Dive Brief:

• Facebook is reportedly running a limited test for brands to study the content of users' posts and comments to better understand industry trends and consumer interests, according to a report in Ad Age, which cited anonymous sources "familiar with the offering."
• The beta test is an extension of the platform's Audience Insights API and lets ad partners like agencies and media companies sift through the social media giant's archive of public posts and comments to see what topics, brands and products are being discussed. The feature is reportedly expected to roll out to the public next year.
• Users are anonymized, and advertisers are hoping to use the data collected to help them form new targeting options such as building segments of consumers interested in similar topics for enhanced personalized messaging, per Ad Age.

Dive Insight:

Facebook's News Feed on its main platform is running out of advertising space, and cramming in any more promotional content could worsen the user experience. The reported beta test is a way to see if targeting users based on the content of their interactions might be a new way to entice advertisers to invest and serve up more relevant ads to users through interest-based segments.

At the same time, the test pushes the privacy boundaries of what consumers are comfortable with, regardless of whether their information is anonymized, as Ad Age's sources report. The privacy implications around allowing marketers to have virtually full access to users' unguarded comments and posts will likely raise concern among consumers and the FTC, especially given the scrutiny that the big tech players in the U.S. are currently facing around privacy and security within the European Union.

Privacy concerns aside, having access to that data will provide marketers with a treasure trove of valuable insights into consumers' mindsets, industry trends and consumer sentiment toward individual brands. Brands can search specifically for conversations users are having on Facebook more candidly than how they might be engaging with the brand's social media accounts. And on a high level, marketers could spot larger trends earlier by tracking conversations and posts as they begin to simmer.