Westpine Capital

Facebook & Instagram are NOT listening to your conversations. What they are doing is MUCH more effective! Here’s how it works 1/ The two most valuable pieces of software on earth are: 1. The FB pixel 2. The FB newsfeed When you wonder how $FB is worth > $400BN while Twitter is < $30BN, these two pieces of software are your answer. What are they? 2/ The FB pixel is a tiny piece of code that nearly every website/mobile app on the planet has embedded. It collects anonymized data for FB to aggregate: websites visited, how much time was spent, did you buy or not, etc. 3/ The newsfeed algo looks at that as a signal along with hundreds of other data points like age, friends, what you click on, and even where you post to determine which ad to place in front of you, when. All of this is done in aggregated groups. Not personal/specific to you. 4/ When it works: right message in front of right person at right time….everyone wins. A brand finds a new customer. You find a product you want. FB makes $. 5/ This is a good thing. You get value from it all the time. You’re shopping for a mattress. You go to Casper’s website. Then back to FB/IG. You start getting ads for other mattress companies and even a mattress comparison site. You find the right choice, you buy! 6/ So, back to FB listening to us. They have a way more effective and smarter system... If me and @mrsharma get lunch, FBs systems can figure it out (still anonymously of course) How? 7/ Our devices were near each other for about an hour at neither of our houses around lunchtime. FBIG knows the last 10 websites each of us visited. (This is all done based on device codes not our names/personal info). It bets that we talked about a few of these websites. 8/ it also leverages a common bias in our brains. A cognitive bias known as the Baader–Meinhof phenomenon AKA the frequency illusion. You know how when you buy a new item like a car/computer/shoes, you immediately notice it EVERYWHERE. 9/ It’s not that it’s gotten more frequent, it’s that your brain is more aware of it. Your brain is picky on what it allows you to pay attention to. This bias makes you think things are more frequent than it truly is. In short, you only notice the ads from your conversation... 10/ So after lunch, it shows us each ads based on the other person's browsing history. We didn’t discuss 9/10 of the websites the other person visited so we don’t even notice that. But the 1 we happened to discuss JUMPS out at us. And we conclude: FBIG has been listening!! 11/ In reality, they use tech, data and tools available to most mobile apps and some smart probabilistic modeling plus know about the frequency illusion. They do not listen. Think: The computing power required to constantly listen would kill your phone in less than an hour. 12/ Also, it would also require FB hacking apple/google devices microphones (extremely unlikely) Even though it may feel creepy at times, the result is good: more relevant ads which improve the experience for everyone! 13/ Before you judge, remember this super smart algo helps consumers discover new products every day. And helps millions of small biz owners grow their businesses every day. It’s become a crux of the internet economy and digital marketing. 14/ So that’s the rundown on why it seems like FBIG is listening when they are not! While I have your attention… I've put all my experience bootstrapping biz’s into creating a FREE email course to help you: •Find biz ideas •Learn how to sell more •Build without VC money Want in? Get it for free below 👇👇👇