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Soon after browsing a few online stores for a new pair of takkies, you Facebook newsfeed is flooded with images of the latest Nikes and sundries.
Nope -- it's not a coincidence.
Read more: This is why you need to remove your birthday from Facebook right now
“Your ad preferences also help us show you better ads on and off Facebook,” says Facebook’s vice president for advertising and business platforms, Andrew Bosworth, in a statement.
Read more: 10 things you need to do to make sure your Facebook account is safe and secure
Still there are ways to stop Facebook from overloading you with products and services which you’re not in the market for. You simply need to adjust your marketing preferences.
Click here and follow the link for each division, like people, news, enterprises and politics.
You will notice that all the strange services and products that you’re not necessarily interested in will appear there, clearly because at some or other stage you read something about it and Facebook made a note of it.
Read more: How to protect your child online
By adjusting your marketing preferences you can ensure that you never have to see products and services that you’re not interested in. Simply hover your mouse over the subject and click on the cross that appears to remove it.
Now, here's where things get interesting -- you can also see which advertisers have your contact details and which advertiser’s websites you’ve used.
This is what YOU’s Mieke Vlok discovered when she took a deeper look at all the weird and wonderful information Facebook had collected on her over the years.
According to Facebook, Mieke is crazy about Leandra Medine, a blogger from the US – despite the fact that Mieke has never even heard of Leandra! She possibly did read something on Leandra’s blog, The Man Repeller, on one occasion.
Mieke is apparently also a fan of American business giant Warren Buffett and the US first lady, Michelle Obama, as well as local musician Koos Kombuis.
Among the items that Facebook thinks Mieke is interested in are shoes, gifts, mascara, toys and silver. Brands like Woolworths and Forever New are also, according to Facebook, part of Mieke’s shopper’s profile.
The above advertisers all have Mieke’s contact details to an extent, even though she’s never made contact with most of them.
