Do our smartphones listen to us? This is an issue that has been discussed for years, with many people convinced that we are spied on by these devices that we use daily. They are convinced that companies use it, among other things, to sell better ads.
The Instagram head, Adam Mosseri, was part of the machine on this subject. On October 1, he published a video to break this myth, ensuring strong and strong that Instagram does not listen to us. A video that decided to do after “many passionate discussions”, some of which with his wife.
“We do not use the phone’s microphone to spy on it. First of all, if we did, it would be a shameless violation of privacy,” said Adam Mosseri, arguing that users would notice if it were because “the battery of his phone would be downloaded quickly (…) and would see a small light at the top of the screen to tell him that the microphone is activated.”
Four reasons
The Instagram chief then gives four reasons to explain why we can see an advertisement of a product that we recently talked to someone. To start, “you may have clicks something related to this product or even search for this product online on a website before having this conversation,” he said.
While Adam Mosseri, Instagram, as well as his parent company, goal, remember, work with advertisers who share information about people who have visited their website to attack them with ads. “Therefore, if you have consulted a product on a website, this advertiser may have paid us to offer an ad,” he said.
Second reason: Instagram shows ads or products to users who, according to the social network, are interested. For this, it is based in particular on the interests of their friends and people who share the same centers of interest. “Therefore, you can talk about a product for someone who had already looked for it, or who, in general, people who share the same interests do exactly the same,” said Adam Mosseri.
The last two reasons are much easier to explain. The first, according to the Instagram CEO, is that it is possible that a user has seen an ad before having a conversation, but did not realize. “We move the ads quickly, and sometimes we integrate a part, which influences our subsequent conversations,” said Adam Mosseri. The last reason is simply by chance, a pure coincidence, which can happen according to him.
However, the Instagram head is aware that some users will not believe in their explanations. “But I wanted to clarify things,” he concludes. Keep in mind that this video was published the day Meta announced that it was going to use user conversations with its assistant, Meta AI, to customize the advertisements and content of December 16. Sometimes chance …
Source: BFM TV
