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How Big Pharma Finds Sick Users on Facebook

Unlike a traditional TV or radio ad, Facebook’s ad categories help those companies target their drug ads at users who likely suffer from a specific illness the drug treats.The Markup’s Citizen Browser project – which collects Facebook data from thousands of users – shows how precise and wide-ranging that targeting is.

Indeed, The Markup found, “awareness” of a disease is a frequent proxy for illness in targeting decisions made by advertisers. Zejula, a drug manufactured by pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, for example, is prescribed to treat advanced ovarian cancer.