Whilst browsing Facebook one evening in May, I noted to my family how there seems to be so many ads on Facebook of late. My mum replied saying she never sees ads. I laughed, and said they will appear as promoted or sponsored posts, and that maybe she is just not noticing.
She was adamant that she was not getting any ads. I checked her Facebook feed on her iPhone, and alas, there were no ads. What the!?
I conducted a quick test on a few different family members, and counted how many ads they were seeing:
| Sex | Age Range | Device | Ad Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Male | 18-24 | Xiaomi Note | 2nd post from top, then every 10 posts. |
| Male | 25-34 | Nexus 5x | 2nd post from top, then every 8 posts. |
| Female | 25-34 | iPhone 6 | 2nd post from top, then every 9 posts. |
| Male | 55-64 | iPhone 4s | 2nd post from top, then every 12 posts. |
| Female | 55-64 | iPhone 5 | None! |
* Note: All using native Android or iOS Facebook apps.
Looks like females in their 50s and 60s are not a desirable target market for advertisers? Assuming there are a lot more methods advertisers are targeting, but no ads was extremely strange (and pleasant). Perhaps Facebook are conducting one of their experiments.
