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A comment on Ask HN: Is anyone monitoring popular apps to check if they're listening?. Parent comment

Re:Ask HN: Is anyone monitoring popular apps to check if the... by Terretta on Sunday September 19, 2021 @12:01PM (#28585377)
The simplest explanation of this is that there’s an antecedent reason you’re discussing what you’re discussing, and that’s the reason that correlates to the ads you see, rather than your discussion itself.

Perhaps it’s content you read. Perhaps it’s another product you researched. Perhaps it’s something someone in your office or home looked for from the same IP. Perhaps another ad campaign triggered the discussion. Then you talk about it. Then you see an ad related to the original trigger, and you notice it (the Baader Meinhof bit).

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Re:Ask HN: Is anyone monitoring popular apps to check if the... by abnry on Sunday September 19, 2021 @12:50PM (#28585792)
IMO this is the real story. Tech companies know so much about you from your browsing history and your purchase history. But they also know this about your friends and family, which I think increases the creepiness factor, as they may serve you ads based on _your friends & family's_ activity.
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