Research reveals Facebook, alcohol and gambling companies target ads at Australians most at risk of harm
Author ADM+S Centre
Date 14 November 2024
New research funded by VicHealth and the Foundation for Alcohol Research & Education and supported by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society (ADM+S) has revealed how Facebook targets people most at risk with alcohol and gambling advertising.
The study piloted a novel digital donation method, the Australian Ad Observatory Mobile Toolkit, developed at the ADM+S Centre, for citizen scientists to collect “dark” ads that would otherwise be hidden from public view. Citizen scientists also provided a list of “ad interests” and a list of advertisers who had targeted their profile and participated in a co-analysis interview in which they were asked to interpret their flows of targeted advertising.
Findings from the report How alcohol and gambling companies target people most at risk with marketing for addictive products on Facebook revealed that these companies shared substantial data with Facebook to aid in targeting users based on detailed advertising interests, despite many individuals actively trying to reduce their alcohol or gambling consumption.
Key findings:
- Facebook tags people at risk of harm and trying to reduce their use of alcohol and gambling as interested in these addictive products to target them with advertising.
- Alcohol and gambling companies uploaded data on people at risk of harm and trying to reduce their use of alcohol or gambling to fuel targeted marketing on Facebook.
- People who are trying to reduce their alcohol use or gambling are constantly faced with advertisements for these addictive products on social media.
- People who are trying to reduce their alcohol use or gambling don’t want to be profiled and targeted for alcohol and gambling and can find it impossible to escape this advertising when they are on social media.
This method enabled researchers to gather insights from people who had experienced or were at risk of alcohol or gambling harm to observe alcohol, gambling and social media companies digital advertising targeting practices on Facebook.
Dr Giselle Newton, Research Fellow from the ADM+S at the University of Queensland and Chief Investigator on the report, said, “Technology in development, such as the Australian Ad Observatory Mobile Toolkit, provides ways to further understand dark marketing of harmful and addictive products that otherwise remain hidden from sight”.
“This report is the tip of the iceberg in terms of what we know about how alcohol and gambling companies collect and use people’s data to then target them with their harmful and addictive products.
“People who are trying to reduce their alcohol use or gambling don’t want to be targeted with ads selling these products, and can find it difficult to escape this advertising when they are on social media platforms like Facebook.”
Oliver, who participated in the research, said he’s frustrated that he sees so many alcohol ads when he’s using Facebook, and there’s no way to stop it.
“It’s everywhere, and it’s not just billboards, it follows me into my home through my phone. When I’m just trying to look at things – like I’m on Facebook Marketplace a lot – it even follows me there.
“The fact I’m being force fed alcohol ads everywhere is really frustrating, and there’s no opt out.” Oliver said.
Martin Thomas, CEO of the Alliance for Gambling Reform (AGR) said, “This report provides further evidence of the predatory marketing practices of gambling companies, and how platforms like Facebook enable them.
“Australians expect the Federal Government to do more to ensure people who are most at risk of harm aren’t constantly bombarded with ads for harmful and addictive products.”
Caterina Giorgi, CEO of the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE), said the report released today further highlights the need for reform.
“People should not be profiled and targeted for advertising based upon their vulnerabilities. It’s concerning to see alcohol, gambling and social media companies deliberately prey on people who are most susceptible to harm.
“We are calling on the Federal Government to implement protections that put the health and wellbeing of families and communities ahead of the interests of alcohol and gambling companies.”
If you (or someone you know) would like to take part in the second phase of The Australian Ad Observatory project, you can register your interest here: Expression of Interest Form. The research team are particularly interested in the experiences of voters in marginal electorates, older Australians who may be targeted with scam ads, young people who received alcohol and gambling ads, and people planning pregnancy or parenting young children.
