adsense getting weird?

firefly08

OK so most people now know how adsense works...you google for something, buy it on Amazon, then for the next few weeks you keep seeing pointless ads everywhere for that thing which you already have. Fine...or so I thought.

Here's where it gets weird: last week I bought a cordless vacuum cleaner in a shop and paid with a card. Today, I get adsense ads for cordless vacuum cleaners. I do not search for vacuum cleaners or vacuum cleaner accessories in google. I did not even contemplate buying it online. I searched my browsing history and

Does adsense know what I've used my credit card for in local shops? That would be weird. I do not know how either the shop or Google could cross reference my credit card info with my Google account. This shop doesn't ask for email addresses.

jmcc

It is Interest Based Advertising. Google basically thinks that it can predict what you are interested in based on the sites that you have previously visited. This is a diffferent type of advertising to Contextual advertising which uses the content of the webpage to target adverts. Sometimes it works but it is the kind of data based idea that appeals to the people in Google/Adsense but evidently not those in the real world who find it downright creepy.

Regards...jmcc

firefly08

It is Interest Based Advertising. Google basically thinks that it can predict what you are interested in based on the sites that you have previously visited. This is a diffferent type of advertising to Contextual advertising which uses the content of the webpage to target adverts. Sometimes it works but it is the kind of data based idea that appeals to the people in Google/Adsense but evidently not those in the real world who find it downright creepy.

Regards...jmcc

That's all well and good. I don't find any of the above creepy. The question is, how do they know I am/was interested in cordless vacuum cleaners? I went to a local shop and bought one almost on a whim. I didn't visit any vacuum cleaner related websites because it never occurred to me to do that.

jmcc

firefly08 wrote: »

That's all well and good. I don't find any of the above creepy. The question is, how do they know I am/was interested in cordless vacuum cleaners? I went to a local shop and bought one almost on a whim. I didn't visit any vacuum cleaner related websites because it never occurred to me to do that.

Did you fill out some online guarantee form? There could have been Google Analytics on that site? On the other hand, it could have been a coincidence. You may just fit the profile of people who would buy cordless vacuum cleaners and there should be an uptick on people buying cleaning devices and products around this time of year. (Spring Cleaning effect.)

Regards...jmcc

firefly08

Did you fill out some online guarantee form? There could have been Google Analytics on that site?

Nah that would have been obvious

Also a lot of shops here (the US) ask for email addresses and other info at the checkout, but not this one (Target). Plus I wouldn't give it if they did. They do sell online but I have never bought anything from them that way.

On the other hand, it could have been a coincidence. You may just fit the profile of people who would buy cordless vacuum cleaners and there should be an uptick on people buying cleaning devices and products around this time of year. (Spring Cleaning effect.)

Maybe. I wouldn't think I'd fit the profile as I'm a single guy living on my own and vacuum cleaning is fairly far down my list of priorities . I got one for vacuuming my car. Actually I did do some searches for car detailing, but the product in the add was clearly a domestic yoke for home cleaning, a Dyson. The only thing that links me to that in a way I can understand is the fact that I bought a similar product. But maybe some of the sites I visited mentioned vacuum cleaners so that might explain it. I'm used to seeing adds for things I've researched or bought online, but this was a first for me!

Mrs OBumble

OP, you know you're getting older when AdSense ads start showing you domestic things

I'd put it down to co-incidence ... unless you start seeing the ads every day.

IRE60

Clear your cache.
You must have being searching for the initial product, then stopped - i'd say its a gamble on behalf of adsence that the reason you stopped searching is that you purchased the product - next logical step is accessories!

firefly08

OP, you know you're getting older when AdSense ads start showing you domestic things

Haha too true In my defence the vacuum cleaner was for a really fast car though :cool:

You must have being searching for the initial product, then stopped - i'd say its a gamble on behalf of adsence that the reason you stopped searching is that you purchased the product - next logical step is accessories!

Maybe I'll leave the cache and wait and see. I actually clear the cache on this machine regularly but I use my Google account from another machine where I don't. I'm guessing it's based more on how you search while logged into your Google account than the cache though.

Funnily enough like I was saying in my first post they usually aren't smart enough to guess what you've bought, which is why I constantly see ads for things I already have...complete waste of their money really!

IRE60

"I constantly see ads for things I already have"

AHH But.. some advertising is a 'reassurance' thing. This is often credited with the really nice full page glossy car ads in the Sunday mags - they are there for two reasons -
1) advertise the brand yada yada
2) and i'll paraphrase the ad: "hello and thanks for dropping the 50 large on your/our new M series, trust us, you've made the right decision"

:eek: