The Big Data Crystal Ball
By
Staten Island, NY Posted: 12/19/2016 1:00:00 AM
Companies spend millions of dollars trying to figure out what you like. Why not just ask?
Big Data is everywhere, and it's watching everything you do. Retail stores track your purchases whenever you use a credit or loyalty card. Search engines like Google or Bing keep a history of every search you've ever done, and social media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn track every post, like, share, and comment. While they may use different techniques to track your activity, they all have one goal in mind, which is to try to guess what kinds of products and services you like so they can target ads to you.
The trouble with Big Data is that even the best system is still just a GUESS.
It doesn't matter how sophisticated their algorithms are, they can never truly know your all your likes and dislikes, because their databases will inevitably contain a lot of bogus and missing information.
Just because you did a search for a product today, doesn't mean you're in the market to buy one right now, yet every day I see ads for things that are somehow related to things I've searched for online. Sometimes the connection is obvious, like seeing ads fir the exact item you searched for, but other times the connection is subtle... like seeing ads for baby formula a day or two after checking out baby carriages for a shower gift.
With all the time, money and effort they spend on algorithms to try to guess what you're looking for, wouldn't it be great if there was a way for companies to simply ask? I realize this isn't always easy, but if why not try?
For example, search engines could give you an easier way to edit your search history to remove things that were just momentary curiosities. Stores could allow you to edit your purchase history, and even send periodic surveys about what kinds of products you like, and social media sites could give you a quick way to remove things from your feed that you aren't interested in.
Joe Crescenzi, Founder
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