Pandora update.

[randomness]

So it seems from that unscientific query of my friends list that the targeting of ads on Pandora Radio really is extremely gendered. Men get liquor and cars, women get chick shows and lip gloss.

I guess I'm not surprised but I was hoping for something slightly less crudely directed. And I haven't gotten lip gloss ads...yet.

Comments

[emilymorgan.livejournal.com]

I think I'd be more offended if it weren't so correct, in my case. I participate much more in chick shows and lip gloss than I do in liquor and cars! Well, I drive my car, but I doubt a '93 Civic is really what they mean.

Why did you make yourself a she?

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Why did you make yourself a she?

Two reasons, I think.

I was offended that they wanted my gender in order to direct their advertisements more specifically. I had actually feared/suspected that their targeting would be as stereotypical as it was, and once they asked my knee-jerk reaction was simply to check "female" in order to see what ads they would deliver.

The other reason was related to digitalemur's joke about how my starting with Dido explained everything. cmeckhardt has kidded me about my preference for womens' brooding, introspective lyrics about relationships, and how that can be a gender marker. So I thought that I might get the song mix I'm looking for if I choose "female".

It doesn't appear that Pandora's algorithm takes the listener's gender into account. But the other point stands.