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If I walk into a store, the assistant asks "Can I help you?" and I reply "I'm looking for a crimson-coloured nail varnish" and then she says "Sure! We have a ne

If I walk into a store, the assistant asks "Can I help you?" and I reply "I'm looking for a crimson-coloured nail varnish" and then she says "Sure! We have a new line in this week, can I show you?" then I'm more than happy to let her show me. That's what google search ads feel like. If I'm sitting in a restaurant having a conversation with a friend and a person from the next table leans over and interrupts to say "I notice your nails aren't painted properly, can I interest you in our new line of nail varnish?" then my first thought will be something like wouldn't it be cool if something horrible and painful happened to this person. Even if I was considering trying a new line of nail varnish. That's what targeted facebook ads feel like.

Sir_Substance 11y ago
>If I walk into a store, the assistant asks "Can I help you?" and I reply "I'm looking for a crimson-coloured nail varnish" and then she says "Sure! We have a new line in this week, can I show you?" then I'm more than happy to let her show me. That's what google search ads feel like. Is it though? Because I always thought it felt more like a used car salesman crossed with clippy. "I see you're trying to paint your nails, would you like to buy some nailpolish for that?"
- NhanH 11y ago
  That's arguably an implementation issue rather than a more fundamental issue. I.e. it can be fixed, and we all know that Google is not going anywhere anytime soon.
- taneq 11y ago
  A used car salesman who you spoke to once at a party and who knows a couple of facts about you which they refer to in every damn sentence. "Hey so last time I saw you you talked about nail polish, I've got a friend selling some... Did you want cheap tickets to a nail-painting seminar? There's a nail & manicure kit on Amazon!" Only it wasn't even you at the party, it was your friend that did one Google search for nail polish months ago and now you're forever The Nail Polish Guy.
  - coredog64 11y ago
    At least with Amazon, when I search for a gag gift, I can tell them later to ignore my page view for recommendations. I would love ability for same with Google.
    - red_admiral 11y ago
      If you know in advance that you're about to search for a gag gift, open a new private browsing window.
      - taneq 11y ago
        Yeah, these days I use a private window if I'm searching for anything that would throw off my normal profile. That plus adblock means it hasn't been an issue for a really long time so maybe it's better these days. I just always found it really annoying when I'd spend a couple of days researching a purchase, and then for the next month I was getting ads for the thing I'd just bought. I don't need one of those any more, I've got one!
    - simula67 11y ago
      You can disassosciate your interests from google by going here : https://www.google.com/ads/preferences https://www.google.com/ads/preferences and make it permanent by using IBA opt-out plugin : https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/iba-opt-out-by-google/gbiekjoijknlhijdjbaadobpkdhmoebb?hl=en https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/iba-opt-out-by-goo... You can control what kind of data Google is allowed to collect about you from Google's settings dashboard : https://www.google.com/settings/dashboard https://www.google.com/settings/dashboard
brandmeyer 11y ago
> That's what targeted facebook ads feel like. I call these adds "stalker ads" to convey this very feeling, and it certainly isn't limited to just Facebook.

Sir_Substance 11y ago

>If I walk into a store, the assistant asks "Can I help you?" and I reply "I'm looking for a crimson-coloured nail varnish" and then she says "Sure! We have a new line in this week, can I show you?" then I'm more than happy to let her show me. That's what google search ads feel like. Is it though? Because I always thought it felt more like a used car salesman crossed with clippy. "I see you're trying to paint your nails, would you like to buy some nailpolish for that?"

NhanH 11y ago
That's arguably an implementation issue rather than a more fundamental issue. I.e. it can be fixed, and we all know that Google is not going anywhere anytime soon.
taneq 11y ago
A used car salesman who you spoke to once at a party and who knows a couple of facts about you which they refer to in every damn sentence. "Hey so last time I saw you you talked about nail polish, I've got a friend selling some... Did you want cheap tickets to a nail-painting seminar? There's a nail & manicure kit on Amazon!" Only it wasn't even you at the party, it was your friend that did one Google search for nail polish months ago and now you're forever The Nail Polish Guy.
- coredog64 11y ago
  At least with Amazon, when I search for a gag gift, I can tell them later to ignore my page view for recommendations. I would love ability for same with Google.
  - red_admiral 11y ago
    If you know in advance that you're about to search for a gag gift, open a new private browsing window.
    - taneq 11y ago
      Yeah, these days I use a private window if I'm searching for anything that would throw off my normal profile. That plus adblock means it hasn't been an issue for a really long time so maybe it's better these days. I just always found it really annoying when I'd spend a couple of days researching a purchase, and then for the next month I was getting ads for the thing I'd just bought. I don't need one of those any more, I've got one!
  - simula67 11y ago
    You can disassosciate your interests from google by going here : https://www.google.com/ads/preferences https://www.google.com/ads/preferences and make it permanent by using IBA opt-out plugin : https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/iba-opt-out-by-google/gbiekjoijknlhijdjbaadobpkdhmoebb?hl=en https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/iba-opt-out-by-goo... You can control what kind of data Google is allowed to collect about you from Google's settings dashboard : https://www.google.com/settings/dashboard https://www.google.com/settings/dashboard

brandmeyer 11y ago

> That's what targeted facebook ads feel like. I call these adds "stalker ads" to convey this very feeling, and it certainly isn't limited to just Facebook.