpets with exceptional long bells, and a variety of musical electronic gizmos and gadgets most of which I have no use for and some of which I am not even sure what they are used for e.g. the phase shift thingamabobber, the active 4-channel whoziwhatsit, or even a rechargeable therbelometer with looping AI.

There is another class of products that really baffles me. I have no idea what the products in these ads are or  why Amazon and Facebook together think I may want or need them.  Here are a few examples:

 

·      Noyito PAM8302, 2.5W Single Cha…
What?  I had to click on it to find out in was a “2.5W Single Channel Class D Audio Power Amplifier Amp Development Board.” 
Well, it only cost $8.50 but I really needed the Class C or E, I am never clear about this.

 

 

 

·      Ancable 5-Pack F, Type Weather Ca…
OK then.  Again, I had to click on it to find out that these were F Type Weather Caps Outside Waterproof Dustproof Cover for Antenna Amplifier Booster Splitter F Female Connectors.  A 5-pack would cost me $4.99 and for only $2 more, they would send me a 10-pack.  Alas, I only needed 1.

·       Amazon Basics, No-Stud Low-Pr…
Had no idea what it was from the photo or the fragment of explanation until I clicked on it to find out that it was a “No Stud Low-Profile TV Wall Mount for 32-80 inch TVs up to 200lbs, fits LED LCD OLED Flat Curved Screens.”
Whew, here was something that I was familiar with but no from the photo the No-Stud Low-Pr… description.

·     Monoprice 113358, Multizone Source…
Yeah… no clue what this gizmo is.  But clicking on it told me it was a Multizone Source Keypad with Bluetooth Receiver.  I have some vague, really vague, idea of what this is.  Yeah baby, and for only $39.99.  Everyone needs a spare one of these.

 

 

 

So, they keep offering me things that I have no clue what they are and have to click on ad to maybe figure out what they are. 

Hmmm… they are making me click on ads. 

Aha!! They are getting me to click on ads and driving traffic to their website.  Clever of them!  I guess this is way cooler and cleverer than offering me items I have already bought.  You would think they would offer me things I have been looking for since my Boy Scout initiation scavenger hunt:  a bacon stretcher and a left-handed monkey wrench.