My feelings towards ads range from mild dislike to outright
hatred, depending on whether or not I’m forced to watch them—I will refuse to
buy a product with an intrusive ad campaign out
of spite. God help you if your stupid ad pops up on my screen when I’m
trying to watch something. And targeted ads—ugh! (Hm, I’ve been using that word
a lot this week…oh well, it fits) Lately, I’ve been trying to watch shows
online and I get those ASPCA ads with the sad looking animals. Damn it, I’m trying
to watch the Nostalgia Critic to laugh. You’re ruining everything!
So I clicked on that little blue triangle in the corner of
the ad to try and figure out how I could make those stop popping up and making
me cry. It took me to AdSense Help, and from there, I clicked on “Ad Settings”.
Turns out, they make some…suppositions about you based on the sites you visit.
Apparently I’m a guy. And I like bike riding. I had no idea.
Good thing Google is around to tell me.
I need to check mine. I'd be horrified if it said I was a woman.
ReplyDeleteI don't like ads either. I refuse to have any one my site, no matter how many times a month I am approached.
Maybe that's why you don't like hugs.
ReplyDeleteLOL! Shows you can't tell anything about anyone online, I always thought you were female ;)xx
ReplyDeleteBut yeah, I hate targetted ads - like when you do a google search fr something, and then you log into facebook and surprise, surprise, the adverts are about what you've just searched for!
I dislike them too, where ever they pop up.
ReplyDeleteThere was something I saw a year or so ago where trash cans (in London, I believe) had chips in them to pick up someone's cell signal to target passersby with ads specifically for them. But there was some problem so they stopped.
ReplyDeleteIn other words, it's about to get worse.
And the algorithms apparently are based on 1950s stereotypes.
Sometimes the X in the upper right corner makes that ad go away, but at the same time it opens another ad in a separate window. This can be embarrassing if it happens at work.
ReplyDeleteI hate ads, especially the targeted ones because they never seem to really be targeted at me. I get tons for dating sites and weight loss, and I have no idea why...
ReplyDeleteGosh, I hate to even look and find out what Google thinks of me.
ReplyDeleteI already know what Facebook thinks of me. Based on the number of times Facebook shows me an ad for my own book, I check my sales rank WAY too often. ;)
It freaks me out when an ad shows up coinciding with a recent Google search I made. I feel watched.
ReplyDeleteMany of them are incorrect though, concerning things I'm not interested in.