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I don't know for sure but personally I have gotten so few relevant ads over the last few years that I start to question all those bright engineers at Google Adw

I don't know for sure but personally I have gotten so few relevant ads over the last few years that I start to question all those bright engineers at Google Adwords/Adsense. This time it is dating sites. I mean: a company that has access to most of my search history since, IDK, 2005 and still serves me ads for Russian, Ukrainian, Thai, Chinese and whatnot dating. This being despite the fact that I never clicked one single of them, the fact that I explicitely clicked on the feedback button and told them I was not interested and the fact that I volunteered to tell them what my interests really are. Before that it was one weird trick. Before that it was "Is your PC slow". Why o why are all ads either not targeted or targeted at everyone but me?

oneeyedpigeon 11y ago
This is the flaw behind targeted advertising. Unless all advertising is targeted, the fact that some of it is, isn't much of a consolation. Even the targeted advertising we do have is pretty piss-poor, as we all know with the classic example of buying a fridge, then getting adverts for fridges for the rest of your life.
tomjen3 11y ago
It is not just google. Facebook showed me an add for the exact major I have, from the university that I went to --- even though Facebook knew I went there because I told them so. I am single so it tried offering me ads for dating sites, but it was of course for crappy sites (because the good ones don't need ads) not good ones. Friends in the same age group as me who stopped being single have told me that they get ads for child-related crap (or Ashley Maddison, but I guess thats over). It is only my hunch, but I think what has happened is that the we have incredibly complex systems that knows more about me than I do, but the people who buy the ads still go "hmm, this product is target towards males ages 20-30 who are single in $AREA" and just put those things into Facebook.

oneeyedpigeon 11y ago

This is the flaw behind targeted advertising. Unless all advertising is targeted, the fact that some of it is, isn't much of a consolation. Even the targeted advertising we do have is pretty piss-poor, as we all know with the classic example of buying a fridge, then getting adverts for fridges for the rest of your life.

tomjen3 11y ago

It is not just google. Facebook showed me an add for the exact major I have, from the university that I went to --- even though Facebook knew I went there because I told them so. I am single so it tried offering me ads for dating sites, but it was of course for crappy sites (because the good ones don't need ads) not good ones. Friends in the same age group as me who stopped being single have told me that they get ads for child-related crap (or Ashley Maddison, but I guess thats over). It is only my hunch, but I think what has happened is that the we have incredibly complex systems that knows more about me than I do, but the people who buy the ads still go "hmm, this product is target towards males ages 20-30 who are single in $AREA" and just put those things into Facebook.