Knowledge@wharton

On November 6 Facebook outlined a strategy to integrate more targeted advertising into its popular social networking website. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg saw the new initiative as an opportunity for users to refer products to each other and allow friends to share information as they shopped online and visited other websites. The system called Beacon was also intended to lead to more relevant -- and profitable -- advertising through precise targeting based on a user’s buying habits social circle and geography. But on December 5 after receiving numerous complaints Zuckerberg issued an apology and changed the way Beacon operates. The whole incident according to Wharton experts raises questions about privacy marketing tactics and what consumers can expect in the future. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.