Your Genome May Become the Next Facebook

Facebook's (NASDAQ: FB) creation of "social networks" redefined online advertising. For the first time, a multi-billion user community could safely and voluntarily share information about their interests, and marketers could offer them products relevant to those interests.

Conversion rates shot through the roof. Facebook's targeted advertising gave businesses information about their users so they could know what they wanted to buy, and it worked incredibly well. The social network king's ad revenue nearly quadrupled in three years, from $7 billion in 2013 to $27 billion in 2016. The company continues to expand its dominant targeted advertising network, with membership surging on two of their other platforms: Messenger and WhatsApp.

Facebook's strategy was extremely effective, but there's something even bigger on the horizon. Rather than businesses marketing to us based on keywords we've provided about our interests, they'll soon begin marketing to us based on the information they know about us as individuals.

Source: Fool.com