In an experiment, the NYT bought and displayed ads targeting 16 profile attributes to reveal what advertisers think they know about users seeing targeted ads
Nearly every ad you see online is tailored just for you. These digital ads are powered by vast, hidden datasets that allow advertisers … Tweets: @privacyproject , @hacks4pancakes , @stuartathompson , @privacyproject , @nytopinion , @justinhendrix , and @cwarzel Tweets: @privacyproject : We scrolled through 30,000 attributes used by advertisers - from “people trying to lose weight” to “people near an IHOP” - and bought seven ads to understand this invisible part of the Internet. http://www.nytimes.com/... http://twitter.com/... Lesley Carhart / @hacks4pancakes : “In the next election, I think it is inevitable that every single voter will have been profiled based on what they have been reading, watching and listening to for years online,” said Johnny Ryan, the chief policy officer at Brave http://twitter.com/... Stuart A. Thompson / @stuartathompson : When brainstorming the @PrivacyProject I wondered if we could actually use targeted ads as a storytelling device. So we bought some ads and used them to show the invisible data collection/use all around us. http://www.nytimes.com/... @privacyproject : Nearly every ad you see online is tailored just for you. How does that work? We bought seven ads to find out. http://www.nytimes.com/... http://twitter.com/... New York / @nytopinion : Have you seen this ad? You might have - if you matched the profiles we picked. This experiment for the @PrivacyProject shows how our information is used not just to target us but to manipulate others for economic and political ends. http://www.nytimes.com/... http://twitter.com/... Justin Hendrix / @justinhendrix : The NYT bought some ad space, picked 16 categories (like registered Democrats or people trying to lose weight) and targeted ads at people in them. But instead of trying to sell things, @stuartathompson used the ads to reveal the targeting variables. http://www.nytimes.com/... Charlie Warzel / @cwarzel : this by @stuartathompson is a brilliant look at online ads & our privacy. he bought ad space and went through the process of targeting users on 30k categories to show the hidden architecture of the internet http://www.nytimes.com/... http://twitter.com/...