- Apr 2, 2018
- 1,782
Facebook has developed a plan to turn its users into the stars of advertising campaigns through new technology which can automatically scan people’s photographs and identify which products are featured in them.
The social network was granted a patent in the US for a system which can detect photos people have uploaded that feature items such as alcoholic drinks and snacks. The company would then pass those images to the brands, which would turn them into adverts for other Facebook users to see.
One example given in the patent filing is a Facebook user uploading a photograph of a party in which they are pictured holding a bottle of Grey Goose vodka. The social network could automatically detect the bottle of vodka in the photograph and send the image to Grey Goose to be turned into an online advert for the product, using the original photograph.
The patent filing suggests that the adverts would only be targeted to a person’s Facebook friends if they had limited their privacy settings so that only their friends could see the image. As the patent did not go into the specifics of how the system would work, it is unclear whether users would be able to opt out of it.
The social network wrote in its patent filing that it is keen to gather information on what its users do in the real world, away from the internet.
Facebook has already invested in new technology to scan its users’ images to understand what’s in them. Last year the company announced a tool that it called “Rosetta” which automatically reads any text in photographs. The system scans more than a billion photographs and stills from videos every day, Facebook has said.
Several companies are looking to turn normal social media users into so-called “micro-influencers". British company Zyper, for example, has partnered with brands including Kellogg’s and L'Oréal to help them find fans of their products on social media.
Unlike Facebook’s new system, Zyper encourages users to apply to take part in campaigns, rather than having their photographs automatically scanned. Approved Zyper users can then send sponsored social media posts in return for rewards from the brands.
Many prominent brands have also moved away from using celebrity endorsements in advertising, instead choosing to feature their regular customers and employees.
Make-up brand Sephora featured its own employees in its 2017 Christmas advertising campaign, for example.
Facebook also said in its patent filing that it could create a "heat map" for a brand, showing where Facebook users had been photographed with its products.
Facebook’s patent for the system does not mean that the social network will immediately begin building the feature. Many technology companies file patents for ideas they have no intention of developing, either as a way of protecting abandoned projects, marketing, or to stop their competitors building products or features.
A Facebook spokesman said: "We often seek patents for technology we never implement, and patent applications — such as this one — should not be taken as an indication of future plans."
Did you post a photo of you holding a <beer brand>? well guess what you might find yourself the star of a <beer brand> ad.
THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE! To use your photo for advertisement without your permission is a no no for anyone. Not everyone wants to be on the advertisement. Are Facebook employees this evil and stupid and crazy?!
Do they have no shame of doing this? Using your photos without your permission onto ad that will be see by million or billion of people around the world, and they will never ever gone as long internet exist.
I am glad my Facebook account will be delete in April 16. Screw FB and Zuck aka Alien.
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