Ask HN: I bought Voltaren at the chemist, now Google shows me ads for it. Why? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: I bought Voltaren at the chemist, now Google shows me ads for it. Why?

#121

Post by washadjeffmad » Sun, Apr 18, 2021, 2:02 PM UTC

jeroenhd wrote: post #107

baybal2 wrote: post #29

Opt out of VISA marketing https://marketingreportoptout.visa.com/OPTOUT/request.do Second, disable GPS, and cellphone tower ID reporting (root needed.) So Google can't correlate you with sales records. At the moment, there is no way to disable Google AGPS spying on the stock Android. Third, block Google apps from reading your IMEI/IMSI/serial number, so they can't get AGPS data from your cellphone provider if it sell…

This is the dumbest ad strategy ever. Why on earth would ads about a product you just bought be effective marketing material. This is like how you get a million ads about dishwashers the day after you Google around and buy one. At least wait for a short duration of time to let the target run out of medicine before adversiting new stuff.

Many purchases are recurring consumables. Food, clothing, medicine, office supplies, car parts- none of it lasts forever. What does it cost to be reminded that you can buy more?

Also, completely unrelatedly, if you saw some armchair internet rando claim they'd debunked a major and long-standing business strategy of market sector leader, how seriously would you take them?

Re: Ask HN: I bought Voltaren at the chemist, now Google shows me ads for it. Why?

#122

Post by bombcar » Sun, Apr 18, 2021, 2:03 PM UTC

asadkn wrote: post #52

dorkwood wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's pretty common. I once bought a fan online and had ads for that same fan follow me around for weeks. I believe they're called "retargeting" ads.

Retargeting is generally done after you have shown interest in a product, but haven't converted yet. "Conversions" are always excluded if possible. It makes no sense to retarget a recent buyer.

They may not know you converted, especially if the ads are internet and the purchase was in-person.

Re: Ask HN: I bought Voltaren at the chemist, now Google shows me ads for it. Why?

#123

Post by secondo » Sun, Apr 18, 2021, 2:05 PM UTC

jeroenhd wrote: post #107

baybal2 wrote: post #29

Opt out of VISA marketing https://marketingreportoptout.visa.com/OPTOUT/request.do Second, disable GPS, and cellphone tower ID reporting (root needed.) So Google can't correlate you with sales records. At the moment, there is no way to disable Google AGPS spying on the stock Android. Third, block Google apps from reading your IMEI/IMSI/serial number, so they can't get AGPS data from your cellphone provider if it sell…

This is the dumbest ad strategy ever. Why on earth would ads about a product you just bought be effective marketing material. This is like how you get a million ads about dishwashers the day after you Google around and buy one. At least wait for a short duration of time to let the target run out of medicine before adversiting new stuff.

To reinforce the notion that you’ve made the right choice and keep you as a long term loyal customer. This is an expressed part of car ad strategies.

For medicinal products I’d be keen to see research on whether a treatment group being re-targeted would report better efficiency of a treatment than a non-retargeted control.

Re: Ask HN: I bought Voltaren at the chemist, now Google shows me ads for it. Why?

#124

Post by [deleted] » Sun, Apr 18, 2021, 2:05 PM UTC

baybal2 wrote: post #29

Opt out of VISA marketing https://marketingreportoptout.visa.com/OPTOUT/request.do Second, disable GPS, and cellphone tower ID reporting (root needed.) So Google can't correlate you with sales records. At the moment, there is no way to disable Google AGPS spying on the stock Android. Third, block Google apps from reading your IMEI/IMSI/serial number, so they can't get AGPS data from your cellphone provider if it sell…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: I bought Voltaren at the chemist, now Google shows me ads for it. Why?

#125

Post by durnygbur » Sun, Apr 18, 2021, 2:06 PM UTC

I say "" (turquoise skirt, hand truck) with iphone laying in radius 3m. Later on while browsing the internet with Safari on the device I see ads selling this product. Other than this, Whatsapp is scanning the conversations for keywords and brand names - there is no doubt even.

Re: Ask HN: I bought Voltaren at the chemist, now Google shows me ads for it. Why?

#126

Post by YeGoblynQueenne » Sun, Apr 18, 2021, 2:09 PM UTC

55555 wrote: post #113

jeroenhd wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the dumbest ad strategy ever. Why on earth would ads about a product you just bought be effective marketing material. This is like how you get a million ads about dishwashers the day after you Google around and buy one. At least wait for a short duration of time to let the target run out of medicine before adversiting new stuff.

I used to think this, but people who just bought a dishwasher are probably somewhat likely to buy another dishwasher, even the same dishwasher, and there only needs to be a tiny fraction of a single percentage chance for it to be worth showing an ad impression.

Presumably even for that tiny fraction of people who buy a dishwasher right after buying a dishwasher there must be a limit to how many times they will repeat the cycle, otherwise ... well, we can imagine the planet Earth completely covered in dishwashers and somewhere under the mass of white cubes, a constant mouse clicking sound and a cry of anguish... Must. BUY. M O R E .

Re: Ask HN: I bought Voltaren at the chemist, now Google shows me ads for it. Why?

#127

Post by durnygbur » Sun, Apr 18, 2021, 2:10 PM UTC

baybal2 wrote: post #29

Opt out of VISA marketing https://marketingreportoptout.visa.com/OPTOUT/request.do Second, disable GPS, and cellphone tower ID reporting (root needed.) So Google can't correlate you with sales records. At the moment, there is no way to disable Google AGPS spying on the stock Android. Third, block Google apps from reading your IMEI/IMSI/serial number, so they can't get AGPS data from your cellphone provider if it sell…

> Opt out of VISA marketing

> U.S cardholders may opt out of Visa using their card transaction data for VAS, a suite of aggregated data products in the United States.

So while outside of US, I don't get the perks like cashabacks and no privacy either!

Re: Ask HN: I bought Voltaren at the chemist, now Google shows me ads for it. Why?

#128

Post by MaxBarraclough » Sun, Apr 18, 2021, 2:10 PM UTC

lima wrote: post #95

fileeditview wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> > Visa marketing I guess this is one of the things that just has to be forbidden by law.

In Germany (and probably all of Europe), it is forbidden by law.

I get the impression it's not forbidden in the UK. Here's the equivalent page from MasterCard. [0] (Incidentally, the captcha is broken so the page is unusable.)

[0] https://www.mastercard.co.uk/en-gb/vision/terms-of-use/commi...

Re: Ask HN: I bought Voltaren at the chemist, now Google shows me ads for it. Why?

#129

Post by baybal2 » Sun, Apr 18, 2021, 2:10 PM UTC

jeroenhd wrote: post #107

baybal2 wrote: post #29

Opt out of VISA marketing https://marketingreportoptout.visa.com/OPTOUT/request.do Second, disable GPS, and cellphone tower ID reporting (root needed.) So Google can't correlate you with sales records. At the moment, there is no way to disable Google AGPS spying on the stock Android. Third, block Google apps from reading your IMEI/IMSI/serial number, so they can't get AGPS data from your cellphone provider if it sell…

This is the dumbest ad strategy ever. Why on earth would ads about a product you just bought be effective marketing material. This is like how you get a million ads about dishwashers the day after you Google around and buy one. At least wait for a short duration of time to let the target run out of medicine before adversiting new stuff.

Cause, and effect.

It throws dust into eyes of advertising efficiency measurement.

Company pays for ads, and Google just sizes the ad impressions to what it can find.

Re: Ask HN: I bought Voltaren at the chemist, now Google shows me ads for it. Why?

#130

Post by paulcole » Sun, Apr 18, 2021, 2:10 PM UTC

How do you know you didn’t see ads for it before? Isn’t it likely you’re only noticing the ads now because you just bought it?

Is it surprising that ads are targeted at someone who actually bought the product? Doesn’t this show that ad targeting works? You just happened to notice the ads after you made the purchase.

What products did you buy that you didn’t see ads for? Which ads did you see that you didn’t end up buying the product?

This is a case of you being aware of Voltaren because you bought it, saw the ads, and are now trying to connect the two.