Targeted ads in A mish mash of entries
- July 26, 2014, 3:07 a.m.
- |
- Public
Targeted ads both annoy and scare me. Presumably from the depths of a clever website that somehow got me to input my age, I'm getting ad after ad HERE ON PROSEBOX about services for (choose here)
- Old Age Pensioners
- Senior Citizens
- Life-experienced
- Mature People
- Seasoned Citizens
- Grumpy Old Women (I guess I must have input my gender somewhere too)
Saga insurance, which I would never use because they're consistently more expensive than mainstream alternatives. For walk-in showers and showers that have seats and hygiene aids (what the hell are they?). For fifty plus clothes (don't they know that 60 is the new 40?). And so on.
Recently I had to do some research for work on drug and alcohol problems and the relationship to mental health. I used my own computer because 1) it's faster than my work laptop and 2) the work server throws up its hands in horror if asked to search anything like "alcohol" or "drugs" and refuses to open the page. The ads I'm now getting are eye-opening..... amazing - although these ones are not on Prosebox. Veiled suggestions for a chemically enhanced sex life, cheap alcohol, how to avoid showing positive on a breath test and heaven knows what else (the ones I'm scared to even look at never mind open).
So why are the ads on Prosebox limited to the insulting ones (yes, I AM in denial about being old, so it can't be true, so they're insulting), and the really dodgy ones only appear elsewhere? Bloody clever, aren't they?
AlexYourAlterEgo ⋅ July 26, 2014
My ads are for car sale websites (I am currently selling my car), corset-style clothing (no idea how that came about, I have zero interest in fashion) and, amazingly enough, a health insurance plan for people living overseas. That one creeps me out.
Who's Laughing Now? ⋅ July 26, 2014
Adblock Plus. It's free, it's easy to install, and it works. I didn't even know there were ads on Prosebox.
Darcy0207 from OD ⋅ July 26, 2014
They search for any key words - even if you've used them in a comment to someone else. I remember before finding out about bicycle shorts (to be worn under skirts to avoid chafing), I searched for some sort of long leg undergarments - OH BOY! Not ads, but FULL ON websites. I'll never do that again. Remember, the ads keep the sites free for us... just not our eyeballs, it seems.
Darcy0207 from OD ⋅ July 26, 2014
if you use chrome, there's a shareware (not freeware, about $10 or so) app you can add that will block the ads.
Newzlady ⋅ July 29, 2014
Yeah, targeted ads are creepy.
Icklewriter ⋅ September 22, 2014
It really is scary. If I have a look at an item on Amazon, the next thing you know, adverts for that item appear on the right hand side of my Facebook feed. On the one hand, you could say it's efficient and considerate, but I prefer to think it's like being constantly spied upon (which is what's actually happening). Also, there's a greater tendency to spend when these things crop up all the time.