Targeted Ads

[poliphilo]

Read the comments to this article  (thanks to wyrmwwd for the link) and it seems the Google bots regularly guess people are older than they are. For the record they think I'm 65+.

I suppose my recent activity (related to the weekend break) is what has them convinced I have a particular interest in Yorkshire. 

Why do they think I'm sold on "royalty"? Do I really spend so much of my time digging the dirt on Prince Charles? 

I'm glad they're a little off centre. We all like to think we can fool the system. 

Do I ever click on the targeted ads they place in my way? No. I have strict rules about that sort of thing. 

Am I being influenced subliminally? I don't think so, but...

Comments

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

The ads don't bother me. I simply ignore them.

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

Okaaaaay... That's interesting. I have them completely fooled because they think I'm male. :)

Otherwise, it's fair enough, they have my age as 55-64 and I'm right in the middle of that range. They have me down as interested in print and publishing, fibre arts and knitting, walking and running. But no mention of photography though!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

They got most of the profile right, but there were gaps. No mention of an interest in books or photography.

[dadi.livejournal.com]

well, for me they got it totally wrong :D. For them, I am a 25-34 y old male, while I am a 47 y old woman. They only mention the social media and tech interests, while I am sure that I am using google and clicking on ads for totally different stuff too. No idea why that happens. Discussing this over there at google+, there were a lot of us over 40 women whom google pegged at under 35 and male :D

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

40 is the new 35

Female is the new male.

[cluegirl.livejournal.com]

There's a Canadian band called Three Dead Trolls In A Baggie (yes, I know,) who do a song called (I believe,) the Internet Privacy song. In it, they advocate openly lying whenever any online entity requests any data at all regarding your demographics. The line in question is, I believe, "If we bury them in bullshit, the system may explode!"

I find myself enjoying doing exactly that kind of thing any time a site asks for my age, income level, number of children, or gender.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I avoid questionnaires as much as I can. If they become too intrusive I refuse to deal with the site.

[athenais.livejournal.com]

They think I'm 25-34 and they're right! Ha!

Well, I've said for a while I think I will always "see" myself as being in my early 30s.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Me too. I see myself in the mirror sometimes and think, "That's not me, that's my father."

[ideealisme.livejournal.com]

where does it say your age? I can't see it on the google ad preferences thingy.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

If it's not there I think it's because they haven't figured you out.

I've noticed that some of the categories are missing from my profile too. For instance there's nothing about sport.

[ideealisme.livejournal.com]

That's odd. Thought I'd be easy enough to figure out.

[jfs.livejournal.com]

I tried this at work and at home.

At work, Google thinks I'm 35-44 (which is pretty good - I'm 42).

At home, Google thinks I'm 18-24.

This amuses me greatly.

In fact, I'm going to post about it :-)

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

You're two different people. That's cool.

[jfs.livejournal.com]

Aren't we all, at times?

I never quite trust someone who claims that they're the same person no matter what the circumstance. I'm not sure if they're lying or just delusional.

http://poliphilo.livejournal.com/965502.html?replyto=11542654

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I agree. Personality is a construct. We're all actors. And we vary our self-presentation according to context and audience.

Re: http://poliphilo.livejournal.com/965502.html?replyto=11542654

[ooxc.livejournal.com]

It's even possible, I suppose, that being in the company of a friend emphasizes the similarities - or differences - in self-presentation.
I sometimes conceal an interest in common,in a rather eccentric passion for independence.
On the other hand, some of my friends were accused of being the same person, because they were using the same computer, and had a similar vocabulary, reading, and work pattern - as you do when you're friends.
We laughed a good deal when we noticed that the people making the accusation used a very distinctive shared vocabulary/jargon -

Re: http://poliphilo.livejournal.com/965502.html?replyto=11542654

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I believe people who live and work together develop a "group mind". You see it in everything from the lock-step thinking of political apparatchiks to the unanimity of married couples who complete one another's sentences.

[michaleen.livejournal.com]

Says I'm male, with an interest in politics, and nothing else is correct. This pleases me.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

It would please me too.

[ooxc.livejournal.com]

It has my age correctly, but it thinks that I'm interested in shopping for clothes - I hardly ever buy clothes, and, when I do, it's mostly in charity shops -

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

How strange....

[ooxc.livejournal.com]

The only explanation I can think of is that I googled a website that sells clothes, but was looking for something else