--- title: Creepy? eBay deploys real time and personal advertising on Facebook image: https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/file-1601557779-jpg/blog-files/6a00d83451f23a69e201a3fcfb4729970b-400wi.jpg --- [Skip to main content](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/2014/04/ebay-deploys-real-time-and-personal-advertising-on-facebook.html#maincontent) [ «  View All Posts ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog) # Creepy? eBay deploys real time and personal advertising on Facebook April 29th, 2014 2 min read By [David Meerman Scott](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/author/david-meerman-scott) ![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/file-1601557779-jpg/blog-files/6a00d83451f23a69e201a3fcfb4729970b-400wi.jpg?width=400&height=240&name=6a00d83451f23a69e201a3fcfb4729970b-400wi.jpg) [![TR True Religion](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/file-1601557779-jpg/blog-files/6a00d83451f23a69e201a3fcfb4729970b-400wi.jpg "TR True Religion")](http://freshspot.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451f23a69e201a3fcfb4729970b-popup)This weekend I was poking around the [True Religion](http://www.truereligionbrandjeans.com) brand jeans web site. True Religion jeans fit me really well, so I have a few pair. They are expensive, so I tend to wait for a sale to pull the trigger on a new pair. I noticed a particular model called Men’s Ricky on the Road Jean but the retail price of $395 was way more than I’d spend. So I popped over to eBay and searched on “Men’s Ricky on the Road Jean” to see if there were any on offer there at a lower price. There were, but I didn't buy on eBay. **eBay remembers** [![True Religion on page](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/file-1601557794-jpg/blog-files/6a00d83451f23a69e201a511aaf01b970c-400wi.jpg "True Religion on page")](http://freshspot.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451f23a69e201a511aaf01b970c-popup)The next morning on Facebook was a personalized ad from eBay sitting on my homepage as a “Suggested Post”. The text: “Still Interested? Don’t miss out on this item!” And there was a photo of the jeans I was interested in the day before! Wow. Talk about real-time personalized targeting. I’m on eBay and look at a very specific item. The next day an ad for that exact item pops up within a social network I'm in. I've seen many examples of ads appear based on sites I had recently visited and Google searches I have made. But the ads tended to be much more generic. This was a first for me to see an eBay search I made get re-deployed as an in-context ad within Facebook targeted down to an image of the thing I was looking for. **The creepiness factor** Some people will find this sort of thing creepy. There are all sorts of privacy aspects at play here. You can imagine all sorts of scenarios, right? Imagine searching on something very personal on eBay and then the next day showing your spouse or child something on Facebook and eBay pops up your private search result into your stream. Embarrassing! I’m not a Facebook privacy setting expert. Does anyone know if you can change Facebook settings to control this kind of advertising? The bottom line with free social networking services is that they are not free, right? Everything we do on the web is tracked and can be used somehow. Our world has been heading to this level of targeting for a long time. Things get so personal as to be almost scary. As a marketer, I can see lots of use for this as a tool for generating attention. As a salesperson, there are ways you could use such a thing to target a prospect in interesting ways. Imagine a B2B salesperson inserting an ad into someone's Facebook stream who just downloaded a specific white paper. **But with the power comes responsibility.** [ David Meerman Scott ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/author/david-meerman-scott) David Meerman Scott is a business growth strategist, advisor to clever entrepreneurs who are building emerging companies, and the international bestselling author of a dozen books published in 30 languages. David’s high-energy keynote presentations, masterclasses, and virtual events educate, energize, and inspire. Connect: [mailto:david@freshspot.com](mailto:david@freshspot.com) Topics: [ Worst Practices ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/topic/worst-practices) [ Case Studies ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/topic/case-studies) [ New Rules of Sales & Service ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/topic/new-rules-of-sales-service) [ Real-Time Marketing & PR ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/topic/real-time-marketing-pr) [ Advertising ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/topic/advertising) [ Best Practices ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/topic/best-practices) Don't forget to share this post: ## Related Articles [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Pirated%20books.jpg?width=1500&height=1000&name=Pirated%20books.jpg) ### Move Fast and Steal Things: Meta Pirated 53 of My Books and Stories to Train Their AI March 26th, 2025|2 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/move-fast-and-steal-things-meta-pirated-53-of-my-books-and-stories-to-train-their-ai) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Toyota%20website.jpg?width=1253&height=822&name=Toyota%20website.jpg) ### Automaker Website Frustrations Push Buyers Elsewhere December 10th, 2024|2 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/automaker-website-frustrations-push-buyers-elsewhere) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Do%20not%20play%20Yamaha.jpg?width=1500&height=1125&name=Do%20not%20play%20Yamaha.jpg) ### Please Do Not Play Without Permission November 12th, 2024|2 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/please-do-not-play-without-permission) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Teen%20and%20Young%20Adult%20AI.jpg?width=1338&height=886&name=Teen%20and%20Young%20Adult%20AI.jpg) ### Generative AI Not Understood By Young People… Educators Are To Blame July 9th, 2024|2 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/generative-ai-not-understood-by-young-people-educators-are-to-blame) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Crush%20Apple%20video.jpg?width=1500&height=845&name=Crush%20Apple%20video.jpg) ### Apple’s Soul Crushing, Creator Destroying Metaphor for what AI is Doing to Society May 8th, 2024|2 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/apples-soul-crushing-creator-destroying-metaphor-for-what-ai-is-doing-to-society) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/shutterstock_126631127.jpg?width=1500&height=999&name=shutterstock_126631127.jpg) ### Customer Testimonials Are Not Effective Storytelling March 26th, 2024|2 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/customer-testimonials-are-not-effective-storytelling) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/we%20annoy%20our%20clients.jpg?width=1000&height=670&name=we%20annoy%20our%20clients.jpg) ### We Annoy Our Customers March 5th, 2024|2 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/we-annoy-our-customers) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/shutterstock_272153462%20copy.jpg?width=1000&height=628&name=shutterstock_272153462%20copy.jpg) ### Legal Caution vs. PR Clarity: University Presidents' Legal Advisors Muddled Congressional Testimonies December 19th, 2023|2 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/legal-caution-vs.-pr-clarity-university-presidents-legal-advisors-muddled-congressional-testimonies-on-antisemitism) [![Man holding a tablet computer with tip options](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/shutterstock_2328873613.jpg?width=1500&height=1000&name=shutterstock_2328873613.jpg) ### Just Because You Can Doesn’t Mean You Should October 19th, 2023|2 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/just-because-you-can-doesnt-mean-you-should) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/max%20logo%20win.jpg?width=925&height=621&name=max%20logo%20win.jpg) ### Max Mayhem: Warner Bros. 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