I find it so funny how I use Spotify daily*, and the account is linked** to my google account that I use a lot, and in the past I made sure to downvote any ads that don’t fit my interests at all, so basically giving as much aminition to give some good targeted ads to me.
Turns out, after all that, I get rubbish collection ads, face mask ads and wastewater management ads, even though I have truly never thought about any of those nor have shown interest in them, AND I’ve shown tons of interest in only technology.
Asterisks
(*) - I use the iOS mobile app, so I can’t really block ads unfortunately, even though I’d love to :/
(**) - I made the google and Spotify accounts when I was in my early teens, so I didn’t really know or care about digital footprint or tracking, so if I was able to go back, I would’ve at the very least gotten multiple google accounts to sandbox my activities. But hey, better late than never I guess!
At one point, the advertising algorithm for Tinder decided what I needed in my life was a tractor. A massive, eleven tonne tractor intended for work on a large farm.
I have a similar account for everything that I expect to have some form of tracking. Yet all of these services that are supposed to spy on me to find out exactly what I’m interested in have not once succeeded in targeted me with advertising for something I have any interest in getting. I’ve only seen them work for people who have Facebook or something that actively listens for things to make ads about, which I don’t have.
I find it so funny how I use Spotify daily*, and the account is linked** to my google account that I use a lot, and in the past I made sure to downvote any ads that don’t fit my interests at all, so basically giving as much aminition to give some good targeted ads to me.
Turns out, after all that, I get rubbish collection ads, face mask ads and wastewater management ads, even though I have truly never thought about any of those nor have shown interest in them, AND I’ve shown tons of interest in only technology.
Asterisks
(*) - I use the iOS mobile app, so I can’t really block ads unfortunately, even though I’d love to :/
(**) - I made the google and Spotify accounts when I was in my early teens, so I didn’t really know or care about digital footprint or tracking, so if I was able to go back, I would’ve at the very least gotten multiple google accounts to sandbox my activities. But hey, better late than never I guess!
At one point, the advertising algorithm for Tinder decided what I needed in my life was a tractor. A massive, eleven tonne tractor intended for work on a large farm.
It probably wouldn’t fit up my driveway.
I have a similar account for everything that I expect to have some form of tracking. Yet all of these services that are supposed to spy on me to find out exactly what I’m interested in have not once succeeded in targeted me with advertising for something I have any interest in getting. I’ve only seen them work for people who have Facebook or something that actively listens for things to make ads about, which I don’t have.