How does Yahoo know what I'm buying?

Napoleon Plural

How is it that after I've been looking at wristwatches on amazon and eBay, when I check my mail on yahoo I get lots of popups drawing my attention to similar items? How do they know? ?:)

Lexi

Napoleon Plural wrote:

How is it that after I've been looking at wristwatches on amazon and eBay, when I check my mail on yahoo I get lots of popups drawing my attention to similar items? How do they know? ?:)

Because there is a code in your browser, that tracks everything that you are looking at. It's VERY clever (I work for a guy who knows all of this stuff!) - have you noticed on facebook that it does the very same thing? It basically can read your messages (yep - it's all in your privacy policy....ahhh, you didn't read it, better had ) and it can then use certain words in your messages (or words from your interests and hobbies) to then advertise TO you, using what you've been talking about.

It's very scarey - but VERY effective - and Yahoo, Google, aol et al, are spending millions on this technology. Be very careful what you look at..... you might get adverts for all sorts

thesecretagent

People who genuinely don't look at porn never seem to get dodgy pop-ups sent to them. I've learnt this through several embarassing conversations...

Youknowthename

Yes, nobody ever watches porn on the web :v
But like said, it's a tracking / advanced cookie technology. Whatever you do on the web, it's far from unnoticed.

Napoleon Plural

Thanks Lexi. It puts me in mind of Minority Report. One day you could have a set-up where people go to work and only see billboard ads that relate to them personally. Or listen to a radio station where it's coded so the ads only relate to you.

As for porn, I suppose it would work to have a seperate computor so you could look at all that dodgy stuff. Ahem, hypethetically speaking. Or would it still somehow track you, if you looked at your email on that one.

Lexi

Napoleon Plural wrote:

Thanks Lexi. It puts me in mind of Minority Report. One day you could have a set-up where people go to work and only see billboard ads that relate to them personally. Or listen to a radio station where it's coded so the ads only relate to you.

As for porn, I suppose it would work to have a seperate computor so you could look at all that dodgy stuff. Ahem, hypethetically speaking. Or would it still somehow track you, if you looked at your email on that one.

Yes exactly - that analogy is very accurate re; The Web!

As for your last question - it doesn't matter which computer you are looking at it on.... it's still the same IP address (the address your broadband uses to give you internet connection) so computer A and computer B would still have the same IP address - and so the coding in your browsers when looking at your email would stil be the same. (However there is a way round this.... you can set your Browser to have random IP addresses, if you use, say a Linux operating system - don't ask me how, as I have no idea, but I know it can be done.)

So unless you do that...... them up there - Know!!!!! ) )

Sir Miles

Lexi wrote:

(However there is a way round this.... you can set your Browser to have random IP addresses, if you use, say a Linux operating system - don't ask me how, as I have no idea, but I know it can be done.)

Are you claiming ignorance...or feigning ignorance ? )

I wonder just what you have been looking at then

Lexi

Sir Miles wrote:

Lexi wrote:

(However there is a way round this.... you can set your Browser to have random IP addresses, if you use, say a Linux operating system - don't ask me how, as I have no idea, but I know it can be done.)

Are you claiming ignorance...or feigning ignorance ? )

I wonder just what you have been looking at then

Well what do they say? A little knowledge can be very dangerous thing )

And wouldn't you like to know

Sir Miles

Lexi wrote:

Sir Miles wrote:

Lexi wrote:

(However there is a way round this.... you can set your Browser to have random IP addresses, if you use, say a Linux operating system - don't ask me how, as I have no idea, but I know it can be done.)

Are you claiming ignorance...or feigning ignorance ? )

I wonder just what you have been looking at then

Well what do they say? A little knowledge can be very dangerous thing )

And wouldn't you like to know

Perhaps I'm better off not knowing

Lexi

Sir Miles wrote:

Lexi wrote:

Sir Miles wrote:

Are you claiming ignorance...or feigning ignorance ? )

I wonder just what you have been looking at then

Well what do they say? A little knowledge can be very dangerous thing )

And wouldn't you like to know

Perhaps I'm better off not knowing

Perhaps.....

Loeffelholz

I'ts only a matter of time before they find out about your purchase of Toledo Titty Twisters, NP :v

Sir Miles

Loeffelholz wrote:

I'ts only a matter of time before they find out about your purchase of Toledo Titty Twisters, NP :v

As long as they don't find out he bought it off me ;%

)

John Drake

Loeffelholz wrote:

Toledo Titty Twisters,

I really don't know what they are so I am now going to have to google them.

John Drake

Couldn't find them, but Yahoo, and probably the Chinese government now think I want them.

Loeffelholz

John Drake wrote:

Couldn't find them

Well, I haven't invented them yet...first you have to create the demand...

John Drake wrote:

...but Yahoo, and probably the Chinese government now think I want them.

S**t. They'll undercut me on labour costs, and sell bootlegs X-(

Mr Martini

John Drake wrote:

Couldn't find them, but Yahoo, and probably the Chinese government now think I want them.

I have some available for purchase, cheap. But they can't be sent through the mail. Next time your in my neck of the woods come visit me and I'll sell you all the titty twisters you want. :v :v

Loeffelholz

Mr Martini wrote:

John Drake wrote:

Couldn't find them, but Yahoo, and probably the Chinese government now think I want them.

I have some available for purchase, cheap. But they can't be sent through the mail. Next time your in my neck of the woods come visit me and I'll sell you all the titty twisters you want. :v :v

Dammit! Corporate espionage already!

stjimmy456

As long as there's no ads based on combinations of Googled words... I don't want to search for Rosa Klebb and later on search for porn, and have a pop-up ad showing me.... *shudders*

Napoleon Plural

Too late, stjimmy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFP3x4bKpZE&feature=related



It's office friendly, don't worry!

Napoleon Plural

Hmm... look I like The Carpenters. Theirs is the acceptable face of easy listening, wonderful lush classics like Close to You and that Calling all Interplanatary Spaceships or whatever.

Just because I order that on eBay, doesn't mean I want suggestions for Andy Williams and James Last popping up all the time... 8-)

It's like if you're on a date and you mention you're a Bond fan, and she says, "Oh, wow! Yeah, I loved that invisible car! I love movies with CGI, what was that one with Eddie Murphy?"

Incidentally, I was freelancing at work and on another girl's machine; she left her amazon account on so I looked up loads of stuff like Benny Hill's Greatest Hits and so on. Heaven knows what her suggestion box is gonna be like when she returns!

Napoleon Plural

I'm getting a wristwatch from the US that I bought on eBay. I didn't pay much for it, it's not in the 100s of pounds or dollars range but I don't want it lost. What's the best way to ensure it arrives in the UK, anyone know? Someone suggested FedEx.