Facebook filed a patent application earlier this year which defines an algorithm that leverages elements of photographs, like faces, and uses this information to build out profiles of a household; possibly making it easier to target advertisements to an entire family and/or improve ad targeting overall.
While this data is likely being analyzed already at Facebook (e.g. relationship status, profile names “would involve an even more sophisticated level of data mining. The proposed model would cross-reference details from photographs with tags, descriptions, the poster’s IP address, the list of Facebook users using that same address, and potentially other details. From this, Facebook could deduce how many people were in the household, alongside various demographic information,” according to a recent article on The Verge.
This patent would only analyze photos posted by users, not video of private message contents, and its easy to see how this data would be incredibly valuable to marketers from a targeting perspective.
Be sure to check back in to learn more as we wait to see how Facebook applies this technology.
Via The Verge
Image Source: Freepik
