Do Marketing Platforms Listen to Us to Serve Ads?

We’ve all been targeted with an ad on Facebook or while browsing online where we thought there was NO WAY anyone could have known about it. Back in 2016, Facebook came out and said they were NOT using smartphone microphones to listen into our conversations. But is that true? What about Google? Is Google listening to us?

Listen in as Aaron and Tobaria jump into the myth that Facebook, Google, and other marketing platforms are listening to us to better target us and serve ads to us.

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Show Notes

Download your Facebook Information

https://www.facebook.com/your_information/ 

1. Click the “down arrow” in the upper right-hand corner of the Facebook desktop window
2. Click “Settings”
3. Click “Your Facebook Information” on the left-hand side

You can view the info Facebook knows and you can download a copy of the information here as well.

Learn what influences the ads you see on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/ads/preferences/

1. Click the “down arrow” in the upper right-hand corner of the Facebook desktop window
2. Click “Settings”
3. Click “Ads” on the left-hand side

You can see what influences the ads you see on Facebook and take control over the experience if needed.

Download your Google Information

Go to https://takeout.google.com/settings/takeout 

You can select what information to download and then schedule the download. Depending on how much information is in your profile, it could take a few hours to get the info.

What does Facebook know about us?

• Posts you’ve shared on Facebook and posts you’ve been tagged in
• Comments you’ve posted on your own posts, on other’s posts, or in groups you belong to
• The people you are connected to on Facebook
• Messages you’ve exchanged with other people on Messenger
• Your responses to events and a list of the events you’ve created
• Pages you are the admin of
• History of payments made through Facebook
• A list of places you’ve created
• Photos and videos you’ve shared or been tagged in
• Posts, comments, and pages you’ve liked or reacted to
• People, organizations, or businesses you choose to see content from, and people who follow you
• Groups you belong to, groups you manage, and your posts and comments within the groups you belong to
• Your contact information, the information you’ve written in your About You section in your profile and your life events
• Your activity on Marketplace
• Posts, photos, and videos you have saved
• Websites you log into via Facebook and apps you admin
• Your interests, interactions, and existing relationships you have with advertisers that influence the ads you see
• A history of the words, phrases, and names you’ve searched for
• Logs of your calls and messages that you’ve chosen to share in your device settings
• Information associated with your Facebook account
• A history of precise locations received through Location Services on your device
• Your login history, session length, and other security-related information

What does Google know about us?

• Physical tracking
• Search activity
• YouTube search and viewing history
• Gmail history
• Other things:
  1. Google+ plus 1s
  2. Android Device Configuration Service
  3. Blogger
  4. Bookmarks
  5. Calendar
  6. Chrome
  7. Classroom
  8. Contacts
  9. Data Shared for Research
  10. Drive
  11. Fit
  12. G Suite Marketplace
  13. Google Help Communities
  14. Google Pay
  15. Google Photos
  16. Google Play Books
  17. Google Play Console
  18. Google Play Games Services
  19. Google Play Movies & TV
  20. Google Play Music
  21. Google Play Store
  22. Google+ Circles
  23. Google+ Communities
  24. Google+ Stream
  25. Groups
  26. Handsfree
  27. Hangouts
  28. Hangouts on Air
  29. Home App
  30. Input Tools
  31. Keep
  32. Location History
  33. Mail
  34. Maps
  35. Maps (Your Places)
  36. My Activity
  37. My Maps
  38. News
  39. Posts on Google
  40. Profile
  41. Purchases & Reservations
  42. Reminders
  43. Saved
  44. Search Contributions
  45. Shopping Lists
  46. Street View
  47. Tasks
  48. Textcube
  49. Voice
  50. YouTube