tech ? about screen display

[robertglines1]

On my computer screen now the side vertical 1/8Th is ad for Granger site I visited yesterday. Is that part of this new format? or something goggle has added.   Sorry for the computer question. But it is only happening on the BCM site.    Bob

[robertglines1]

It is there now : is exact item I looked up at Grainger------this has happened before

[Jeremy]

I think what you're describing is Google Retargeting. They've been doing it for over a year now, and while it obviously works it can be annoying. Some refer to it as Google Stalking.

Jeremy

[robertglines1]

part of it is goggle.  but part of it is bus part sites I never looked up on line/could goggle be doing it also.  any one else got this?   Bob

[belfert]

Google tracks what sites you click on when searching through Google.  Websites like BCM that use Google Ads will then display ads based on websites you previously visited.

I hate it because if I click on something in Google I am haunted by it when I go to other websites.  There are many other sites besides just BCM where you will see this.

[robertglines1]

Checked goggle: you can op out--so will do it.  Thanks for info.   Bob

[belfert]

Never thought about trying to opt out.  Do they require you sign in to do so?

[robertglines1]

Yes I think so?have to ck out

[Jeremy]

I haven't researched it but I'd be surprised if you can opt-out of the re-targeting feature, because it's supposed to be anonymous - the tracking is based on cookies dropped on IP addresses, and those IP addresses shouldn't be linked to Google accounts (although that's technically very easy to do).

Google treads a very fine line with privacy issues, and if people get upset by anonymous tracking just imagine how much more upset they'd be if it was personalised - in other words, if Google started linking the personal details of individual users to those user's internet browsing history and behaviour. People definitely don't want a Big Brother watching and recording everything they do on-line.

Jeremy

[robertglines1]

They call it add track---a fancy name for your intrest?  Bob

[HighTechRedneck]

Yes, Google does provide a means for users to opt out of their ads across all sites.  They make it a bit complicated (gee wonder why?), but you start by clicking the little blue triangle at the top any Google served banner ad.

What I will step out and say is that certainly anyone offended by the ad tracking should go to google, yahoo, bing, etc. and follow their procedures to opt out of tracking. But I would encourage only stopping the tracking and not block the ads.  These days Google ads or their equivalent ad serving competitors are what fund most of the websites we all enjoy, including BCM, BNO, Yahoo Groups, etc.

When you click one of those ads on your favorite website, you are supporting that website.  And I'm not saying click it just for the sake of clicking it.  Those businesses advertising monitor their web visitor logs.  If there are a lot of clicks from a given ad that simply bounces back out of their site, they will stop that ad.  So when you can, spend some time checking out their website and if you need something they sell, keep them in mind.  They support the sites you like.

Consumer tracking isn't just being done on websites.  You are being consumer profiled every time you use your member card at a retailer and probably even when you simply slide your credit/debit card at the retailers.  But it gets wilder.  Promotional marketing studies have been conducted at malls and major retailers around the world that use a wide range of monitoring equipment to track consumer's paths through stores (including rfid and video).  They noted what path consumers took, where they paused, what they looked at, for how long, and whether they put in their cart/carried it, and ultimately if they put it down or bought it.  In some high end studies, video was even used to track the eye movement pattern of shoppers at given counters.

If your vehicle has OnStar or similar, you can be sure your being tracked.  Cell phone companies are tracking your smart phone.  If you connect to the internet through a cellular card, your location is tracked and some services use that info to target advertising at you. The list goes on. 

[eagle19952]

You could spend the rest of your life opting out....it is a recurrent deal,any vendor site you go to that supports it will throw a new cookie on you and the circle just goes on and on.
Good Luck.Embrace the new world...it's here to stay.

[Jeremy]

And we've also switched from talking about turning off re-targeting (the feature which annoys people), to turning off all Google tracking.

Possibly some people will tell themselves that they are annoyed by any sort of tracking, in principle. But in reality - if you've just searched on Google for a particular subject or item, is it not useful to see adverts from suppliers of that item, and from near your location? Or do you really want to only ever see adverts for random junk which are of no interest to you whatsoever?

I'm no fan of many of the pernicious and exploitative things Google do, but I'm also not going to cut off my nose to spite my face.

Jeremy

[belfert]

For some reason I get annoyed when I get the same ad over and over again especially when I just visited a website to do some quick research with no intention of buying.

I'm pretty sure Target tracks buying habits based on credit card use.  I will get checkout coupons for the shampoo I buy every few months as needed.  I doubt they are randomly issuing coupons for that shampoo.

[PP]

Does this mean that using the tools/internet options/delete browsing history isn't actually deleting all the cookies they feed us when we search or do other things on their sites? I delete all my cookies except for this site-I leave them so I don't have to log back in each time LOL Lazy
Will