Targeted ads?

[Hyoon]

I was just nonchalantly scrolling down facebook when I noticed these ads from sites I've shopped from and stuff I'm generally interested in (like makeup and clothes, etc.) and it was just kinda jarring. I never post anything on fb at all. Just recently I saw an ad for contacts and it kinda creeped me out how it seems they knew I was a contact lens wearer. How do you feel about targeted ads and have you bought anything from those ads before?

 

[AnimalCrossingPerson]

Eh, it's just annoying as usually I end up getting adverts for stuff I've recently bought or are already interested in.

It is kind of creepy, though. On my phone, I don't use Google, I don't use Chrome, so how does Google Adwords know I've been looking at a specific pair of shoes on the Clarks website?

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It's basically a huge invasion of privacy.

 

[Zane]

The ones I get are so pointless because they always just show me things I already looked at, like it'll be for listings on amazon I was recently viewing. lol like ok thanks I already saw that and didn't buy it......
and the posts fb recommends me that it thinks I'll be interested in are always weird and dumb. if they're collecting data on me they're doing a bad job.

 

[visibleghost]

i use adblock and clean my cookies and all that stuff often so i don't really get them a lot. i hate targeted ads, they feel invasive and creepy.

 

[AnimalCrossingPerson]

and the posts fb recommends me that it thinks I'll be interested in are always weird and dumb. if they're collecting data on me they're doing a bad job.

Facebook shows me glow-in-the-dark inhaler bands (I'm not asthmatic), free watches and other items (great, but they'll never arrive and the company will disappear off the face of the internet forever) and items which are illegal but no-one really cares about - 500-in-1 Gameboy cartridges, 12,000-in-1 systems, stuff like that. I never buy any of these things, but what do they all have in common? They're all things I complain about in the comments section.

Inhaler bands are a ridiculous invention as there's a thing called a light switch and keeping your inhaler in the same place each night; free item scams are self-explanatory (most seem to fall for them...) and with the piracy-related items you're better off just getting an emulator and downloading the stuff yourself as to not support these people. I even filed a report to Nintendo about one of those recently, as I'm okay with these sorts of things, but just not if they come pre-loaded.

 

[~Unicorn~]

Simple: Cookies.

 

[wizard]

The Internet company uses the information they know about you and uses your history to show ads they think you'd want to see rather than just random stuff.

 

[Alienfish]

Annoying as hell, especially when you get random nude/18+ stuff and you don't even go to those site (even if you clear cache and cookies etc.)

I mean I wanna have it off for sites I support but they are just too obnoxious and trumpeting so yeah...

 

[ali.di.magix]

I find it very invasive. Not everything needs to be linked or shared.

I heard quite a while back how the mobile Facebook app uses your phone's microphone to pick up key words in your conversations to try and target "better-suited" adds for you. It seems pretty legit, since I talk about study and what I'm studying a lot and there's always ads about various polytech's/universities popping up. They reckon if you try talking about something completely random for a while, Facebook will pick it up and start showing ads about it. I've never tried it myself but that would be interesting.

I think they've calmed it down a bit though, recently the ads haven't been as relevant to me.

 

[AnimalCrossingPerson]

Annoying as hell, especially when you get random nude/18+ stuff and you don't even go to those site (even if you clear cache and cookies etc.)

I only get dodgy ads on fresh OS installations - once I've visited some sites they then have some categories to target. Clearing cookies will largely reset this (local storage can still be used). Unless you go looking up porn in non-incognito browser tabs, you shouldn't have much of an issue with this.

 

[idiotdoomspiral]

when i look at stuff on shops i get ads that are related items or items i looked at but didnt buy

 

[Bowie]

I swear to god Facebook uses your microphone to pick ads.

I was talking to my father about something for the garden we were considering buying, and the next thing I know, there are countless ads popping up on my timeline for it.

If it weren't for Facebook being the only way I could communicate with my best friend, I'd close it down immediately.

 

[Soraru]

i use adblock. it works really well. as for the app, i hate how facebook now puts there advertisement in the middle of videos.

 

[Anactoria]

I actually don't mind them so much when I do see them (which is rare, because I have adblock installed). But I don't really like the direction it pushes society, since it encourages active information blindness in some people, and just generally seeps consumerism into our lifestyles. Plus, it's just cluttered. A bit of a moot point, but I'd rather have invasion of privacy for ad agencies and data collection than the media censorship in certain countries. It's a terrible day when you admit that you approve advertising over propaganda.

 

[Arjh]

This is part of the reason I don't use Instagram anymore, just so fed up with ads popping up when your scrolling through posts.

 

[Hyoon]

I think the problem for me is mainly mobile since there's no legit adblock. Also it seems like these sites will still track you, just that you choose not to see it w adblock .___.

 

[Bcat]

lol I get these all the time too and I hate it! It isn't always necessarily what I look at on my computer either. I went to a website for a makeup brand on my phone and now I get an add almost every time I use fb on my computer. Also when my parents look at things on their computers and phones, which I don't ever even log into fb on I get adds for those things too.

It's really invasive and feels creepy and there needs to be a way to turn it off. >.<

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I swear to god Facebook uses your microphone to pick ads.

I was talking to my father about something for the garden we were considering buying, and the next thing I know, there are countless ads popping up on my timeline for it.

If it weren't for Facebook being the only way I could communicate with my best friend, I'd close it down immediately.

all of this. a friend of my dad's told him how he was talking to his wife about something on their cell phones and he started getting ads for it too.

I too would delete facebook TODAY if it wan't the only way I could keep in contact with like 2 people I couldn't communicate with otherwise.

 

[pft7]

I use AdBlock all the time and have for years, if it ever gets to the point where advertisements can't be blocked on platforms where it is obstructive I will stop using them. If there are adverts on Youtube videos I am not watching them. I don't care that much. I will drop them like a hot potato.

I also do not own a smartphone and do not plan to. Question for everyone: Is that the main reason people still see adverts? They browse the internet on smartphones which do not possess adblockers? Or are you supporting platforms you enjoy purposefully?

 

[Hyoon]

I use AdBlock all the time and have for years, if it ever gets to the point where advertisements can't be blocked on platforms where it is obstructive I will stop using them. If there are adverts on Youtube videos I am not watching them. I don't care that much. I will drop them like a hot potato.

I also do not own a smartphone and do not plan to. Question for everyone: Is that the main reason people still see adverts? They browse the internet on smartphones which do not possess adblockers? Or are you supporting platforms you enjoy purposefully?

Like I said, I only really have this problem on mobile/tablet. I always have adblock on my comp. u-u

 

[Buttonsy]

I find them really unnerving. The worst of them is that I'll occasionally have it happen so that I have conversations near the computer about stuff I would probably never actually look up online, and then suddenly get targeted ads related to those conversations.
I struggle with delusions so it really makes me feel watched.

I do have adblock on Chrome but I always open Facebook on Firefox so I still sometimes get ads on there.