Google is off their rocker

[zipplewrath]

Okay, I really thought this belonged in the computer science group or something, but I couldn't really find a place for it there. Maybe it belongs in the Lounge or something. But with Google and its parent company in the news so much, I decided to start here.

So, for Christmas, I decided to buy the spouse a sleep shirt. She really likes them and her's were getting all old and stretched out. But in the pandemic, going to a local store wasn't really in the cards. And besides, I've been looking for a few years and never really found what she wanted. So online I go to an mail order outfit I know she likes. Sure enough they have what she is looking for. Mind you, I never "googled" sleep shirt or anything. But I did go to the website of the vendor that she likes for alot of her clothes, mostly dresses. Now, understand that a "sleep shirt" is basically a long T-shirt with a very open collar.

Anywho, fast forward to February, ya know that month that has Valentines day. Well, I am now being bombarded with ads for the most briefest of lingerie. I'm talking adult store kinda stuff. Very pretty, as little as there is, but I must explain that my spouse is 73 years old. Yes, a very 'fit" 73 years old, but none the less, she'd throw me out of the house if I bought anything of this sort. I kinda know because somewhere back there after an anniversary present that didn't exactly go over well, what I was told was that I was buying this "crap" for myself, and not for her. Despite my protestations, and some support from her daughter, she made it quite plain that the time for this stuff was long past. And that was at least 10 years ago.

So, Google, understand, ya might wanna pay just a little more attention to all of that data you're collecting and understand a tad better who you are "targeting". I mean, one or two ads I get. But this has been going on for the better part of 2 weeks.

[erronis]

1. Ya. I've been getting suggestions for ED drugs after looking for male extensions. Misspelled mail...

Who knows where we'll end up in their rabbit holes.

BTW, it's sorta nice getting to those older ranges where nobody needs to fake a claim of a headache. That's just the way it is, blessedly.

[zipplewrath]

2. Ha

in the early days of the internet, I worked in a field of penetrating warheads. These were the kind that would go through rock or concrete. I can tell you, that in that late '90s, what you didn't want to Google was "deep penetration". Talk about NSFW.

[erronis]

4. Hmmm. Coverage and damage calculations.

Worked in those areas back then.

[zipplewrath]

6. It was a gruesome area of work

Sat through too many meetings discussing the "PK" of various solutions. (Probability of Kill). Not to mention the "damage" that could be caused, and not just busted windows or destroyed desktop computers. There were calculations of eye damage, lung damage, internal organ damage, etc. I was more than glad to move on to other technologies.

[Wednesdays]

3. A while back, we had a housebreaking problem with our dog

So, I googled for advice on what to do when "dogs poop in the house."

Next thing I know, and I kid you not, I got banner ads hawking "Pooping dogs for sale!"

[Thtwudbeme]

5. The semantic web

has gone too far.

My best story? I accidentally turned on alexa one night on my Kindle--- was talking to my husband, and said, "oh shit...we need to remember to get cat food." An unknown female voice responded, "OK! Cat food!"

Freaked me right out.

Cat food ads for weeks afterwards.

[zipplewrath]

8. Scary Stories

So, my boss is in the garage working on his car. He has trouble getting something small out of the door panel. His wife comes out and he explains the trouble he is having and that having a "borescope" would help. It's a casual, almost joking suggestion. His wife goes back into the house, from garage, where there were no cell phones, computers, or other audio devices. And they had no Alexa or Google devices other than their iPhones. And yet, immediately she starts getting adds online for borescopes.

One on the "well that worked out" side. I read a story about a woman who was being beaten by her domestic partner. As he is beating her, he screams at her something about "did you call the sheriff?" Alexa heard this and quietly said "calling the sheriff". As it was programmed to do, it dialed 911 and left the audio on for the operator to hear. The 911 operator hears this guy beating her and threatening her with death. They dispatch officers, and they patch the audio through to the officers responding. By the time they got there, they didn't bother with questioning, knocking, or otherwise hesitating to just go in and arrest and remove the guy. As they hauled him off, the woman repeatedly explained, "I didn't call 'em, I swear".

[left-of-center2012]

7. I get email suggesting that I buy a bigger bra

I am a 74-year-old man.

[zipplewrath]

9. Seinfeld

The "manziere".

[Disaffected]

10. So's Trump

isn't he?

[Kali]

11. and that sounds like a set up for a MFM post

[cayugafalls]

12. I use Vivaldi Browser and set it to block all ads and trackers. Problem solved.

Got tired of being tracked at every turn.

[Laelth]

13. Great story. Thanks. k&r n/t

-Laelth