I buy stuff on line from time to time. When I internet shop I normally check out several sites and compare reviews. Google knows this. Google tracks all of this and then Google tailors my "add experience" to reflect this.
Recently I decided I wanted a new pair of shoes for work. My favorite maker of these kinds of shoes is Allen Edmonds. So I checked out what they had available on their web site. I've been a customer of Allen Edmonds for about 20 years. So if they have what I want, I'm very likely to buy it from them. As I was surfing the web site, I discovered that several models were on sale. This company doesn't have sales all that often so I picked out what I wanted and ordered it.
For me that's it, transaction over. I've bought my shoes. If they fit when they show up tomorrow, my quest for shoes will be over and it will be a few more years before I get the urge to shoe shop again. Its never over for Google Ad Sense. I can't surf any web page with out seeing adds for Allen Edmonds shoes.
Example #2. I'm told (by those that love me enough to buy me gifts) that I'm "hard to shop for". Whatever that means. So I am required to provide lists of stuff I want for Christmas. This last week I preformed my annual "list chore". The best way to do this is to make a list and provide links to the items in question. The fastest way to provide links is to Google the stuff I want and link it. This year I asked for (among other things) some commercial grade kitchen items. So now I'm bombarded by shoe and restaurant supply ads.
In college I was a marketing major, so this internet based targeted advertising interests me. I like everything about it from a marketing prospective. One question that I have about the process is, "when do they decide to quit the targeted campaign?". I've bought my shoes. Unless something happens, I won't buy more shoes for some time. Do I have to shop for something else in order to see new ads, or am I stuck with the ads? Isn't that a waste of advertisers money and a wasted opportunity for some other advertiser?
Are you logged into a Google account, or something? If not, the only way it can reliably track you is through tracking cookies. If you clear your browser's cache/history/cookies, I should think that would remove any history on which Google could datamine for targeting ads.
ReplyDeleteWomen can never have enough shoes. Or purses. Or jewelry.
ReplyDeleteI agree with WaterBoy... I always blow away full history when exiting any browser and try not to search when logged into my Gmail account. I'm sure they can log information based on my IP, but it's not as easy: http://donttrack.us/. DuckDuckGo just isn't as good as Google for searching.
WB... have you seen the Collusion Firefox extension? Amazing how just a few minutes of surfing can pull together a huge network of cookies/companies.
My browsing choice is Pale Moon with NoScript, AdBlock Plus, and Better Privacy. My wife can't stand NoScript, but it's illuminating how many marketing components/scripts are out there.
black: "have you seen the Collusion Firefox extension?"
ReplyDeleteNo, I only use Firefox occasionally, when it can do something that IE cannot. A perfect example is the county tax assessor website that shows the property parcel map. IE cannot render the map properly, but Firefox can.
Still, it would be interesting to see that kind of tracking data. Is it available for IE, do you know?
Firefox w/ NoScript is a great idea, as is clearing the cache.
ReplyDeleteBut stop using Gurgle and start using Zeekly, which doesn't spy on you or keep any record of your searches.
HTH
All good privacy info.
ReplyDeleteWhat blows me away isn't that this exists, its that I as an individual user am targeted and tracked across different machines as well.
I will do a search at home, and then the same adds will follow me to work that night. Two different machines with two different platforms and one professional security system.
WB: AFAIK, only a Firefox extension.
ReplyDeleteRes: Google is amazingly pernicious... even working to secure all searches, which will directly affect SEO and third-party marketing companies.
MDS: I'll give Zeekly a shot.
What do you all recommend for free email not hosted by Google? I'm considering transitioning off my Gmail account.