It's happening a little too much

[Jim]

In the past, Trish and I have been talking about buying a widget and then a short time later an ad appears on our FB feed about that widget. Today I found a couple of ants working their way across the kitchen floor and mentioned that it's time to call Terminix. And a very short time later I get a Terminix ad in my FB feed.

There's a bug in my house and I don't mean the one crawling across the floor.

 

[Neal]

That's how it works sadly. They are tracking you. I do the same thing, I search for something or visit a web site and then it is all over my Facebook feed. It's even in my mobile feeds from even an amazon search I think. It is very eye opening. It's called remarketing.

I haven't witnessed this personally but a fellow software developer friend of mine had a phone conversation about an idea yet he had never searched on this topic. Then he sees ads related to his conversation. This was 10 or so years ago, but it is shocking and I just accept it as the way it's going to be.

 

[Jim]

That's how it works sadly. They are tracking you. I do the same thing, I search for something or visit a web site and then it is all over my Facebook feed. It's even in my mobile feeds from even an amazon search I think. It is very eye opening. It's called remarketing.

I get it, but we wern't visiting a webpage or doing a Google search. We were just talking in the living room.

 

[Neal]

I get it, but we wern't visiting a webpage or doing a Google search. We were just talking in the living room.

See my edit above I just added.

 

[Neal]

Do you use Android (effectively Google) or iPhone (Apple/iOS)?

 

[Jim]

Do you use Android (effectively Google) or iPhone (Apple/iOS)?

We both have iPhone's but they only work when we're in town. There is -0- cell service out here. But I guess that wouldn't stop the phone from listening and sending what it heard somewhere via the Internet.

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

One of the many reasons why I don't use Facebook!

TJ

 

[Neal]

We both have iPhone's but they only work when we're in town. There is -0- cell service out here. But I guess that wouldn't stop the phone from listening and sending what it heard somewhere via the Internet.

I don't have an answer as to why and where it's coming from as there are a lot of things listening these days from computers, laptops, tablets, phones, Alexa, Google Home, Nest, the list goes on! I suggest reviewing the privacy settings of what you do have. For the iPhone you could tap Settings > General > Reset > Reset Location & Privacy and then each app will have to request permissions again. Pay attention to who gets access to the Microphone. The safer option is to go to Settings > Privacy > Microphone and review who has access and toggle as desired.

One of the many reasons why I don't use Facebook!

TJ

It has nothing to do with Facebook in my opinion but not using Facebook is a smart move! Sadly my business(es) depend on it.

 

[CoreyinWP]

we have that happen all the time. My son's puppy just had surgery and we were talking about puppies over dinner. My wife starts getting all types of ads for puppies.

 

[Tjdave]

This is spooky. While camping with friends over Memorial Day, we were playing with his compact drone. It was pretty cool. There was no phone signal, just intermittent campground WiFi. When we got back to town, all sorts of adds started popping up for that drone and others. I never searched or looked up anything about drones.
Last week, another friend was showing me his new e-bike. Same thing. Never looked up, read, or searched for anything about e-bikes. Unnerving. I have an Android.
If I didn't need my phone for work, or for my parents to get ahold of me, I would toss it in the river!