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

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

#131

Post by conradfr »

ancarda wrote: post #47
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…

>VISA marketing Why is this even a thing? Maybe I should just go back to buying everything with cash, it's impossible to keep up with all the crap we need to disable or hack around

That's why some people are working hard to make cash disappear.

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

#132

Post by paulcole »

reader_mode wrote: post #35
StavrosK wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's been a few times now where I've talked with my wife about some new product (physically, in the room) and she starts seeing ads about it. I thought that was the explanation too, but it's happened too many times for comfort. I know my devices are (probably) not listening, but I can't explain it either. Neither of us searched for the product or saw it online or anything, we just discussed something and got ads abou…

> It's been a few times now where I've talked with my wife about some new product (physically, in the room) and she starts seeing ads about it. I thought that was the explanation too, but it's happened too many times for comfort. The wierdest instance of this is I told my wife her father should consider geting those fixed bridge dentures, next day I start seeing all-on-4 ads on the phone. I asked her if she looked it…

I work in dental marketing and you 100% are in the target demo for All-on-4. It’s a very popular/trendy service and is being advertised heavily now because it’s profitable, (relatively) easy to do, etc.

Good target markets are: Grown adults with $$$ who either don’t have teeth or know someone who doesn’t have teeth (likely parents/grandparents/in-laws). This is basically every upper-middle class adult. More people than you think are missing their teeth.

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

#133

Post by fsflover »

YeGoblynQueenne wrote: post #112
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…

Even better: flush your smartphone down the toilet. I mean, if you have to try and double-guess your phone to make sure it's not spying on you the game is lost. I don't even know what game that is. But it's lost.

Or replace your phone with a one you can trust (Linux phone).

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

#134

Post by MereInterest »

alisonkisk wrote: post #101
MereInterest wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They've also been asking for birthdays lately, obstensibly to verify age, but with the small print that it will also be used for ad targeting. But don't worry, they say, you can control how your information is used after you add it. On that page, the only option is whether to show the birthday publicly or not. There is no option to disable use for targeted advertising. Oh yeah, and Google frames asking for a birthdat…

You may not like the bevahior, butlt there's no indication of dishonesty there. Quite the contrary.

If you are referring my my description, then there absolutely is dishonesty. The notice deliberately implies (1) that is is a legal requirement on me to provide a birthday, and (2) that I can disable the use of this information for ad targeting. Neither of these is the case. Therefore, dishonesty.

If you are referring to reading email for ad targeting, you are correct that dishonesty in one area doesn't necessarily imply dishonestly in another. However, it does mean that a person or entity loses the benefit of the doubt, and must have independent verification of their claims.

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

#135

Post by bladewolf47 »

washadjeffmad wrote: post #121
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.

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?

Not sure if it fits with what the poster you replied to was saying but I find it a bit curious when I buy say a guitar on Amazon and my recommendations (emails or ads in other sites) over the next few days are still guitars. I do not remember seeing one of those promotions which follow a purchase being about accessories or add-ons.

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

#136

Post by fsflover »

StavrosK wrote: post #61
mysterydip wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They could always either compress the audio or do a speech to text (looking for keywords rather than caring about getting the whole context correct), and batch upload the results on an interval (like when checking for email or app/system updates).

That would still absolutely kill the battery.

Doesn't your phone sometimes stay on charging for some time?

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

#137

Post by pc86 »

jeroenhd wrote: post #108
sct202 wrote: post #67

In America, some stores seem to share rewards member information to product companies so they can target their ads on other platforms. For example, I paid for a very specific candy from CVS using my credit card, but used my partner's CVS rewards member number and they got ads on facebook for that candy while I haven't seen a thing.

This feels like it should be illegal if it isn't already.

Why?

I'm not disagreeing with you. I'm actually inclined to agree. But this hand-wavy "this should be illegal!" type of comment is extremely common on these threads and is completely unhelpful.

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

#138

Post by chillacy »

reader_mode wrote: post #35
StavrosK wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's been a few times now where I've talked with my wife about some new product (physically, in the room) and she starts seeing ads about it. I thought that was the explanation too, but it's happened too many times for comfort. I know my devices are (probably) not listening, but I can't explain it either. Neither of us searched for the product or saw it online or anything, we just discussed something and got ads abou…

> It's been a few times now where I've talked with my wife about some new product (physically, in the room) and she starts seeing ads about it. I thought that was the explanation too, but it's happened too many times for comfort. The wierdest instance of this is I told my wife her father should consider geting those fixed bridge dentures, next day I start seeing all-on-4 ads on the phone. I asked her if she looked it…

Another possibility: switching the cause and effect, e.g. maybe you received ads for fixed bridge dentures and didn't notice consciously (how many ads do we gloss over each day "not paying attention"), but later brought it up because the mind assimilates ads subliminally (arguably the whole point of advertising).

This is perhaps even more creepy than just "phones listening in", but it's not an explanation I hear very often.

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

#139

Post by FredPret »

atat7024 wrote: post #68
machello13 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Use an iPhone?

This only works if you trust Apple instead of the firm you're running from. But it does "work". iPhone is the only phone besides a GrapheneOS phone with an intact security model worth writing about.

Not to say that any organization (eg Apple) is trustworthy to an outsider, but at least Apple makes a lot of money upfront from the device’s price tag.

Their incentive is to not annoy their rich & powerful customer base with privacy violations.

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

#140

Post by pc86 »

graderjs wrote: post #20
halotrope wrote: post #9

It might be that you are just noticing the ads now that you bought the product. I read about similar observations recently. Might be a cousin of frequency illusion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_illusion?wprov=sfti1

Gaslighting in the Information Age: You just imagined that ad started following you around.

Oh come on. It's a documented effect. It's the same thing as when you buy a new car you suddenly see the same or similar vehicles everywhere.

Not every instance of someone providing an explanation for something you don't understand is "gaslighting."

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