Some LinkedIn users may think the company is a match-making professional resume company, but the truth, of course, is that, like all social networks, LinkedIn is actually an advertising company.

In a press release announcing the purchase of Drawbridge, which uses AI to understand and target customers, LinkedIn revealed that their LinkedIn Marketing Solutions has grown revenue  46% year-over-year by advertising to LinkedIn’s 630 million members.

The press release is a perfect example of the adage that if you are not paying for a service you are in fact the product.

LinkedIn notes “We also launched objective-based advertising in Campaign Manager to help our customers customize campaign creation experiences according to their objectives” and “we will continue to maintain the strong controls our members and customers have over the data they choose to share with us.”

Hopefully, LinkedIn will not concentrate so hard on their customers that they end up losing their members.

See the full press release here.

Via MJF