DO FACEBOOK USERS RECEIVE 

DIFFERENT ADS BASED ON THEIR 

ETHNIC AFFINITY (AND MORE)? 

Yannis SPILIOPOULOS, Columbia University 

Vincent TOUBIANA,	 Commission National 

de l’Informatique et des Libertés 

(CNIL) 
Examples of Ad Targeting in the news
 

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-incredible-story-of-how-target-exposed-a-teen- Source: https://www.engadget.com/2016/10/31/netflix-serves-black-mirror-adsgirls-pregnancy-2012-2 to-ad-blockers/ 
Facebook Ethnic Affinity
 

1.Used for movie 

advertising. 

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/mar/22/facebooks-ethnic-affinity-advertisingconcerns-racial-profiling 
Facebook Ethnic Affinity
 

1.Used for movie 

advertising.

2.Studied by the “Center 

for Democracy and 

Technology” and 

Berkeley. 

Source: https://cdt.org/blog/how-does-the-internet-know-your-race/ 
Facebook Ethnic Affinity
 

1.Used for movie 

advertising.

2.Studied by the “Center 

for Democracy and 

Technology” and 

Berkeley. 

3.Potential violation of the 

“Fair Housing Act”. 

Source: https://www.propublica.org/article/facebook-lets-advertisers-exclude-users-by-racer-race/ 
Talk Focus 

Do Facebook users receive ads for different 

products based on their ethnic affinity or other

categorizations?
Studying the black-box using advertiser tool
 

1.Facebook provides little 

information about “Ethnic 

Affinity”.

2.Most info is provided through a 

Facebook tool (Audience Insight).

3.Users can’t declare an Ethnic 

Affinity.

4.They can’t edit their Ethnic Affinity. 
Methodology 

1.First known-study of advertising targeted using Facebook 

ethnic affinities (African American, Asian American, Hispanic 

American)

2.For each “Ethnic Affinity”, retrieve the most relevant pages 

(according to Audience Insight). 

3.Create 20 accounts for each “Ethnic Affinity” group and like 

10 random pages from that group’s most relevant pages.

4.Create 20 accounts for a control group and like 10 random 

pages from the most popular Facebook pages.

5.Collect and analyze the ads shown to each account.
 
Most relevant pages «Asian American»
 
About the accounts 

1.The attributes (age, gender, ethnic affinity, liked pages) 

of the accounts were randomized.

2.Unfortunately some of the accounts were disabled.

3.Additionally, the accounts started seeing ads at 

different times during the experiment

4.This might impact our ability to detect relationships 

between ads and certain populations 
First glance at the data
 
First glance at the data
 
First glance at the data
 
Are ads related to attributes?
 
Causal link for some of them
 Facebook Ad Id Ethnic Affinity P-value Ad Text 

6051326544481 AfricanAmericans(US-All) < 0.0001 

Fashion Mia

fashionmia.com 

Your Picks: Top-Reviewed Dresses

Get Free Shipping Over 79

Extra10 79 

Extra 10 70.... 

6057971189529 AfricanAmericans(US-All) < 0.0001 

Truth Examiner 

We Will Miss Obama! LIKE If You Agree.

Like Page 

· 

1,081,542 people like this page 

6057915142329 AfricanAmericans(US-All) < 0.0001 

Truth Examiner 

LIKE If You Will Miss Obama! 

Like Page 

· 

1,010,718 people like this page 

6065040505165 AfricanAmericans(US-All) < 0.0001 

Truth Examiner 

We LOVE Our First Lady! LIKE If You Agree.

Like Page 

· 

971,416 people like this page 

6057165160416 AsianAmericans(US-All) < 0.05 

Jewelz Santiago, Agent

Accidents happen, but my team will help you get

back quickly. Get to a better State® 
Causal link for some of them
 Facebook Ad Id Ethnic Affinity P-value Ad Text 

6058958774436 Hispanics(US-All) < 0.0001 

Always-on Data

vzw.com/prepaid

Two things that should never end: the holidays and data. 

5 GB plan for $50/mo. 

6058959093236 Hispanics(US-All) < 0.0001 

10 GB plan for $70/mo

vzw.com/prepaid

Unlimited talk and text to Mexico, so you can send 

holiday wishes to your entire family. 

6058959090636 Hispanics(US-All) < 0.0001 

Always-on Data

vzw.com/prepaid

Share holiday moments with friends and family. 5 GB 

plan for $50/mo. 

6058087702636 Hispanics(US-All) < 0.0001 

Always-on Data.

vzw.com/prepaid

Stay connected to your family and friends without

breaking the bank, even when they are in... 

6058087718436 Hispanics(US-All) < 0.0001 

Verizon Prepaid.

vzw.com/prepaid

Bienvenido a Always-on Data so you always have data. 

Talk, text and stream starting at jus... 

6053515579315 Hispanics(US-All) < 0.0001 

The Summer of Audi 

audioffers.com” 

Make waves with the versatile Q3. Explore current

summer offers. 
Causal link for some of them
 Facebook Ad Id Ethnic Affinity P-value Ad Text 

6058087712036 Hispanics(US-All) < 0.001 

Always-on Data.

vzw.com/prepaid

My prepaid is better than yours. No really, stay 

connected with Always-on Data so you alwa... 

6058959104036 Hispanics(US-All) < 0.05 

Always-on Data

vzw.com/prepaid

Share holiday moments with friends and family. 5 GB 

plan for $50/mo.] 

6053515579715 Hispanics(US-All) < 0.05 

The Summer of Audi 

audioffers.com 

Explore current offers and get the thrilling, intelligent Q5 

you\u2019ve been longing for. 
Causal link for some of them
 Facebook Ad Id Gender P-value Ad Text 

6061748679721 Female < 0.0001 

Women's Tops 3.90+

www.dresslily.com

FREESHIPPING. 3.90+ 

www.dresslily.com

FREESHIPPING. 10 OFF CODE: FB2016 

6054727412972 Female < 0.001 

Financial Consultants 

womenadvisors.fidelitycareers.com

Become a Fidelity Financial Consultant and do what you love the way you love to do it. 

6064024533568 Female < 0.01 

Snowland\u00ae 

www.greatwolf.com

Share memories & save up to 30% during Snowland at Great Wolf Lodge\u00ae

starting 11/26. 

6053851692479 Female < 0.05 

Thankful for Cupcakes!

bakedbymelissa.com

Leave a little room for dessert! Bite-size Apple Crisp cupcakes - limited time only. 

6053851711079 Female < 0.05 

Thankful for Cupcakes!

bakedbymelissa.com

Leave the baking to us this Thanksgiving with bite-size Apple Crisp cupcakes! 

6055242218443 Female < 0.05 

Looking for Rx savings?

relpax.com

With the co-pay card, eligible patients may save up to $1200/yr. Terms & Conditions

apply. 

6058236486942 Male < 0.05 

Men's Sweaters: 10−30 

www.dresslily.com

10OFF80 Code: NOV10. Free Shipping. Black Friday Sale. Take A Peek! 
 

Causal link for some of them
 Facebook Ad Id Age Group P-value Ad Text 

6058551855000 18-24 < 0.0001 

Want to be a Dr. in NYC? 

citydoctors.com

You could get a full ride to SGU's M.D. program. 

6066298183723 18-24 < 0.001 

Chumba Casino Play

4.0328310010764 out of 5 stars. 

Chumba Casino Play

SPIN TO WIN! Make your day extra special. Cash out your winnings with PayPal!

Play Now · 50,000 people play this 

6046045118284 18-24 < 0.001 

Face It Acne Study

faceitstudy.com

See if you qualify for an investigational research study for acne in Montclair. 

23842522000870028 25-34 < 0.0001 

Gatorade 

Elevate your training with a personalized Spotify music experience backed by science. 

Crea... 

6067561819551 25-34 < 0.01 

Kim Crawford Wines 

Your favorite Sauvignon Blanc wrapped (and ready to gift) for the holidays. Shop our 

ho... 

Like Page 

6064090616568 35-44 < 0.05 

Great Wolf Lodge®

www.greatwolf.com

Save up to 30% at our indoor waterpark resort during Snowland® starting on 11/26. 

23842500570800256 45-54 < 0.05 

Explore this Rx treatment

ibrance.com 

© 2016 Pfizer Inc. All rights reserved. May 2016. PP-IBR-USA-0485-01] 

6060067604914 55-64 < 0.05 

The John W. Engeman Theater at Northport

Based on the classic Disney movie, MARY POPPINS is fun for the whole family!

Experience t... 
Causal link Disclaimer 

In the case of Ethnic Affinity causality comes with 2 

disclaimers. 

1.The causal link is between the ads and the list of most 

popular pages for that ethnic affinity group. 

e.g. If the 100 most relevant pages for the African American 

ethnic affinity group are also highly relevant to people 

interested in education, then an advertiser might be 

targeting people interested in education instead.

2.To discover causality with ethnic affinity groups we need to 

condition on all pages. Unfortunately, due to the low number 

of accounts we need a sparse method (lasso in this case). In 

this case the coefficient is not the expected causal impact. 
Beyond Causality 

• There was also a number of ads that where highly 

correlated to account attributes, but for which we could 

not detect causality. 

• Among the Facebook ads we collected there were 

instances of ads that were clearly misrepresenting their 

intention

e.g. Ads that falsely claimed famous person A died, 

linked to a fake news site and clicks on that site led to a 

form to buy a “miracle” cream for a “special price” 

• There were also some instances of ads that when 

clicked by a normal user would lead to a different site 

than when clicked by a crawler