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Afraid to Google a thing because I don't want the algorithm to think I like it

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Re: Afraid to Google a thing because I don't want the algorithm to think I like it

#121

Post by Spooky23 »

werid wrote: post #20

It's annoying clicking some youtube link only to find it was something you really don't want more of, and then youtube proceed to recommend much more of it, even though you barely watched any of it. kinda forces me to watch something else that is new but at least somewhat wanted in an attempt to make the algorithm look at the new shiny i'm interested in and forget the previous one. i find it funny though when amazon…

> amazon still make recommendations to me based on a purchase in 1998. yes, Jeff, i still want to buy wrestling VHS tapes...

It’s funny you mention that.

For many years I would get recommendations for Latino lgbt books. Weird as it’s not really my topic. I found a way to look at how they generate recommendations, and it turns out that I bought a book about a gay Chicano growing up for a college class in 1998 or something.

Re: Afraid to Google a thing because I don't want the algorithm to think I like it

#122

Post by wintermutestwin »

mschuster91 wrote: post #54
scoopertrooper wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not use the built-in profile functionality?

God knows if Google does any kind of cross-correlation between them. I would actually expect it.

IME they do cross-correlate...

Re: Afraid to Google a thing because I don't want the algorithm to think I like it

#123

Post by laurent92 »

mrweasel wrote: post #32
wodenokoto wrote: post #24

I think Netflix is the worst offender. If you spend a minute too long looking at the menu for a movie it will not only auto play, but for the foreseeable future Netflix will assume you’re watching it, want to finish watching it and watch similar stuff. More than most other services Netflix doesn’t trust your ratings or your lists when making up recommendations.

Netflix apparently have no idea what I like. Well maybe they do, but don’t actually that type of content, so they just throw random junk at me.

It feels like Netflix knows what I like and throws things I don’t like at me on purpose, just to see whether I’ll change my mind. (So I unsubscribed)

The discovery is specifically what makes Youtube, Netflix or Spotify sticky beyond just content hosting, and even at suggestions, pirate websites are better at it.

Re: Afraid to Google a thing because I don't want the algorithm to think I like it

#125

Post by yrygfjv »

pizza234 wrote: post #119
MaxBarraclough wrote: post #113

Use a private browsing/incognito window then. Not bullet-proof, but probably good enough.

Not so easy. It seems that major companies are on the offensive against privacy. Google search, map and translate display a pop up. Youtube search displays two (!). Bing translator is the most dishonest - for anything else than a trivial sentence, it requires a captcha to be completed, pretending that it detected abnormal traffic (I know it's a lie, because if I don't use private mode, it doesn't do this). The servic…

What do you mean? It doesn't matter how many popups or CAPTCHAs the sites make you deal with: as long as you don't log in to your Google account, any searches you make with an incognito window shouldn't be associated with your Google identity. They'll be associated with your IP address (and of course browsers can in principle be fingerprinted, etc.)

If there's any reason to believe that Google tries to defeat incognito mode and associate that history with a particular Google account, I haven't heard it, and it seems really unlikely, given the things people are expected rely on incognito mode for.

Re: Afraid to Google a thing because I don't want the algorithm to think I like it

#126

Post by mindslight »

> I'm afraid to skip a song because I don't want the algorithm to block all songs like it.

Weird, can't reproduce on mpd/ncmpc. (stop using hostile software!)

But seriously I was just explaining to some friends how my use of Audioscrobbler two decades ago has stuck with me, in that sometimes when I jump around in a track I have a quick thought of whether my listening to that song will have been counted. Even such a simple dynamic created long lasting behavioral effects, and these days we're all just swimming in such external context with every piece of remote code trashware we're goaded into using.

Re: Afraid to Google a thing because I don't want the algorithm to think I like it

#128

Post by gundmc »

qualudeheart wrote: post #44

You should abstain from googling politically incorrect ideas. It is possible that the state will require searches for for politically incorrect content be logged and used to create a profile on possible dissidents.

What country do you live in?

Re: Afraid to Google a thing because I don't want the algorithm to think I like it

#129

Post by lupire »

yrygfjv wrote: post #125
pizza234 wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not so easy. It seems that major companies are on the offensive against privacy. Google search, map and translate display a pop up. Youtube search displays two (!). Bing translator is the most dishonest - for anything else than a trivial sentence, it requires a captcha to be completed, pretending that it detected abnormal traffic (I know it's a lie, because if I don't use private mode, it doesn't do this). The servic…

What do you mean? It doesn't matter how many popups or CAPTCHAs the sites make you deal with: as long as you don't log in to your Google account, any searches you make with an incognito window shouldn't be associated with your Google identity. They'll be associated with your IP address (and of course browsers can in principle be fingerprinted, etc.) If there's any reason to believe that Google tries to defeat incogni…

> given the things people are expected rely on incognito mode for.

I don't think Google tracks these things in regular search either. My interests profile doesn't include my favorite porn.

Re: Afraid to Google a thing because I don't want the algorithm to think I like it

#130

Post by new_guy »

yrygfjv wrote: post #125
pizza234 wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not so easy. It seems that major companies are on the offensive against privacy. Google search, map and translate display a pop up. Youtube search displays two (!). Bing translator is the most dishonest - for anything else than a trivial sentence, it requires a captcha to be completed, pretending that it detected abnormal traffic (I know it's a lie, because if I don't use private mode, it doesn't do this). The servic…

What do you mean? It doesn't matter how many popups or CAPTCHAs the sites make you deal with: as long as you don't log in to your Google account, any searches you make with an incognito window shouldn't be associated with your Google identity. They'll be associated with your IP address (and of course browsers can in principle be fingerprinted, etc.) If there's any reason to believe that Google tries to defeat incogni…

Google in $5bn lawsuit for tracking in 'private' mode:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52887340

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