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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?

#331

Post by kd0amg »

sokoloff wrote: post #184
dr_dshiv wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because some things in life are win win. I actually prefer relevant ads vs irrelevant ads.

Me too, but I also prefer fewer ads over more ads. The more efficient we make ads, the more of them there will (virtually guaranteed) be.

Quantity of ads seems more like a decision for web site operators to make, balancing the wishes of viewers and clients. If a site's ads drown out the content I go there for, I'd give up on the place, but if a site's ads are "too relevant," I'd probably keep going there.

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

#332

Post by jimbob45 »

newsbinator wrote: post #318
otterley wrote: post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the US, you can’t use personal health information for marketing purposes. If you can prove this link, a lot of very large organizations could potentially be in serious trouble for HIPAA violations. https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/privacy/guidance...

Is there a feasible way to prove this link?

Subpoena Voltaren for documents? I don’t know that there really is.

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

#334

Post by alex_g »

lifeformed wrote: post #247
alex_g wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Purchased a hard kombucha at Whole Foods last week, Ever since, about 1/3 of my instagram ads are for it. Never had an instagram ad for it before.

Maybe the subtle influences that led you to buying such a drink in the first place are directly related to increased advertising for them. Also Amazon has your Whole Foods purchasing data, so that probably trickled down somewhere.

Technically my girlfriend purchased it with her Whole Foods/Amazon account, and she has not seen any ads.

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

#335

Post by alex_g »

blueblisters wrote: post #279
alex_g wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Purchased a hard kombucha at Whole Foods last week, Ever since, about 1/3 of my instagram ads are for it. Never had an instagram ad for it before.

A few potential reasons: - You fit the demographic of Kombucha drinkers in your locality - You visited a Kombucha blog/website recently that used retargeting to deliver an ad to your Instagram - An initial ad that caught your attention and Instagram used “dwell time” to determine that the ad is relevant to you

Good points. I do fit the demographic, I have looked up pages related to Kombucha in the past (thought not in the last 6 months), and I did dwell on the first ad in amazement.

Still, I got home from the store and started seeing the ads immediately.

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

#336

Post by grok22 »

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/05/google-tracking-cred... -- that's from a quick Google search. Even though the article says "secretly" etc...there is really no conspiracy theory-like secret to this and it's well-known that everyone sells data to whomever they can make money from. It's more like what user jonahbenton has explained in another comment. The makers of Voltaren are able to broadly advertise to anyone who might be interested in Voltaren -- they don't know specific users. But Google (or any other advertising provider) has access to info on who might be interested in Voltaren at present -- which might be decided based on various factors including your credit-card purchase data. If Google does wants to dig down, they probably can use various info to drill down to you specifically and that is what makes people rightly uncomfortable, but what I am trying to say is that in general they are not specifically targeting you for the ad -- but a broad category/bucket of "people who might be interested in Voltaren at present". One might say it is the same thing...

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

#337

Post by whimsicalism »

vbsteven wrote: post #308
continuations wrote: post #297

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does Google link the real life person who bought Voltaren at a store to the online account or fingerprint that browses the Internet?

I don’t think Google linked the account directly to the purchase. My guess would be that Google linked the account to the medication based on patterns from one of its many ways it gathers data. * visits to websites about that medication * visits to websites talking about symptoms for which the medication helps * searches for the above * I would not be surprised if Google picks up interests from other accounts using t…

So, then, completely different from what the GP suggested.

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

#338

Post by skybrian »

newswasboring wrote: post #216
KaseKun wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately, though this is an excellent story, this is just an example of a bias known as "frequency illusion". It happens with a lot of things, like seeing the clock at 11:11 more than you do at 11:09. Or seeing lots of your make/model car but being blind to the hundred of other variants on the road. How many times have you opened up your laptop and not seen a Facebook add for something you just did, or something…

I understand you have used Occam's razor to come to this conclusion. And its a perfectly valid point. But, this particular story has been repeated so many times around me that I am genuinely suspicious. But alas, the only way to know would be to look at the code. And even then we might not understand because its a blackbox type system which is ill understood by even its designers.

You need to default to uncertainty. It’s not proven that it was coincidence, but it’s also not proven that it isn’t.

Sometimes you never do find out what happened.

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

#339

Post by whimsicalism »

newswasboring wrote: post #216
KaseKun wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately, though this is an excellent story, this is just an example of a bias known as "frequency illusion". It happens with a lot of things, like seeing the clock at 11:11 more than you do at 11:09. Or seeing lots of your make/model car but being blind to the hundred of other variants on the road. How many times have you opened up your laptop and not seen a Facebook add for something you just did, or something…

I understand you have used Occam's razor to come to this conclusion. And its a perfectly valid point. But, this particular story has been repeated so many times around me that I am genuinely suspicious. But alas, the only way to know would be to look at the code. And even then we might not understand because its a blackbox type system which is ill understood by even its designers.

Yes, it is a common cognitive bias.

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

#340

Post by whimsicalism »

fraud wrote: post #260
CoolGuySteve wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bullshit, Facebook was found around 2015-2016 to be draining iPhone batteries with background audio sessions. While they may have gotten more efficient with their methods it wouldn't be surprising if they were still recording audio. There's a moral hazard that incentivizes any company that can do so to bug user's homes for advertising purposes. IMO it should be illegal.

My issue with the whole idea of background recording for advertising is that it would be incredibly costly to store this data, transcribe the audio and turn it into anything even remotely meaningful for advertisers. I also don’t know a lot on this subject so if anyone has better info that’d be great.

> store this data, transcribe the audio and turn it into anything even remotely meaningful for advertisers

I disagree - even shitty, low CPU on-device transcription could give a signal to advertising algos.

I doubt this is being done, but it is definitely within the range of possibility and wouldn't even drain your phone battery that much.

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