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Targeted Ads - How do they know?

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    #32
    sbs2010
    Registered Users Posts: 551 ✭✭✭sbs2010


    D3V!L wrote: »
    How does your google home assistant know you've said "Hey Google", well its because its always listening to you. So is your phone.

    Try having a conversation about something in detail you wouldnt normally talk about, like going on holidays to a certain place while your phone is in ear shot. Then watch the targeted ad's over the next 24 - 48 hours about that place.

    I've seen that happen to me. Through chrome.
    The ads here on boards have matched obscure stuff I've been discussing aloud.


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    #33
    biko
    Registered Users Posts: 81,223 ✭✭✭✭biko


    I saw you go into the shop, and I rang Google to let them know.


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    #34
    SEPT 23 1989
    Registered Users Posts: 43,027 ✭✭✭✭SEPT 23 1989


    biko wrote: »
    I saw you go into the shop, and I rang Google to let them know.

    Do you cut eyeholes in your newspaper?


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    #35
    Franz Von Peppercorn
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,070 ✭✭✭Franz Von Peppercorn


    ....... wrote: »
    Really?

    Do you have any links for that, Ive had a google but Im not seeing anything that states that level of accuracy.

    Thats a hell of a lot more accurate than I thought it would be.

    Not inside the shop. Did you connect to their WiFi?


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    #36
    Hazys
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,510 ✭✭✭Hazys


    Talking about "Target"ed ads:

    https://www.businessinsider.com/the-incredible-story-of-how-target-exposed-a-teen-girls-pregnancy-2012-2
    [A] man walked into a Target outside Minneapolis and demanded to see the manager. He was clutching coupons that had been sent to his daughter, and he was angry, according to an employee who participated in the conversation.

    "My daughter got this in the mail!" he said. "She's still in high school, and you're sending her coupons for baby clothes and cribs? Are you trying to encourage her to get pregnant?"

    The manager didn't have any idea what the man was talking about. He looked at the mailer. Sure enough, it was addressed to the man's daughter and contained advertisements for maternity clothing, nursery furniture and pictures of smiling infants. The manager apologized and then called a few days later to apologize again.

    On the phone, though, the father was somewhat abashed. "I had a talk with my daughter," he said. "It turns out there's been some activities in my house I haven't been completely aware of. She's due in August. I owe you an apology."


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    #37
    prunudo
    Registered Users Posts: 7,115 ✭✭✭prunudo


    By any chance did you send a WhatsApp message about what you bought and where you bought it?


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    #38
    Alun
    Registered Users Posts: 21,432 ✭✭✭✭Alun


    Franz Von Peppercorn wrote: »
    Not inside the shop. Did you connect to their WiFi?
    You don't need to connect to it. Google uses a huge database of WiFi access point names it has to locate you as well as GPS and cell tower triangulation.

    On the question of whether your phone listens to you and pushes ads or Google search suggestions to the top based on what it hears ... AFAIK they vehemently deny it, but it's happened to me on more occasions than can be attributed to chance. I often look up names of more obscure "celebs" when I'm watching quiz shows, and often I've only typed in the first two letters and there it is right at the top, above any number of better known and more famous people.


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    #39
    Hammer89
    Registered Users Posts: 3,003 ✭✭✭Hammer89


    MetzgerMeister wrote: »
    It has happened to me, my girlfriend and my boss. For me I was talking to my girlfriend about painting my house and picking out colours. I hadn't gone near any hardware stores or anything of the sort beforehand. About 3 hours later I'm scrolling through Facebook and appearing in front of me are ads for paint, rollers, brushes etc.

    My girlfriend was talking to her sister about getting a new car. She mentioned several different cars but focused on the Mazda6. Later that night she had ads on Facebook for Mazda dealers in our area.

    My boss was talking to his partner in the office about having to go to Lidl to get food after work. Lo and behold a few minutes later he started getting ads for Lidl on Facebook.

    It's not just your browser history but when you install the Facebook app (and many other apps) on your phone it asks for permission to use the microphone. This isn't just for making calls through Messenger. I have since turned off the microphone permissions for all apps and haven't had this issue since. It's bloody creepy!

    I'll need at least three more examples before I believe in your theory.


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    #40
    .......
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,057 ✭✭✭.......


    Franz Von Peppercorn wrote: »
    Not inside the shop. Did you connect to their WiFi?

    No I didnt use my phone at all in there but it was in my pocket.
    jvan wrote: »
    By any chance did you send a WhatsApp message about what you bought and where you bought it?

    No I definitely only spoke about it afterwards.


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    #41
    tricky D
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,700 ✭✭✭tricky D


    ....... wrote: »
    No I didnt use my phone at all in there but it was in my pocket.



    No I definitely only spoke about it afterwards.
    Beacons can turn on your apps when in range.


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluetooth_low_energy_beacon


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    #42
    jmayo
    Registered Users Posts: 13,114 ✭✭✭✭jmayo


    ....... wrote: »
    Earlier this week I went to a shop that I rarely go to. Its got an unusual name and not many branches.

    I paid with a card. I told some people in work I had gone there and bought something and showed them.

    The next day i got a targeted ad on Facebook for this shop. I noticed because of its unusual name. I dont ever recall getting a targeted ad for them before.

    How do they know? Was it the card payment? Or is someone listening through my phone when I tell people I was there?

    Disable data on your phone.
    Disable all location tracking.

    Better still don't have a modern phone with you at all times because you can now be monitored for good and for bad.

    Also stay off facebook it is shyte using you as the product.

    People seem to be willingly sleepwalking into a society where they are continously being watched, monitored, tracked because
    a) they are told it is for their safety,
    b) they are told it is for their convenience and
    c) what harm is it if you have nothing to hide.

    And just because I am cynical and paranoid doesn't make me wrong. ;)


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