The Early DaysWhen Facebook introduced its ad platform in 2007, advertisers could target people using information they had volunteered on the platform. This is what a typical target audience might have looked like with those options:Anyone who lives in Philadelphia, studies philosophy in college and is 18 to 22. The company also introduced ways for advertisers to target friends of those who had interacted with their brands, and to target ads to people by age or birthday. Anyone who lives in Philadelphia, studies philosophy in college and is 21. Anyone who lives in Philadelphia, studies philosophy in college, is 21 and has bought a blue T-shirt in the past year.

Source: New York Times April 11, 2018 18:07 UTC