So many are experiencing this and have been for some time. You’re sitting with some friends, or on the couch at night with your family, when up pops a Facebook ad on your phone for the very thing you were just talking about! Eerie, right?

Facebook has been the subject of and part of many conversations, interviews and even hearings about this. They have declared several times over the last few years that they definitely are not using phone microphones to inform ads. Mark Zuckerberg has on multiple occasions called it a conspiracy theory.

Many people are testing it informally, discussing topics near their phone. While a great number of those result in a supposedly coincidentally related ad showing up at or near the top of their feed, there is still no evidence showing that Facebook is eavesdropping.

Maybe it’s not true. There are, after all, hundreds of other ways for Facebook to track and gather information about us for digital marketing purposes. To start with, we volunteer a huge range of data every time we use social media – where we live, what we buy, who we know, what we watch and so on. We also know that phones and apps are regularly collecting information like our browser history, purchase history, location, contacts and more. 

NBC News reported that “A team of researchers from Northeastern University and the Imperial College of London found that a variety of internet-connected devices collected and distributed data to outside companies, including smart TV and TV streaming devices from Roku and Amazon — even if a consumer did not interact with those companies.”

So are they or aren’t they? Either way, Facebook and other tech and data companies have plenty of other ways in place to gather user information in order to post targeted ads related to our interests or needs.  

This may make some of us uncomfortable, but let’s switch lenses for a moment and think about it from your perspective as a business owner. You’ve got a limited amount of contractor marketing dollars to spend and of course you’d like to get the biggest bang for your buck. We know that TV viewing is going down as digital media usage is going up. You’d like to ensure that your contractor brand is being seen by potential customers wherever they’re hanging out, but it’s hard to keep up with the changing algorithms and rules.

That’s where BrandBlaster comes in. With this customizable digital advertising and brand awareness tool, the Treehouse is poised and ready to help you expand your customer touchpoints with strategic ad placements. But it doesn’t stop there. With Brandblaster, we continuously help you enhance and tailor your campaign using extensive analytics. 

So, however directly or indirectly tech companies may be eavesdropping on users, the Treehouse is ready to help you use that information to your advantage. We’ll help you target your ads to your potential customers more effectively and you’ll develop a powerful digital identity.