Ever wonder how Google Maps knows how fast traffic is going? Or how you see an ad for takeout pizza?
Believe it or not, they are related and there is a way you can leverage this same ability.
Your phone knows where it is and passes that information along to your carrier (Verizon? Sprint? T-Mobile?) and also to any app to which you’ve given permission to track your location (Facebook? Google? Instagram? Gmail? Angry Birds? That photo app you use?).
Back to the traffic … Google Maps tracks where your phone is at all times, so it knows how fast your phone is traveling. Google Maps overlays the speed limit on I-494, tracks phones and sees where persistent slowdowns occur.
Complex but simple.
That is the Macro example.
The Micro example is Verizon knows the favorite restaurants your phone frequents, thus knows the recipes to display to you in ads, right?
Facebook knows your phone likes bargain clothes stores because you go to bargain clothes stores often. Or, you like higher end clothes because you visit certain stores in malls.
Your phone knows. Don’t believe me?