AI Built for Dating Is Now Helping Advertisers Find Their Perfect Audience
ADcology Adapts Anonymous Selfie Personality Analysis to Match Brands With the Media Environments Where Their Customers Naturally Gather
Artificial intelligence originally developed to help people find romantic partners is now helping advertisers find their ideal customers. The technology has been adapted by ADcology into a behavioral targeting platform that analyzes anonymous selfies to match brands with media audiences sharing similar personality traits.
In early campaigns using the system, ADcology reports a 38% increase in conversion rates and an 11% increase in return on ad spend (ROAS).
According to Dr. Greg Cynaumon, Ph.D., a Doctor of Psychology and CEO of behavioral advertising agency ADcology, the technology uses facial analysis (not facial recognition) of publicly posted selfies to estimate personality traits—insights that can dramatically improve both media placement and advertising creative.
The system analyzes facial features in selfies to identify personality characteristics, a method known as facial phenotyping.
While the original developers built the technology for dating platforms, Dr. Cynaumon recognized a completely different application.
“When the inventors showed me the platform, they were focused on dating,” said Cynaumon. “What immediately stood out to me was its potential for advertising. If the system could estimate personality traits from selfies, it could help marketers understand the personality types among their customers—and then find media audiences with similar personalities.”
“Think of it like a dating platform,” Cynaumon explained. “Instead of matching two people, we’re matching customer personalities with media audiences that share those same personality traits.”
How ADcology Adapted Personality AI Into a Behavioral Targeting Platform
At ADcology, the technology has been adapted into a behavioral targeting platform called Consumer Match.
Instead of matching people to potential partners, the platform matches consumer personality types to media audiences that share similar psychological characteristics (introvert/extrovert, decision-making styles, information processing tendencies, etc.).
The process begins with something consumers already do every day: posting selfies.
When customers review products, comment on social media, or post reactions to shows and influencers, selfies often appear alongside those posts.
Consumer Match analyzes those publicly posted images—without collecting names, emails, or personal identifiers—and identifies personality patterns associated with the faces.
These insights are then grouped to create a behavioral personality profile of a brand’s existing customers.
“The important factor is that the system is completely anonymous,” said Cynaumon. “We’re not identifying individuals. We’re simply analyzing personality patterns that emerge from publicly posted images.”
Mapping the Personality of Media Audiences
Once the system identifies the personality traits common among a brand’s customers, Consumer Match performs a second analysis.
It examines selfies posted by audiences who rate, comment on, or interact with media content, including:
- Television programs
- Podcasts
- YouTube channels
- Social media influencers
- Online communities
Just as the platform analyzed customer selfies, it analyzes audience selfies associated with those media environments to identify the personality traits attracted to each show or content creator.
The result is a large-scale personality map of media audiences across multiple platforms.
Matching Brands to Psychologically Similar Audiences
Using personality data from both customers and media audiences, the system identifies shows, influencers, and platforms where psychologically similar audiences already gather.
The insights can also improve advertising creative.
Different personality types respond to different messaging styles. Analytical personalities often prefer data and proof, while experiential personalities respond more strongly to storytelling and emotional imagery.
Understanding those differences allows advertisers to fine-tune messaging so it resonates more strongly with the audience.
A New Layer of Behavioral Advertising
Traditional media buying relies heavily on demographics such as age, gender, income, and geography.
But according to Dr. Cynaumon, demographics rarely explain why certain audiences respond to an ad while others ignore it.
“Demographics tell you who the customer is,” he said. “Personality helps explain how they think, how they evaluate decisions, and what motivates them to act.”
Across several campaigns, the agency reported:
- 38% increase in conversion rates
- 11% increase in return on ad spend (ROAS)
- Higher audience engagement with advertising creative
The Future of Anonymous Behavioral Targeting
At a time when advertisers are facing increased privacy restrictions and the decline of third-party tracking cookies, the anonymous nature of Consumer Match may represent a significant advantage.
Because the platform analyzes publicly shared images without collecting personal identity data, the system provides behavioral insights while maintaining total consumer privacy.
“Consumers care about privacy,” said Cynaumon. “What’s powerful here is that we can learn about behavioral patterns without ever knowing who the individual is.”
Cynaumon has already seen how personality-based targeting is driving the next evolution of marketing analytics.
“For decades advertisers focused on demographics,” he said. “The next frontier is understanding how customers think—and finding media environments where those same personalities naturally gather and how to more effectively engage with them.”
About Dr. Greg Cynaumon
Dr. Greg Cynaumon is a Doctor of Psychology, behavioral strategist, and CEO of ADcology, a full-service advertising agency that provides customer behavioral analysis, creative advertising development, media placement, and advanced marketing analytics. His work focuses on applying consumer psychology and behavioral science to improve advertising performance.
About ADcology
ADcology is a behavioral advertising agency that integrates consumer psychology, artificial intelligence insights, media strategy, and creative development to help brands improve engagement, conversion rates, and return on advertising spend.