Kinzin, Facebook Ads and the Inadvertent Huckster
posted at 1:09 pm
on Mar. 18, 2008
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I use Facebook, and I’m pretty liberal when it comes to adding new applications, joining groups, and being fans of a company. I’m a pretty open guy.
But that behavior, becoming fans of a company, exposed an interesting problem recently. I became a fan of Kinzin—for no real reason, other than that I liked thier design and the way they solved a problem of online communities: namely, privacy controls for family, especially kids.
So imagine my irony-laced surprise when a friend sent me this screenshot, of an ad she said she clicked on because she thought I was explicitly messaging it to her:
This ad ran in the ad spot on Facebook, and it uses me as an endorser of the Kinzin service.
But there’s a big difference between ME telling people I like something (i.e. a movie), and the owners of that service telling people that I like their service.
Facebook is promoting this social targeting as the premiere feature that makes their advertising valuable, at least according to their advertising page.
As far as I can tell, there’s no way to stop a single company from using your image, name and endorsement, if you’re a fan of that company. It’s not in the settings for that company. You can stop companies from using you, it’s in Privacy -> Applications and Ads -> Ads.
In about a week (I’m waiting a week so you can look now and see if I’m promoting Kinzin) I’m going to remove myself as a fan for Kinzin. I don’t dislike their service, but I don’t want to be an inadvertent (and uncompensated) shill for them.
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Thoughts About SXSW 2008
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Damned Bikers, Clumsy Eaters and People Who Don’t Call Back
