The algorithm knows you have a baby, and it will exploit that

The “baby products industrial complex” is using the algorithm to exploit new parents. Advertisers use data to push targeted ads to expecting mothers to profit off of a desire to take good care of their children.

Chabeli Carrazana is an economy and childcare reporter at The 19th. She had a conversation with her editor about becoming a new parent, which inspired her to look into the landscape of “mommy marketing.”

“We were sort of realizing that we had gone through the same thing,” Carrazana said. “[We’d] seen the onslaught of ads, scrolled our phones at two in the morning with the fussy baby, trying to figure out, ‘Did I buy the wrong thing?’”

“Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal spoke with Carrazana about her reporting.

Click the audio player above to hear their conversation.