Meta is taking another step to make its feed recommendations and artificial intelligence responses more personally relevant, by incorporating data gathered from ad partners into its algorithmic mix.
Meta gathers data from ad partners to help personalize ad content, including information delivered via its Meta Pixel website code, which shares website visitor activity info back to Meta. That enables Meta to deliver more relevant ads based on external actions. Now, that same info will also ensure improved algorithmic recommendations and AI responses.
As explained by Meta: “We’re updating how we use information that other businesses already share with Meta. We already use this data — like games you play or purchases you make on other websites — to make the ads you see more relevant. In the future, we’ll use this information to personalize other parts of your experience, including the content you see in your Feed and AI responses.”
Of course, Meta is framing this as a benign update. The company used the example of a user who recently purchased a tent online, and who might now see more Reels about camping.
In some ways, this update is relatively limited in scope, and tame in data usage terms. But the more valuable element for Meta is likely the customization of Meta AI responses, which will now be able to incorporate more information about off-platform actions in order to deliver more relevant, targeted replies.
With this, Meta AI will know what websites each user has visited, what users looked at while they were there, what they bought and other details. That expanded data set will facilitate increasingly personalized AI responses, which is another step towards Meta’s vision of delivering “personal superintelligence” to everyone.
Imagine, now, a Meta AI chatbot that knows brand preferences and off-platform activity. That will help to shape increasingly customized AI bots that will feel more familiar to users. That knowledge and understanding can then be communicated through a conversational tone. In turn, many users could become more enamored with Meta’s AI bots, which will increasingly seem like they’re actually thinking, like they actually know users and like they can act as trusted friends.
