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Creepy, But Effective: Facebook Adds Contextual Image Ads
techcrunch.com — Is a picture worth a thousand clicks? You ’ve heard of contextual ads triggered by keywords on a Web page. Now, get ready for contextual ads triggered by images on the page. Visual-shopping search engine Like.com is running ads on Facebook that appear to match objects in profile photos.
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- steaprok, on 06/01/2008, -14/+6there are now also billboards that scan faces and customize the message based on demographic. A bit weird!
- DucoNihilum, on 06/01/2008, -0/+18You mean the ones we just read about one story ago....?
- thenonhacker, on 06/01/2008, -4/+26How can Facebook identify the objects in your photos and find a similar image to use in its ads? If it's a new in-house technology, then Google Image Search will surely benefit from it!
- geekchic, on 06/01/2008, -0/+7Image recognition software has been around in various forms for many years.
Most work is (typically) focused on security applications and web-filtering software, but identifying general aspects of images is not a particuarly new idea. - TomPlansMedia, on 06/01/2008, -7/+1unless he has 'sunglasses' listed in his interests, this is a coincidence
- althanis, on 06/01/2008, -1/+6RTFA. It uses Like.com's image search technology.
- prgmctan, on 06/01/2008, -0/+1which they also said might just be a coincidence
- Startemus, on 06/01/2008, -0/+4Figured I'd test this out so I went to facebook to check out my profile...
no lie this is what came up first...
http://tinypic.com/usermedia.php?uo=WC4NXyOb8WUSd% ...
I'd guess they go by words on your profile cause it's hard to believe.- marnaq, on 06/02/2008, -0/+2Well. If that's true I'm sleeping with the lights on tonight. That's ***** creepy.
- richardhenry, on 06/01/2008, -0/+1What you're trying to say is that TechCrunch is an unbelievable heap of *****.
- deanlowe, on 06/02/2008, -0/+1Why would it benefit Google?!
- kylethompson1, on 06/02/2008, -0/+1Theres a website thats been out for a while where you upload a picture of yourself and it finds celebrities who look the most like you. It's surprisingly accurate.
- Harbinger67, on 06/02/2008, -0/+1It's far from perfect.
My profile pic is currently David Bowie as Jareth in "Labyrinth", but the contextual ad is trying to sell me Rush tickets :p
- geekchic, on 06/01/2008, -0/+7Image recognition software has been around in various forms for many years.
- TommyGuns, on 06/01/2008, -7/+1These sites that facilitate the medium between 1 person and many parties are going to revolutionize many aspects of the internet and our everyday lives. I don't think anyone realized the population swell that occurred with social networking sites was going to lead to the new developments in which we have all ready experienced. I think Facebook has really taken the initiative to drive their networking site to be very user friendly while appealing to a diverse population of users. The mobile applications for phones are making these sites that more effective, social networking sites that I can integrate into my phone are the first applications I check out. Twitter, Gtalk, Facebook, Myspace, Blogspot, and several others all come directly to my phone allowing me to conduct business effectively social network anywhere. With the exception of Fallon Nevada only county owned phone system in the country and the service is horrible there!
- jmp478, on 06/01/2008, -0/+1FFS... Shut up
nobody asked for your opinion
- jmp478, on 06/01/2008, -0/+1FFS... Shut up
- WriterSD, on 06/01/2008, -8/+3That really is kinda creepy!
- BlackSheep720, on 06/01/2008, -8/+7I can think of some very, very inappropriate ways to use this.
- RSjmiller, on 06/01/2008, -9/+1He's a gangster for real - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=he1rYR_8T4s
- JoaoPe, on 06/01/2008, -4/+11That's not triggered by pictures. Maybe the guy has "sun glasses" or "ray ban" written on photo description or something.
Image recognition as been around many years from now, but that's not the case.- 1longtime, on 06/01/2008, -0/+7"Can someone from Like/Riya let us know [...] in comments?"
They're writing an article based on pure conjecture and they have the balls to ask for confirmation in the article comments? Ah journalism without responsibility. In other news, pigs now pilot an F-22 into the moon. (Can someone please confirm this in the comments?)- TheSabre, on 06/01/2008, -0/+2Confirmed. (Can someone please cite this in another comment?)
- 1longtime, on 06/01/2008, -0/+7"Can someone from Like/Riya let us know [...] in comments?"
- hugepedlar, on 06/01/2008, -1/+56So THAT'S why I keep seeing hair replacement ads. Sneaky *****!
- geekchic, on 06/02/2008, -0/+1I was seeing LOADS of them on Digg last year.
I got paranoid.
- geekchic, on 06/02/2008, -0/+1I was seeing LOADS of them on Digg last year.
- Frejesal, on 06/01/2008, -6/+0Future: "So hey..um..I see that you've really got some disagreements with your friend there...interested in a crash course on haxing? Just say yes out loud, I can hear you, you know. Or nod your head."
- Ryan2845, on 06/01/2008, -1/+66I predict a lot of ads for liquor and beer
- Wingman007, on 06/02/2008, -0/+2Nah, just generic red cups.
- Mullinsmcd, on 06/02/2008, -0/+1And Victoria's Secret.....and probably various toilet manufacturers
- jspegele, on 06/02/2008, -0/+1Sharpie could make a killing off of those passed out drunk profile pics.
- u12bet, on 06/01/2008, -9/+3Facebook has advertisements?
...
Oh! I see what you mean.. All these sites (including digg) look a lot different without AdBlock Plus...
hmm...- ligyron, on 06/01/2008, -1/+4If you haven't figured out yet that the purpose of AdBlock is to block ads, then I think you need help
- u12bet, on 06/01/2008, -2/+1Oh, so sorry, I must have forgotten to turn on the Big ***** Rotating-Blinking Red Light of Sarcasm.
- u12bet, on 06/01/2008, -2/+1Oh, so sorry, I must have forgotten to turn on the Big ***** Rotating-Blinking Red Light of Sarcasm.
- Frejesal, on 06/01/2008, -0/+4Oh man awesome! Tell us peasants more about this mythical adblock plus you speak of? Where can one obtain this mystical shield of warding? WORSHIP HIM! WOOOOORSHIP HIM!
- DemDude, on 06/01/2008, -0/+5God, will that stupid smug ABP spam ever end?
We get it, you don't see ads on most pages, big deal, I don't give a *****!
- ligyron, on 06/01/2008, -1/+4If you haven't figured out yet that the purpose of AdBlock is to block ads, then I think you need help
- fr0ng, on 06/01/2008, -7/+3Holy tin foil hat crowd, Batman!
- lesty420, on 06/01/2008, -1/+6I Hope i can buy the same thong as that drunk chick I saw today
- ligyron, on 06/01/2008, -0/+7So that means Like.com can see every image you look at on Facebook...great
- marnaq, on 06/02/2008, -1/+1Why don't you go read the ToS and privacy policy. This is not surprising at all.
- hopestar777, on 06/02/2008, -0/+0Agree...
- marnaq, on 06/02/2008, -1/+1Why don't you go read the ToS and privacy policy. This is not surprising at all.
- Mononuclear, on 06/01/2008, -3/+50This is coincidence, tag based, or fake. Image recognition technology is no where near this advanced. Google images has been trying to do stuff like this but it is not currently feasible. Google images can only go off file names, alt and title tags, and nearby text to figure what is in an image. They have also tried using tags where people write one or two words to describe the image. Without context and tags/keywords there is no way to tell what is in the image.
There is no technology that can currently do this.- DemDude, on 06/01/2008, -1/+2Exactly!
It is possible to detect certain objects in videos by using very advanced algorithms that calculate how things move in relation to others. But it is still impossible to detect objects in real life photos with even nearly usable accuracy. - xptoast, on 06/01/2008, -1/+2Dude there is even visual software out there for spamers to get past captcha now. It can even read some of the words I can't pick out. It does it quickly too. There is much more out there than you think.
- Mononuclear, on 06/01/2008, -1/+5Reading 2D letters and numbers in a captcha is completely different than recognizing real world objects in a photo. Not even close.
You have read about kitty captcha? The whole point is that those applications can't tell if the picture is of a cat or a dog or a sea lion etc. Now it might be possible to write some software to specifically tell if the picture has a cat or not in it. That is also very different than making an application that can recognize any object in a picture no matter the angle etc. - Radan, on 06/01/2008, -1/+4While it is technically possible to create a program which can detect certain objects, there's currently no application available which is anywhere near as advanced as being able to detect objects in 3D with acceptable accuracy. In order to do this, you'd have to firstly scan in every single object in every single angle, and map all of the characteristic features of that object. Also note how most things don't even have any characteristic features in many angles, at least not enough to be able to tell them apart from other things, and especially not in a static picture.
And seeing how all this is supposed to be done in real time by a web server with profit, we are nowhere near in achieving this.
- Mononuclear, on 06/01/2008, -1/+5Reading 2D letters and numbers in a captcha is completely different than recognizing real world objects in a photo. Not even close.
- nicejai, on 06/01/2008, -1/+2Sorry to bust your bubble, but you're so very wrong.
Google just released a google talk (two weeks ago?) on the subject of rapid image search/indexing and sparsely-supervised classification (automated image tagging).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bakKQFEFLCA
The tech is barely 6 months old, and it works very well; or at least well enough for Facebook to use for something exactly like this if they are quick and organized enough to implement the bleeding edge of machine learning research.- Mononuclear, on 06/02/2008, -0/+1While amazing finding like images isn't quite the same as being able to find out different objects in an image. Since the ad image and the image of person are very similar this might be possible but you need to have a massive data set (millions of pictures) and it isn't that fast on large resolution pictures. It is just as likely to find any image of a person wearing dark glasses.. Telling they are aviator glasses is basically impossible. Finding pictures that contain people or a sunset is much easier than looking at an image of a person wearing aviator glasses, or a person on a snowboard and then being able to figure out that there are aviator glasses or a snowboard in the picture and to serve up the ad.
This method also heavily relies on image tags provided by users to determine like images and what is in those like images. So no matter what you still need a very very large dataset of images with user made tags.
This tech is cool and I have seen it before but it still wouldn't work for Facebook as image contextual ads.
- Mononuclear, on 06/02/2008, -0/+1While amazing finding like images isn't quite the same as being able to find out different objects in an image. Since the ad image and the image of person are very similar this might be possible but you need to have a massive data set (millions of pictures) and it isn't that fast on large resolution pictures. It is just as likely to find any image of a person wearing dark glasses.. Telling they are aviator glasses is basically impossible. Finding pictures that contain people or a sunset is much easier than looking at an image of a person wearing aviator glasses, or a person on a snowboard and then being able to figure out that there are aviator glasses or a snowboard in the picture and to serve up the ad.
- DemDude, on 06/01/2008, -1/+2Exactly!
- mamboboy, on 06/01/2008, -4/+8I guess that explains the recent penis reduction adverts on my page...gosh, I didn't know my bulge was so big!
- Weejay, on 06/01/2008, -2/+4Amazing how diggers get so sensitive (should I say insecure??) as soon as dicks are involved and start burying even though the joke was funny.
- ferrariman60, on 06/01/2008, -3/+1The joke wasn't that funny- Oh wait! that's an opinion, isn't it? Just because you think somethings funny doesn't mean it actually is. Strange, huh? So probably people are digging him down because they don't think it's funny.
Funny thing, though, how YOU go an generalize about dicks being mentioned- mostly because it's not true. This is Digg; we aren't exactly a mature bunch on the whole.- Daniel591992, on 06/01/2008, -0/+1Hey, maybe you should check out your spam folder. You seem a bit insecure...
- ferrariman60, on 06/01/2008, -3/+1The joke wasn't that funny- Oh wait! that's an opinion, isn't it? Just because you think somethings funny doesn't mean it actually is. Strange, huh? So probably people are digging him down because they don't think it's funny.
- Weejay, on 06/01/2008, -2/+4Amazing how diggers get so sensitive (should I say insecure??) as soon as dicks are involved and start burying even though the joke was funny.
- batmanz, on 06/01/2008, -6/+1MIRROR PLEZ
- xptoast, on 06/01/2008, -1/+1Check it out...I feel that that kind of typing makes me feel more ignorant than I wish to feel ever so I reported it as well as burying it. Spell like a human please.
- rypic7, on 06/01/2008, -2/+4PFFT. only 92 photos? noob.
- kevman459, on 06/01/2008, -0/+26The text adds are just as creepy:
"Over 22 and single?"
"Like Foo Fighters and are over 22 and single?"
"Kevin, do you sit at home alone and masturbate with your own tears?"
Match.com!
Yeah I clicked... - brandon573, on 06/01/2008, -3/+4Its not creepy because its obviously a coincidence. Its not effective because the guy already owns the sunglasses. Lame.
- xptoast, on 06/01/2008, -0/+4Effective because people see his image when they view his page and possibly wish to own the same kind of glasses because they think they are cool.
- Alexio, on 06/01/2008, -0/+16My facebook relationship has recently changed to single and now I don't stop getting ads about dating sites from them on the left. It's making me depressed. Talk about targeted advertising (or kicking me while I'm down).
- misterhat, on 06/01/2008, -0/+8I'm holding a shotgun and a dead gopher in my profile picture. I can't wait for this to take effect for me.
- GeekyGerge, on 06/01/2008, -1/+2Beaver shot.
- DucoNihilum, on 06/01/2008, -2/+4Seems as if, according to the article, this is totally unverified and mostly just guessing. Way to publish something that has absolutely no factual ground whatsoever. Buried as inaccurate.
- OverkillTASF, on 06/01/2008, -0/+12Is this why I get ads for meeting "other men" any time a visit a male friend's profile? Facebook thinks I'm gay. :-(
- TomPlansMedia, on 06/01/2008, -1/+14unless he has 'sunglasses' listed in his interests, this is a coincidence
- Ryan0617, on 06/01/2008, -1/+1Dont know why you are being dugg down but thats exactly what it is. The guy will have something like "I love aviator sunglasses" on his page, hence why it will have come up, to target him as an potential customer. Thats all it is.
- DucoNihilum, on 06/01/2008, -0/+4He's being dugg down? I see +4 / -0
- Ryan0617, on 06/01/2008, -1/+1Dont know why you are being dugg down but thats exactly what it is. The guy will have something like "I love aviator sunglasses" on his page, hence why it will have come up, to target him as an potential customer. Thats all it is.
- darfvader, on 06/01/2008, -2/+1Cheeky Mother *****! That's why I've been getting baldness treatment ads next to my profile then?
- spoogieking012, on 06/01/2008, -2/+13thank you adblock
- DraxusD, on 06/01/2008, -2/+5Lies. Buried as inaccurate.
- EllimistX, on 06/01/2008, -1/+1Can it tell me where to get Rapist Glasses?
- MalDON, on 06/01/2008, -0/+1I view my profile and it says "Looking for Gay Singles?"
- censtad, on 06/01/2008, -0/+1Great, now it will take even longer for a page to load... have you noticed how much that site has slowed down while it searches for ads? Frustrating.
- ledguitar, on 06/01/2008, -0/+2This is a bad sign. I always see ads to find gay singles in my area...
- ruzmutuz, on 06/01/2008, -0/+1Yeah, how are there so many diggers not using some kind of adblock?
- CDoug03, on 06/01/2008, -0/+1actually the ad wasn't generated due to the picture. It was random. If you click on the profile page of your own facebook account enough, that ad will pop up. Took me only 10 clicks.
(My picture is me scuba diving)- ShellShock11, on 06/01/2008, -0/+1*Insert random guy scuba diving*
- D3koy, on 06/01/2008, -0/+1UN-POSSIBLE!
- cyclopssmiley, on 06/01/2008, -0/+5http://upload3.net//uploads/546whatthehell.png
that is probably the funniest one I have seen- Chainheart, on 06/01/2008, -1/+1What can you expect with that NES application
- Startemus, on 06/01/2008, -0/+1Caution... this may freak you out.
http://tinypic.com/usermedia.php?uo=WC4NXyOb8WUSd% ...- baylat, on 06/02/2008, -0/+1what the hell?!
- username484767, on 06/02/2008, -2/+1facebook is evil, stop using it morons
- mkameli, on 06/02/2008, -0/+2If you already have aviator sunglasses, why would you want to buy another pair?
- boojoy, on 06/02/2008, -0/+295% of the ads I get on Facebook at for BBW women (dating, I presume) sites. All the time. I am not a BBW lover. I have scoured my profile for anything that would cause this and have found nothing. But still, a ridiculous majority of the ads I get are for BBW women. Why Facebook? Why.
- goodkidyo, on 06/02/2008, -0/+2does it scan your cookies?
- GameLinkRocks, on 06/02/2008, -0/+1Have you ever tried dating BBW? How do you know you don't like 'em till you try?
- ExpendableYouth, on 06/02/2008, -0/+0buried for inaccuracy.
- rollerboy, on 06/02/2008, -0/+2I keep getting ads about hot asian chicks, I thought it was good targeting but it doesn't always work.
- Zippo, on 06/02/2008, -0/+2Facebook has ads?
- kingsal, on 06/02/2008, -0/+1hmm, I hope I don't get the "male enhancement" ads
can they really detect that? - kelmaster1, on 06/02/2008, -0/+1technology is getting kind of lame.
- mintblogger, on 06/03/2008, -0/+1Sounds interesting. It's going to create a new kind of behavior among the active users of Facebook and I can easily predict some high load on their servers in near future.
- straathond, on 07/11/2008, -0/+0This is crazy freaky. I saw a guy who looks just like me in an add on facebook for ithink. but it wasn't one of my photo's. But there was someone else in the same pic. totally freaked me out.
- yenta4shop, on 09/05/2008, -0/+0http://www.yenta4shop.co.uk/
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http://astore.amazon.com/conair.curling.iron-20
http://astore.amazon.com/save.on.rawlings.baseball ...
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http://astore.amazon.com/vuarnet.sunglasses.online ...
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