Who Are You?

SkyChaser

SkyChaser

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Mar 22, 2020
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Display name:
SkyChaser
Who does Google think you are, anyway?

I was checking my account settings today, and realized I did not have ad personalization turned off on my Google account anymore. So I looked at who Google thought I was. It was really funny. According to Google, I am:
35-64 years old
Male
Married
Childless
Homeowner
Educated to Bachelor's Degree
Income Level high
Interested in planes, cars, motorcycles, extreme sports and music

I do have a BA, and most of the interests are right. Other than that, I have Google extremely confused. :D
 
Ah. Maybe the SkyChaser you think you are has been cancelled. :eek:
And the Google version is the real SkyChaser.

Only the paranoid survive...:D
 
Male
A millennial
No good for nothin’
Wannabe
Interested in planes, trains, automobiles and chicks.
 
You go to your account settings, and then privacy and personalization, and the scroll down to ad personalization. It's on that page.
 
I get the weirdest ad placements. Somehow it thinks I'm a wedding photographer, have a two-year-old daughter I'm buying clothes for (probably because I bought something for my five-year-old GRANDSON online), and the latest weird one is that I'm somehow interested in security robots. I think I got the robot one because I was reading an article for a robot from the same company that got really depressed working at Washington Harbour and committed suicide by jumping into a fountain. I'm always amazed at how bad paying for such advertising must be seeing how I rarely get an ad for anything I'd be interested in actually purchasing.
 
I would say they did slightly better than throwing darts at a dartboard...
"Torque Detail" - I have no idea what that is.
"BMW" Really?
"Fitness" YGTBFSM.
Don't see anything specific to flying, aircraft, pilot, etc.

flyingron said:
I rarely get an ad for anything I'd be interested in actually purchasing.
Click to expand...
I see ads for stuff I have already bought all the time...
 
I think most of the problem lies in the fact that most people lie when setting up their google account and then forget which lies they told. It can be embarrassing when you forget which lies you told to whom.
 
I did that for the email account I created for stuff that might result in lots of junk mail. I think I said I was born in 1900 for that one. The account that ad profile is from is actually the account I got from college, so I couldn't put fake information in for that one. Why it thinks I am 35-64 and male, I don't understand, as my birth date and gender is listed in my account info! It obviously thinks I am not the one using my account anymore.
 
I turned it off after I realized it was on! :) It's my phone that's the problem - it doesn't have enough storage space for an ad-blocker and I haven't found another browser that works on it. The compromises we make for convenience! If that is the personal data it is feeding to other companies, though, at least I shouldn't have to worry about that!
 
Meh...seeing the stuff listed on there reaffirms my belief that they are nowhere near as good at tracking and manipulating us as people think. For example... I'm listed as unmarried, no children, and interested in parenting. Two of those things are wrong. Okay actually all three.

I did turn it off at one time, and the completely random ads were more distracting than the targeted ones. Sometimes they actually show me stuff I want, but more often it's things i just bought. Makes me laugh sometimes though.... I've recently been getting all kinds of bra ads. My wife must've used my tablet lol.
 
JOhnH said:
I think most of the problem lies in the fact that most people lie when setting up their google account and then forget which lies they told. It can be embarrassing when you forget which lies you told to whom.
Click to expand...
i.e. just like dating, eh?
 
cgrab said:
So is this a loophole...asking for a friend.
Click to expand...

Good question. Your friend has a quick mind...

BUT, since I posted the other day that the Google ad tracking page incorrectly listed me as single, it's been updated, to show that I'm married. That's creepy. The update, not the status. :) I'm struggling to convince myself that the change is a coincidence, but not having much luck.

It also incorrectly shows that I am not a parent. I'll be watching carefully to see if that mysteriously changes over the next few days...
 
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