I still don't think companies serve you ads based on your microphone

Re:I still don't think companies serve you ads based on your... by ch_ase on Thursday January 02, 2025 @09:09PM (#42581456)

We search for everything we talk about these days…our location services are always on. The times I’ve noticed this I can usually trace it back to a friend had been searching for something and then we (our phones) were in the same place. Even the guy from the lawsuit with the doctor… his phone knows he was at that doctor and that doctor offers that procedure. Seems possible without listening.

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Re:I still don't think companies serve you ads based on your... by lbotos on Thursday January 02, 2025 @09:21PM (#42581547)

Yes, but I think that's the part that feels... unsettling.

I watched a Nigerian film on the seat back display on the plane the other day. I looked it up on my laptop when I got home because I didn't finish it.

The next day in my Instagram explore page I had a Nigerian meme...

Yes, I get it -- could be frequency illusion or some IP address/cookie shenanigans. Still feels weird.

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Re:I still don't think companies serve you ads based on your... by clovoak on Thursday January 02, 2025 @09:40PM (#42581688)

Or more likely: Confirmation bias. I also occasionally get Nigerian memes on IG despite never having searched it. But unlike you I don't have the Nigerian film google search history that would lead me to conclude it was targeted.

Put another way, if you googled a Swedish film then saw Swedish memes you would think that was targeted. Then upon viewing the Nigerian memes you would have attributed it to a random video rather than anything targeted.

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Re:I still don't think companies serve you ads based on your... by Tagbert on Thursday January 02, 2025 @09:45PM (#42581726)

“ I looked it up on my laptop when I got home”

That is the real mechanism for triggering the ads and memes, not that “your phone is listening to you.”

At least feel creepy about the real cause and not some imagined monster under the bed.

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Re:I still don't think companies serve you ads based on your... by astrange on Thursday January 02, 2025 @10:04PM (#42581864)

Location being on in general doesn't mean the search query has access to it. Safari makes you approve each individual location access by a website.

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Re:I still don't think companies serve you ads based on your... by SoftTalker on Thursday January 02, 2025 @09:15PM (#42581510)

I keep location services off, but realize that’s probably not completely hiding my location.

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Re:I still don't think companies serve you ads based on your... by monkpit on Thursday January 02, 2025 @09:46PM (#42581735)

This is gaslighting. Even if it’s a coincidence, people have numerous examples of situations where they or anyone with them did not search for a thing. I’m not saying the only possible explanation is that the phone is spying on you - but I’m saying, don’t gaslight people and say “you probably searched about it and forgot”.

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Re:I still don't think companies serve you ads based on your... by aembleton on Friday January 03, 2025 @04:36AM (#42584128)

But what if their friend searched for it rather than them, and they were associated due to their location?

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