Targeted train ads on non-train sites?

I’m just curious. Is anyone else seeing this? On Dilbert.com, I’m getting ads from one of those overpriced mail-order places for sports-team oriented model trains. Today, at the Boston Globe’s site, there was an ad for Charles Ro, a Boston-area LHS.

I’m actually in favor of this. It sure beats political ads or splashy noise for products I have no use for.

I get them whenever I am going to things like KvR forums or somesuch. Google does track your principal sites…

My KvR forum site ends up leaving me with the occasional Musician Friends or Guitar Center ads here…[(-D]

Yep, Google and cookies. You may be able to limit that somewhat by adjusting your privacy settings, but as you’ve noted some folks do enjoy at least looking at ads for stuff they’re interested in rather than something that they have no interest in.

I don’t notice them one way or the other as Adblock does a good job of blocking them. I have enough to do without having to wade through ads too.

Count me as “undecided, leaning towards creepy.” I find it unsettling that targeted ads appear on new sites milliseconds after I’ve searched for something unrelated on the previous site, especially if it’s just a passing interest. And those ads tend to persist for I-don’t-know-how-long until I-don’t-know-what I’ve done to generate replacements.

Net, I guess you’ve convinced me I’d rather opt for privacy, ignore ads of no interest to me, and navigate to sites that interest me.

Thank you, Mr. Beasley, for adding clarity to my life.

Rick Krall

You will be seeing more of this kind of thing, not less. There is a certain “Big Brother is Watching You” creepiness factor. On the other hand look at the potential benefits if the Boolian logic is lead to belive that you like “models” and “railroads” …

[:-,]

Dave Nelson

Big Brother doesn’t creep me out as that Burger King commercial where the guy opens his blinds and there he is, looking in through the window. I wonder what advertising knothead thought this was a good ad campaign.

I do not intend to get in an argument with you Marlon, but the window peeper Burger King ad is not nearly as disturbing as this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4_5qoy4oaQ

I have the vague sense that Burger King farms out their advertising creative to a maximum security prison somewhere

Dave Nelson

adblock for the win, no more ads on videos or on sites.

Whether people who use the internet like it or not, many engines and bots are at work feeding your preferences and sites visited, even if only once, to a processor that then sends you a nice little commercial mouthful with each new page you load, even if, once again, you get to a place for the very first time.

Think of it this way: they know where you’re going to go next, even before you do. Mmm…

I just bought stock in ALCAN aluminium so that I can be assured of a good supply of tinfoil hats. Nothing gets through those old analog adblockers.

Actually you guys have to learn how to take advantage of these things. When I signed up for You-Tube, Instead of telling them I was a 55 year old curmudgeon named Brent, I filled in the name Candy Lovelace, age 23. This gets me all the Victoria Secret adds.(hubba)

Brent[C):-)]

The BK ad is no worse than Santa Claus (he sees you when your sleeping etc.) looking at that song from an adult perspective gives me the creeps.

I gave some thought this morning to browsing over to the VS site now and then, in hopes of getting more targeted ads of that genre.

Remind me to add Burger Thing to the list of places never to do business with…[|(] The list is getting quite long I might add. Thank goodness for adblocker plus and Firefox! I finally got rid of television completely as I haven’t watched at at home in the last decade… Don’t miss the crap on it at all.

Emails form Amazon, and all the other sites that think they should direct ad to me for anything I have looked at there go directly to the junk mail, folder!

73

Yes it happens to me too.

Google, and other search engines track what you are doing by your computer’s ISP ID tag. Then they target you with the POSSIBLE ads you MIGHT like.

Basically, ANYTHING and EVERYTHING you do on the 'puter online is being tracked/sorted/stored/shared with those who will PAY for “targeted possibles” and then you get targeted!

No matter how safe you think a site is, someone is tracking your moves, even your web server!

So don’t be so surprised…unfortunately.

[8-|]

I love these kind of threads, always good for a laugh or two.

Google has your address, a picture of your house, who you bank with, your credit card companies, your mortgage holder and where you like to browse when the little woman ain’t around.

Besides, it won’t matter after 12/21 anyways right? [(-D]

Edit-and btw, Ad-Block blocks ads, cookies still land, so if you want to truly remain anonymous you have to turn into a Ted Kaczynski and disconnect completely.

Have fun! ! !

Not a big deal.

I learned many years ago to use Ad Block and Flash Block, plus, the Firefox browser does not store any info. I have it set up to clear anything I have done, online. I never search the 'Net when logged in to anything, including email.

By the way, Amazon.com sells trains also.

Rich

I don’t remember how to get to it, but Google actually lets you edit the information they’ve gleaned about your search history and the inferred information that they’ve guessed at. Some of its pretty funny actually.

Google thought I was 65-70. I was 29 at the time. Also thought I was interested in roofing for some reason.

People 65-70 are more susceptible to shingles. [swg]