Unsolicited Ads

[roadman65]

We all get them each day. However, have you ever been to a place like, let's say, a Smitty's Pub to eat. Then the following day, Smitty's places an ad on your social media?

Of course like Google tracks your phones movement against your stationary placements to figure out how you spend your day each day. If you have your phone connected to your car's Bluetooth, you might start your engine up to have your phone tell you how long it takes to get to where you're going.

Of course advertisers use the same technology to track where you shop, eat, etc. Plus  see how much you spend when you stop for a while. Use a computer to figure it all out, and send it to the retailer to give you ads on that place.

I don't know about you, but I find it not only creepy, but rude.

[hotdogPi]

This doesn't happen to me. It probably helps that I don't use social media (other than Discord) and I have personalized tracking turned off for Google.

[Scott5114]

Why don't you just install an ad blocker? Oh, you use Google Chrome for no good reason? I see.

[GaryV]

What I don't understand is that you buy something online. And then for the next few weeks, that same item comes up as an ad. Hey dummies, I already bought it. Why are you wasting advertising dollars on me?

[kphoger]

I had my location turned off on my phone for a long time, back before I switched away from having a smartphone.  I don't remember if I turned it back on again before going "dumb", or if I left it off.  The only real reason I missed having it turned on was that I was no longer a blue dot on the Google Maps app...

What I don't understand is that you buy something online. And then for the next few weeks, that same item comes up as an ad. Hey dummies, I already bought it. Why are you wasting advertising dollars on me?

It's likely because you shopped for it that it comes up as an ad.  It probably doesn't even know you finally clicked "purchase".

[roadman65]

Oh I've had mine, so I thought, turned off.  I don't hook my phone up to the radio anymore, so that stops a GPS app from telling me how to get to work when I start my car up at work time.

I've learned that once you join your phone and your cars computer, they're permanently merged as one brain. That's why your phone knows just how far away your car is from it when you leave your car. Life got better when I didn't program my Bluetooth on my last two phones to the car radio.