Inexplicable banner ads

[Kirstie]

Recently when browsing the odd photo website and whatnot, advertisements for online stores where I've recently browsed for products appear in the banner ads. Clearly the work of cookies the shopping sites place on my computer, you might think...

So why on earth am I getting loads of banner ads for gay dating websites and for stopping smoking?!? Has my browsing committed an unintentional faux-pas - akin to wearing a single earring in one's right ear, or having a handkerchief of a particular colour displayed in a particular pocket? Has the fact that my other half (who smokes) used my computer trigged some kind of smell-o-vision cookie?

Aargh!

 

[Fnaar]

well, er... if they ARE the result of cookies...erm... double check the surfing history...

 

[bauldbairn]

I was on the Chris Boardman website several times pre christmas - then it seemed that every site I was on afterwards, I was followed by Halfords ads for Boardmans(and only Boardmans). My firewall blocks cookies and alway's ask's my permission to admit them which I rarely do.

I'd check your computers surfing history Kirsty - as fnaar said!

 

[colinr]

On cookies, deleting them isn't enough any more:
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/08/you-deleted-your-cookies-think-again/

As for the random ads, maybe you've confused someones ad profiler and it's gone into guess mode

 

[Bman]

 

[matc]

Google now 'personalises' all search results (link to a commentary) - this used to be opt-in, now it's opt-out. Privacy? Pah. Potentially embarassing issues on shared computers? Lots of 'em.

 

[Wolf04]

Recently when browsing the odd photo website and whatnot, advertisements for online stores where I've recently browsed for products appear in the banner ads. Clearly the work of cookies the shopping sites place on my computer, you might think...

So why on earth am I getting loads of banner ads for gay dating websites and for stopping smoking?!? Has my browsing committed an unintentional faux-pas - akin to wearing a single earring in one's right ear, or having a handkerchief of a particular colour displayed in a particular pocket? Has the fact that my other half (who smokes) used my computer trigged some kind of smell-o-vision cookie?

Aargh!

Even worse I seem to be targeted by cycling adverts..............Halfords cycling adverts *Shudders*

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Aargh!

Aargh indeed. Last thing I want is to have such stuff foisted on me - even if it is just a bike advert.

 

[Kirstie]

Well if whatever is profiling me thinks that I'm a gay male smoker then my privacy is intact! FAIL!

 

[matc]

Choppy waters ... someone else uses your computer ... does a Google search ... Google drop a cookie (90 day duration, IIRC) with some details of what you're searching for ... you visit a site running Google AdSense (and you will, Google ain't a Search Engine, they're the largest advertising agency on the planet) ... the ads on that site get 'personalised' according to the contents of that cookie?

 

[Kirstie]

Choppy waters ... someone else uses your computer ... does a Google search ... Google drop a cookie (90 day duration, IIRC) with some details of what you're searching for ... you visit a site running Google AdSense (and you will, Google ain't a Search Engine, they're the largest advertising agency on the planet) ... the ads on that site get 'personalised' according to the contents of that cookie?

Yes I'm fully clued up on google, and so, happily, will be the rest of the nation in the coming weeks...BBC2 have a 4 part series coming out in a month or two called 'Virtual Revolution' - on the history of the internet. Programme 3 is all about this - look for my name in the credits!!

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Yes I'm fully clued up on google, and so, happily, will be the rest of the nation in the coming weeks...BBC2 have a 4 part series coming out in a month or two called 'Virtual Revolution' - on the history of the internet. Programme 3 is all about this - look for my name in the credits!!

So it's you who is responsible

Send me the anti dote NOW

 

[Kirstie]

So it's you who is responsible

Send me the anti dote NOW

Quite the opposite!!