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

#1

Post by wideareanetwork » Sun, Apr 18, 2021, 8:59 AM UTC

How does google know I bought Voltaren?

Is my bank purchase history shared with google somehow?

I guess it could just be coincidence?

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

#2

Post by arkitaip » Sun, Apr 18, 2021, 9:03 AM UTC

Have you been googling about your symptoms, illnesses or anything else that can have a connection to drugs like Voltaren?

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

#3

Post by wideareanetwork » Sun, Apr 18, 2021, 9:06 AM UTC

arkitaip wrote: post #2

Have you been googling about your symptoms, illnesses or anything else that can have a connection to drugs like Voltaren?

No I’m almost certain I haven’t. Because I’ve used it before and I don’t really have any questions about it so I ran out and I just go buy more.

At this stage I’m just assuming it’s a coincidence.

It has made me realize the holy grail for google and advertisers is to access your bank transactions and advertise to you based on that.

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

#4

Post by [deleted] » Sun, Apr 18, 2021, 9:26 AM UTC

wideareanetwork wrote: post #3

arkitaip wrote: post #2

Have you been googling about your symptoms, illnesses or anything else that can have a connection to drugs like Voltaren?

No I’m almost certain I haven’t. Because I’ve used it before and I don’t really have any questions about it so I ran out and I just go buy more. At this stage I’m just assuming it’s a coincidence. It has made me realize the holy grail for google and advertisers is to access your bank transactions and advertise to you based on that.

[deleted]

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

#5

Post by jjgreen » Sun, Apr 18, 2021, 9:39 AM UTC

Did you pay with cash?

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

#6

Post by Hackbraten » Sun, Apr 18, 2021, 9:49 AM UTC

Did you take your phone with you to the chemist, and did it have GPS or Wi-Fi enabled? That wouldn’t explain the exact match but the product category, and choosing Voltaren feels like a pretty plausible coincidence given the category.

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

#7

Post by znpy » Sun, Apr 18, 2021, 9:52 AM UTC

> I guess it could just be coincidence?

Could it be? of the billions of items you could be advertised for, why then exactly Voltaren?

Do you have an android phone, by chance?

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

#8

Post by [deleted] » Sun, Apr 18, 2021, 10:26 AM UTC

wideareanetwork wrote: post #3

arkitaip wrote: post #2

Have you been googling about your symptoms, illnesses or anything else that can have a connection to drugs like Voltaren?

No I’m almost certain I haven’t. Because I’ve used it before and I don’t really have any questions about it so I ran out and I just go buy more. At this stage I’m just assuming it’s a coincidence. It has made me realize the holy grail for google and advertisers is to access your bank transactions and advertise to you based on that.

[deleted]

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

#9

Post by halotrope » Sun, Apr 18, 2021, 10:27 AM UTC

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

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

#10

Post by mam2 » Sun, Apr 18, 2021, 10:28 AM UTC

Did you day the word voltaren close to your phone ? That happened to me for real estate investment discussion over the phone with my mom.