Comments on: How Do Facebook Advertisers Know You Might Want to Cruise Gay Dudes?

By: Clarice

Clarice — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:29:47 +0000

Well, although I’m not gay, I’ve been surprised by facebook ads as well. Noone knows I’m pregnant, except for my close family, and yet I get a thousand adds for clothes, help with adoption, places that sell baby stuff, everything.
I used to have normal ads for all kinds of things I didn’t need, but now there’s only pregnancy ads left, I mean, ONLY.

Wonder how they do that…

By: Me

Me — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:31:08 +0000

I guess you guys share WAY more info about your lives than I do. I don’t get any targeted ads except local ones (because they can read where my ISP is or whatever) and I have several of those Facebook Activists in my friends list (you know who join every boycott this group they can find because they think that counts as “doing something”). I never selected things like what I’m looking for, etc… The more info you share, the more exposed you become. Same thing goes with all those apps, which do nothing more than force spam down your throats. But hey, at least you know which Thundercat you most resemble.

By: Alex

Alex — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:14:03 +0000

I don’t have “interested in” filled out on my profile. Like Yuki, I get all sorts of ads, some obviously aimed at a gay audience, but others designed to appeal to straight guys. Sometimes online ads can be “smart” and aimed at you, but sometimes they screw up horribly. The other day I was watching some show on Hulu and they showed me an ad for NuvaRing. NuvaRing is a birth control ring that men would have nothing to do with. They threw their money down the drain showing me that ad, especially considering that it’s not even possible that I might have a girlfriend/wife to encourage to use it! And at other times, I’ll get banner ads from the business school I graduated from six months ago, or from the company I work for (on my home computer), which is almost creepy. They can be way off the mark or right on target.

By: littlebin

littlebin — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:11:43 +0000

Facbook also uses keywords from facebook msgs in your inbox and sent items, hence why it’s a painfully slow process deleting them, and there is no simple empty inbox function.

I deleted all of my msgs, took 2 hours doing it page by page and all of the gay ads etc disappeared.

By: Yuki

Yuki — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:29:09 +0000

I get a lot of gay ads because I’m listed as “interested in men”. However, I’ve ALSO gotten “DATE THIS WOMAN!” and “Are you pregnant?! There’s an 85% chance that you’re pregnant!” ads before.

By: romeo

romeo — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:05:41 +0000

Beyond the Big Brother aspects, one positive thing about this might be that there would eventually emerge an ACCURATE picture of how many of us there REALLY are ! Let’s face it. Most gays pass whenever possible just to avoid hassles. So I’m betting that if our real numbers were known, it would scare the living sh*t out of the right-wing nutjobs. LMFAO !

By: dontblamemeivotedforhillary

dontblamemeivotedforhillary — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:46:28 +0000

Too many ads for Dating!

By: Keith Kimmel

Keith Kimmel — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:59:38 +0000

As for ChoicePoint, they are completely useless. Several people I know have felony convictions and they are working in positions that require clean backgrounds. I asked them how they pulled it off, they said ChoicePoint doesn’t have their criminal records. If they cant even get criminal records (which are a matter of public record) right, how do you think they are going to get other, non-public info compiled.

By: B

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:53:36 +0000

terrwill wrote, “Uhh guys…….I kinda hate to tell ya but every freaking call,email,text,you make or send, and every purchase you nake is identified and recorded by a company called ChoicePoint.”

While privacy is a serious issue, ChoicePoint simply can’t do what is being claimed. If your email is sufficiently sensitive that you do not want anyone at an ISP, google, etc. to be able to read it, even if they receive a court order, then encrypt it.

BTW, if your phone company secretly records your phone calls and gives the recordings to some other company, there are serious legal consequences. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T.....ted_States has some of it, with references at the end providing more detail.

By: Keith Kimmel

Keith Kimmel — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:41:55 +0000

Oh gee, I dunno, they know I am a homo based on the fact that:

1. I declared it on my profile.
2. My collection of pages is a whose who of queer activists.
3. Most of my friends on there are homos, too.
4. Queer as Folk is listed as a favorite TV show.
5. My events are mostly gay.

Yeah, I see the ads. All the time. Hell, Atlantis is one of my events. I am planning to do the liberty cruise in Jan 2010. I think even a dumb robot could probably look at my profile and say “Yep, homo.”

By: Jamie

Jamie — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:39:02 +0000

I get all the gay adds…and ones for ultrasounds…or at least I used to, then I just blocked adds altogether <3 firefox!

By: scott ny'er

scott ny'er — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:17:44 +0000

what ads.

firefox + adblock = nirvana.

By: terrwill

terrwill — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:03:32 +0000

Uhh guys…….I kinda hate to tell ya but every freaking call,email,text,you make or send, and every purchase you nake is identified and recorded by a company called ChoicePoint. They know who you corrospond with by any means, what you purchase, how you pay for it, who you cruise, and probably who you fuck..

The concept of “privacy” is a quaint little notion that went bye bye with the inception of the internets and satellite technology. Every single bit of new technology is able to be viewed and stored by basicaly anyone. You want to keep tabs on your former of current lovers? You can pay $80.00 and take complete control of their cell phones, listen to calls, be notified every time they make or recieve a call or text, review texts and photos, even turn on the speaker phone to listen in on their sweet nothings!!

Its not only big brother any more…..its big sister, little brother, et all!!!!!!

By: Wyatt

Wyatt — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:41:25 +0000

As soon as I switched my status to “seeking men” on Facebook, the gay ads were suddenly there on the right side of the screen. ALL THE TIME. At the time, I was the only gay person I knew on facebook and I still had the ads there.

Don’t let them fool you. It’s based on the little attraction tab in your info profile.