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Social networks like Facebook have long given advertisers the ability to target users based on shared information about gender, interests and relationship status, among other things, without compromising their personal privacy. It's part of what's made Facebook such an attractive platform for ad buyers, who have come to expect the same capabilities from other social networks, including LinkedIn.
LinkedIn says that in early tests, click-through rates have been three to four times greater for clients who distributed targeted ads compared to the site's average.