Unfortunately, targeted ads have been around far longer than the internet. The direct mail industry was booming for decades. That said, it's ENTIRELY possible t

Unfortunately, targeted ads have been around far longer than the internet. The direct mail industry was booming for decades. That said, it's ENTIRELY possible to target ads based on intent or interest without tracking individual users. If a European baby formula company wants to sell more product they could buy ads that show up when someone searches for baby formula {intent} or run ads on childbirth YouTube channels {interest}. If a middle aged man from Wyoming sees those ads, he would have been mis-targeted regardless.