Political microtargeting: the good, bad and ugly

Self-serve platforms operated by Facebook and Google allow advertisers to target messages based on users' declared interests, detailed demographics and browsing history, including pages and services they "like". — AFP

WASHINGTON: Online services have upended the world of advertising by enabling marketers, including political campaigns, to refine their pitches to specific groups of people or geographic areas.

Google and Facebook notably have fine-tuned their networks to allow "microtargeting", giving advertisers the ability to reach small segments of the online population at a much lower cost than for all users of a platform.