• AShadyRaven@lemmy.zip
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    2 months ago

    oh i know how this works and its not the way you think. Its somehow better and worse at the same time

    Im going to describe the process using a hypothetical situation:

    You decide to try a new shampoo but you’re not sure what to buy. You ask your friend “hey what shampoo do you use” and they tell you they use Head and Shoulders.

    Later that night, you google head and shoulders and read reviews

    The next day, your friend gets Head and Shoulders ads on youtube and facebook and Instagram, etc

    This is because google knows both of your locations and search history. It sees that you two were within a few feet of each for hours and decides to shoot ads at you both, based on what either of you have searched recently.

    This is called proximity targetted advertising and i think its gross.

    But this is why so many people say things like “we were talking about it and now im seeing ads they must be spying on me”