Facebook isn't getting it from google, a third party ad exchange is using it to serve you ads all over the internet. Turn cookies off and install an ad blocker and you won't see any of that. If you want to tweak a friend google something seriously weird, like "adult incontinence" a bunch of times on their computer. They'll get odd ads for weeks. -XC
>> Facebook isn't getting it from google Seems to me that they are. The pathway ("a third party ad exchange") is just the transfer mechanism. I think your point was that it could just as easily have been "bing" and "linked in", for example. Doesn't make it any less creepy.
Oh, well, yeah it might have come from there, but it might be that the search they remembered was only one of the data points that was used to display the ad. One AdEx I know claims they use over 50 factors, including a large search history, to determine ad categories. There is a local company here that does neighborhood level ad targeting to show you local coupons and specials. If you think it's creepy (doesn't bother me, I like ads that show me things I'm interested in) the you should use ad blocker and block cookies and scripts. Then it all goes away. -XC
Understood. In spite of the creepy factor, I kinda prefer to see this sort of thing, out in the open. A reminder that some 'bot is watching a lot of what we all do in public.
I'd kind of like to know which NSA agent is watching at any one time. You know, since the cat is half out of the bag anyway. That way, I could kind of explain myself a little, or give a heads up, like, "Hey Jeff, I've been drinking a bit and I've been going through some stuff, so things are going to get a little weird." Or have people not watching everyone . . .
Well, at the end of the cold war, the STASI in East Germany employed about 1/3 of the population to spy on the other 2/3, so maybe "shovel ready" was Obama-code for that sort of program? But I agree that it would be cozier if we knew our watchers. -XC
You could always pull a elahi and just say, "You want to track me? Here you go F.B.I" Cut out the middle man.
Yep - and maybe showcases that what we assume is private is often actually not. That's actually sort of the reason I posted this account.