With LinkedIn advertising, it is possible to see certain information about who is clicking on and engaging with your ads. However, LinkedIn does not provide advertisers with the full names or profiles of everyone who clicks on an ad in order to protect user privacy.
What LinkedIn does show advertisers
When setting up a LinkedIn ad campaign, advertisers can choose to target their ads using LinkedIn member demographic and professional data. This allows ads to be shown to a more specific audience that matches the targeting criteria.
LinkedIn then provides advertisers with aggregated reports showing them information about the people their ads reached and who engaged with the ads. Here are some of the data points that can be seen:
- Age range
- Gender
- Job title
- Job function
- Company name
- Company size
- Company industry
- Location
This gives advertisers helpful insight into the types of LinkedIn members interacting with their ads, without revealing individual identities. Advertisers can see which target audiences and demographic segments are most interested and taking action on their ads.
Individual identity protection
While advertisers can see aggregated demographic data, LinkedIn does not provide them with personally identifiable information about each person who clicks on an ad. Here are some of the ways LinkedIn protects member privacy:
- Full names of people who click on ads are not shown to advertisers. Only aggregated and anonymous demographic data is reported.
- Individual member profiles are not revealed to advertisers.
- Contact information like email addresses or phone numbers is never provided.
- Individual IP addresses are not shown, to avoid revealing an identifiable person.
This approach aligns with LinkedIn’s privacy policy and terms of service. Members must agree to have their data used for reporting to advertisers, but only in an aggregated and anonymous way.
Advertiser tools to optimize ads
While not providing individual identities, LinkedIn does give advertisers tools to optimize their ad targeting and messaging based on the aggregated feedback.
For example, advertisers can use LinkedIn Campaign Manager to A/B test different ad variations. They can experiment with different images, ad copy, calls-to-action, and targeted member segments. LinkedIn will report back on which ad versions are performing best without revealing who exactly clicked on the ads.
Advertisers can also remarket to anonymous groups of members who have previously engaged with their ads or content. LinkedIn allows advertisers to create Custom Audiences and target future ads to these groups, without knowing exactly who is in the audience.
Measuring ad conversions anonymously
LinkedIn also facilitates anonymous measurement of ad conversions. Advertisers can add tracking pixels or tags to their websites to monitor:
- Website visits from LinkedIn ads
- Page views
- Email signups
- Product purchases
Again, this provides aggregate conversion data to optimize ads without sharing any visitor names or profiles.
When member names may be revealed
The only time LinkedIn will reveal individual member identities to advertisers is if a member proactively engages further on the advertiser’s website after clicking an ad.
For example, if a member fills out a contact form, signs up for a newsletter, speaks to a sales rep, or purchases a product, they are identifying themselves to the advertiser directly. At that point their actual name or contact details may be revealed.
Compliance with privacy laws
By not revealing individual identities to advertisers, LinkedIn aims to comply with privacy laws and build member trust. This includes:
- The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union
- The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in California
- And other privacy regulations around the world
LinkedIn’s approach is to only provide aggregated demographic and firmographic data to advertisers, rather than identifiable personal information.
Advertising on professional profiles
LinkedIn occupancy a unique position as a social network focused on professional profiles, rather than personal profiles. This means members intentionally showcase details about their professional identities, experience, and skills on the platform.
This allows targeted advertising in a B2B context, where members expect to engage with relevant business offers. However, LinkedIn still limits what advertiser data is revealed about individuals for privacy protection.
Ethical considerations
There are some potential ethical concerns around targeted advertising and data collection that LinkedIn acknowledges:
- Members may feel their data is misused for profits they don’t share in.
- Ads can be seen as intrusive or manipulative if overly targeted and personalized.
- Discrimination can happen unintentionally through biased ad targeting.
- Lack of transparency around how much data is gathered from members.
To address these concerns, LinkedIn aims to be transparent about its data collection, targeting, and sharing practices. Members must consent to how their data is utilized for advertising purposes. And advertisers are held to high standards for non-discriminatory ad policies and authentic, honest marketing.
Conclusion
In summary, while LinkedIn provides advertisers with demographic data at an aggregated level to inform ad targeting and optimization, individual member identities and profiles are not revealed. This approach aims to maintain member trust and comply with privacy regulations.
However, members who independently engage further with an advertiser’s website or offerings may reveal their identities at that point outside of the LinkedIn platform.
There are always ethical considerations around targeted advertising. But LinkedIn aims for transparency and compliance with member privacy expectations when leveraging their professional profile data.