Australian Ad Observatory features on Hungry Talks
Author Kathy Nickels
Date 21 September 2023
Since 2021, the Australian Ad Observatory has collected over 300,000 unique ads. The Observatory represents the largest library of ads collected from the Australian general public.
Researchers at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society have been analysing these ads to identify problematic advertising, such as green claims and unhealthy food advertising as well as alcohol and gambling advertising.
Professor Christine Parker from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society and Law Professor at the University of Melbourne spoke about the Australian Ad Observatory with host Jaia Guildford-Carey on a recent episode of Hungry Talks.
Professor Parker said that they are interested in what advertising people are seeing on Facebook because a lot of advertising is personalised and targeted.
“The various social media platforms, what they’re doing is they’re collecting lots of data about you, and people like you, that they think might be relevant to you. And that is governing what is coming through your feed.
“In traditional legacy media, advertising appeared on billboards, magazines and TV where everybody could see the same ads.
“However when you are looking at social media we don’t really know what different people are getting and whether some people are getting lots of one type of ad and others are getting a lot of another kind of ad,” said Professor Parker.
The Australian Ad Observatory is seeking participants to donate their Facebook Ads to this valuable research. Visit the Australian Ad Observatory website to find out more about the project and how to get involved.
View the Hungry Talks Episode 7: Sustainability and Ethics (Prof Christine Parker talks to Jaia Guildford-Carey from 50:55)
