How Facebook's social ads use your friends' buying habits to sell to you

Ads use actions of one member in a social media group to promote products to others in that group

Online social networking major Facebook has received a patent in India for a social advertising innovation that leverages on the activities of a user's friends or groups on a social network website to promote products to that user.

In the patent specification filed with the Patent office, the company explains, "A social ad, for example, may inform a member that his friend/s has/have bought a particular product manufactured by an advertiser, or will attend an event sponsored by an advertiser, or has/have added a connection to a profile for a business or other entity."

The company claims that while