For what its worth, this is more because none of those advertisers (except maybe the one whose belt you actually bought) know you actually finished and bought a belt!

Everyone who wants people to buy their leather belts advertises to people who have searched or previously looked for "leather belts" and that is you...

In a perverse way, it's actually good for you to keep getting belt ads. If you just stopped getting them all of a sudden I'd get worried because it means the purchase data of belts was sold and combined with your past search data to server you new ads in an even more devious way.

Alternatively, the Faustian bargin we made with the FAANGs was that we would provide our data and they would give us useful ads.

If I bought a nice leather belt, perhaps I should get ads for nicer leather shoes or some other item, maybe a leather polish/waterproofing kit to keep my belt nice and new. The failure of the Advertising-Industrial complex in that regard has been disappointing to say the least.

To do that you have to give up more information about what you actually bought which IMO is an even bigger privacy issue than what we're currently giving away.

I think it's reasonable for the ad industry to assume that you bought the belt once you abruptly stopped showing interest in comparing belts for a couple of days. No access to purchase history needed.

I'm not sure if they get that kind of historical data of your interests when they're bidding on ads though either.

the incognito mode in chrome and inprivate in edge have become my "normal" browsing mode. i keep a regular window for a handful of web sites & apps like gmail, youtube, github, etc.

i instinctively open everything else in incognito now. i have noticed less tracking, less ads, and a more pleasant browsing experience.

The cookie banners are nagging though

Yes, I know the cause, but I'm pointing out a flaw in their plan.

It would be smarter to look for pools of products and be less targetted. E.g. to know that people who buy long lived leather belts may also be interested in long-lived leather wallets, or long-lived shirts, or glass containers instead of plastic, etc, and then rotate all these products in, rather than this targetted barrage of non-stop belt ads for the next year. This just can't be the optimal advertising strategy, there must be diminishing returns to this level of specificity.

For what its worth, companies probably DO look into this, but people who are bidding on the "leather belt" keyword are outpaying those companies in adjacent products.

At the end of the day, advertising space is auction based and if the belt companies want to bid the highest for that space, they win.

That would be a really interesting example of market failure, as it suggests if the leather-belt companies pay less, they would get more business.

Sort of off topic, but which belt did you buy? The idea that the belt will last the rest of my life appeals to me.

I have a heavy leather belt with a brass navy buckle that I bought in the Harvard Square leather shop 60 years ago. I’ve pretty much worn it every day of my life.

Every decade or so it needs a new strap. For a while, I was able to have one made by a young man at a leather shop in Camden ME - the old shop having disappeared from Harvard Square with the 70s.

Finally, the now old man in Camden retired and passed the business on to his son. The son doesn’t know how to work leather - he just brings in finished goods from offshore.

The current method is to find a belt in Camden that is sufficiently heavy and has a removable buckle. Throw away the trashy buckle and snap in my old one.

I’ve probably got one more strap in me.

You might find a suitable buckle at an Army-Navy store. If there still is such a place.

Just wanted to say, thanks for the tips. A cursory search seems to show that there are a few Army-Navy type stores nearby, so I might be searching for a buckle there.

You have at least two straps in you! I believe in you :)

Take care.

If you like the idea of buying things for life, check out https://old.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/

That subreddit has mostly turned into people showing off their grandma's frying pan or grandpa's old Thermos. At least, it was the last time I read it and decided it was no longer worth reading because actual product recommendations were few and far between.

Another problem is that quality items generally spread by word of mouth, and don't need to advertise as much. So, as an example, I am interested in camping and hiking gear, but the best brands aren't as desperate to advertise, so I get endless ads instead for cheap gadgets or unproven inventions that might work once and then fall apart. Recently spent $600 on two camera bags that I hadn't seen advertised but knew the brand, but had seen ads for many cheap $50 bags instead.

I didn't buy any belts recently and half the ads I see on YouTube are still for belts. I think "internet belt company" is just a thing right now.

EDIT: Not leather belts though, nylon with magnetic buckles or something

There should be more of a market for durable clothes. Or a cultural movement. It needs a hip name or something to latch on to like "durabalism" to go along with a hipster's sense of minimalism or nostalgia.

Good denim can last years and degrades stylishly.

It's really too bad that there's a $825 Billion apparel industry that thrives on fads and replaceable goods.

the reddit group for this about items in general and it is called, buy it for life. not exactly a market but just a subreddit for stuff that lasts longer.

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/

It's a great community and idea. I wish by some miracle it became mainstream.

On the topic of YouTube tunnels ... tool/appliance restoration videos are pretty cool. There's a ton of them too.