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How to See What the Internet Knows About You

nytimes.com

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Re: How to See What the Internet Knows About You

#31

Post by com2kid »

jasonrhaas wrote: post #16

I recently got tired of all the creepy targeted advertising, so I hit the nuclear option. Turned off all targeted ads on all social networks, cleared all cookies, all search histories, and installed the Disconnect Chrome extension. Also disabled all images in my email to stop those email trackers. I've always used an ad-blocker but I don't think that stops the data collection aspects of it. I've always known this is…

> I recently got tired of all the creepy targeted advertising, so I hit the nuclear option.

Credit cards, mortgage providers, retail stores, and car dealers all sell customer information on the open market. Every cell phone company out there knows what provider you have, stores knows what type of clothing you like to buy.

Wiping your computer clean prevents the ads from appearing on your PC, but the tracking of you is still taking place.

Re: How to See What the Internet Knows About You

#32

Post by gpawl »

owlninja wrote: post #6

These companies know "more about your life than you do", but yet the targeted ads continue to be pretty useless. The ad on this site was an Amazon ad for a pool filter I bought on Amazon about a week ago. It should know that I don't need these for like another year now. The other was for a cruise which I just got back from last week. Maybe some after-sun lotion or something vehicle related for the fact I drove 6 hour…

You confuse "slightly imperfect" with "useless"

Re: How to See What the Internet Knows About You

#33

Post by ajc-sorin »

owlninja wrote: post #6

These companies know "more about your life than you do", but yet the targeted ads continue to be pretty useless. The ad on this site was an Amazon ad for a pool filter I bought on Amazon about a week ago. It should know that I don't need these for like another year now. The other was for a cruise which I just got back from last week. Maybe some after-sun lotion or something vehicle related for the fact I drove 6 hour…

The seemingly lack of intelligence isn't due to them being ineffective, but rather being effective at a task you weren't necessarily evaluating.

The key difference between marketing and advertising is that marketing is advertising with the added intent of creating a sale to the person viewing the advertisement - advertising directly to their target market.

Advertising is more about brand awareness and viral marketing. You bought a pool filter and won't need one for another year, but you probably have friends/live near/know people who may be in the market for a pool filter, and if they ask you about buying one, the brand awareness may encourage you to suggest that brand, even though you may not have used it yet or no anything else about other brands - which is another key benefit.

Essentially, advertising has a 2-tier benefit. Firstly, it solidifies brand awareness, and secondly, it takes up space that would have gone to a competitor. Now the cost of competing is that much higher, because in order to get your business a competitor would need to invest in a superior product and invest in bringing awareness to you.

"If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it's stupid."

Re: How to See What the Internet Knows About You

#34

Post by gaius »

spyspy wrote: post #15
gaius wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The purpose of these ads is not to sell you stuff. Its to sell advertising to companies that don't understand this internet stuff but are terrified of being "left behind". The ads need to be plausible, thats why someone has to see them, but who that is literally doesn't matter.

Ad companies make money based on clicks, not views. It's in their interest to make them interesting enough to click on.

I don't think that's true, because who is clicking on these ads for things they already own?

Re: How to See What the Internet Knows About You

#35

Post by whatsmyhandle »

I generally consider targeted ads to be relatively harmless, with one major recent exception:

I'm starting to shop for an engagement ring, but since I live with my GF I have to do online research in Incognito mode so ads don't ruin what I hope to be a surprise someday.

File this under "things peeps didn't have to worry about 10-15 years ago"

Re: How to See What the Internet Knows About You

#38

Post by dublinben »

PhasmaFelis wrote: post #28
jasonrhaas wrote: post #16

I recently got tired of all the creepy targeted advertising, so I hit the nuclear option. Turned off all targeted ads on all social networks, cleared all cookies, all search histories, and installed the Disconnect Chrome extension. Also disabled all images in my email to stop those email trackers. I've always used an ad-blocker but I don't think that stops the data collection aspects of it. I've always known this is…

I tried turning off targeted Google ads on my phone, and got only the worst ads possible from then on. Like, 100% strobing "YOUR PHONE HAS 37 VIRUSES, CLICK HERE TO CLEAN". Eventually I had to turn it back because ad-supported apps are nearly unusable with strobing banners at the bottom, which I'm sure was Google's intent.

Have you considered paying for the apps you use, or using open source apps (such as from F-Droid) that don't include ads?

Re: How to See What the Internet Knows About You

#39

Post by koonsolo »

owlninja wrote: post #6

These companies know "more about your life than you do", but yet the targeted ads continue to be pretty useless. The ad on this site was an Amazon ad for a pool filter I bought on Amazon about a week ago. It should know that I don't need these for like another year now. The other was for a cruise which I just got back from last week. Maybe some after-sun lotion or something vehicle related for the fact I drove 6 hour…

I live in Belgium with 2 main languages, Dutch and French. YouTube still shows me French adds, while I speak Dutch.

Re: How to See What the Internet Knows About You

#40

Post by mikehain »

esnard wrote: post #20

Have I been pwned[0] is missing from this list, and is an awesome tool to check whether some of your information have leaked in the past. Passwords are, in my opinion, way more valuable than browser history. [0]: https://haveibeenpwned.com/

Thanks for this site. I think the Snapchat breach finally explains why I've been getting so many scam phone calls in the past few years.
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