Behavioral targeting is one thing. But what about the data users freely divulge on their social network profiles? Facebook says it's working on an advertising system that allows marketers to target ads based on information users post on their profile pages, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.
Currently Facebook lets advertisers target ads based on age, location and gender. Under the new system, advertisers would be able to disseminate their messages based on a broader range of reported information that includes favorite activities and musical preferences, for example.
The ads would be interspersed with items in a users' news feed.
A basic version of the new ad serving tool could be available as early as this fall.
