That’s my point exactly. I’m not expecting a positive result in this test, but I’m keeping my eyes peeled. I’m giving it every opportunity to work. Still nothing yet.
I had a discussion about this in another thread a couple days ago…
I always hear people complaining about this (I actually hear it in reference to Facebook ads more often than Google, but I’ve heard both.) I really think it’s a case of confirmation bias, though. Yes, Facebook and Google do creepy things in order to target ads to you. But actively listening to your conversations are not one of them. (Aside from the things you directly ask an assistant device about, of course.) There are plenty of tech-minded people who monitor the traffic coming and going from these devices, which can easily debunk that notion.
What they DO do, and what can explain a lot of those coincidences, is that they DO know the people you interact with. They track your location with your phone GPS, IP address, and/or wireless network. They know which people are in your contact list. They know which people you’ve crossed paths with recently, based on whether your location lines up with theirs, and for how long.
Yes, it definitely happens that you’ll have a conversation with a friend about some weird topic that you’ve never Googled, and then you’ll see an ad about it. But the friend has almost definitely Googled it, or has been spending tons of time at websites devoted to that topic. And Facebook/Google/whatever can see that you just spent 2 hours with that friend. They can make a reasonable guess that the friend may have had a conversation with you about a topic they’re passionate about, so they decide you’re probably a good person to target with a similar ad.
That’s where the crazy/creepy ads come from.
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