Mountain View, Calif. — LinkedIn users were shouting loud enough that the company realized it must respond.
In early June the professional social network introduced its new social ads that pulled relevant information from user’s networks – including photos and names — and used them as part of its advertisements. Think creepy Facebook ads that randomly use your face with company products you “might” be interested in.
After not learning a lesson from Facebook’s Beacon, and after receiving backlash from a number of its users, the company decided to change its policy and tweak the ad format.
“The trust of our members is central to what we do, and we always aim for clarity, consistency, and member control in all matters related to privacy and data,” the company wrote on its blog.
Although the company announced that users could “opt out at any time,” that turned out to not be enough. On Thursday the company changed its ads to include considerably less user information.
“Most importantly, what we’ve learned now, is that, even though our members are happy to have their actions, such as recommendations, be viewable by their network as a public action, some of those same members may not be comfortable with the use of their names and photos associated with those actions used in ads served to their network,” the blog read.
Has LinkedIn learned how creepy is too creepy? Maybe. It depends on what it comes up with next.
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/3w5mexy (LinkedIn Blog)
Photo by flickr user smi23le, used under Creative Commons license
