What Advertising Data Tells Us About Society

LAB TALK

Wednesday, 19 June 2024, 3:00 - 4:00 PM (CEST)

Language: English

online in Zoom

If you’re not paying for the product, then you are the product. – This slogan succinctly captures the business model of Facebook, TikTok and other online social networks. All of these “free” services collect extensive data about their users and use this to build up detailed profiles. This information then enables advertisers to target their ads to groups of users who are most likely to purchase their products.

In this Lab Talk, Ingmar Weber will explain how anonymous and aggregate data that was collected for profit maximization can be accessed and used to study societal phenomena. Concretely, Facebook & Co. provide advertisers with so-called "audience estimates" on how many of their users match certain targeting criteria. For example, Facebook estimates that there are 3,600 female users living in Norte de Santander in Colombia who are aged 18-24, but who used to live in Venezuela, and who have access to an iOS device. These estimates are typically used for budget planning of advertising campaigns. However, they can be repurposed for remote social sensing and mapping different populations.

In their work, Ingmar Weber and his team work closely with international stakeholders to use such data to monitor international migration, track digital gender gaps, and map poverty. He'll present details about these projects, as well as both opportunities and challenges related to the use of advertising data for research. Join us for this insightful Lab Talk and a discussion with Alexander von Humboldt Professor Ingmar Weber!

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