If you facebook, you've realized the ads you see are based on the interests and activities listed in your profile. You know, that's why all those ads are so relevant. Now it seems there's more to the story they're not telling us or the advertisers yet.
According to the Ads FAQ: "Keywords are based on information users list in their Facebook profiles, such as Activities, Favorite Books, TV Shows, Movies, etc." What they don't tell you is your status updates factor into the equation as well.
Last week I posted something about "NC" as a status updated. Almost immediately I began seeing ads for bars, lawyers and insurance agencies in North Carolina. Similarly, when I posted about a mandolin I had bought, I began seeing a repeating ad for a mandolin site.
While this keyword-based advertising is nothing new (gmail has been creeping us out for years), I find it a bit disingenuous that facebook is doing so without explicitly telling us, don't you? If you're a regular user, you should feel your privacy is being a little bit violated; if you're an advertiser, you should know you're not getting the actual demographic you think you're paying for.
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