No matter what I do, I cannot convince the Google algorithm that I have no interest in cars or football. I've never clicked on either in my life and yet every day it'll try to encourage me. 'Go on. Be a man. Conform to your demographic.'
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That is why you should just ditch Google, it leads to where Google Ads., wants you to go. Remember using Google put all you data at risk. Even more so with Muskrat in charge.
Wait til you get old. It’s a stream of mobility aids, exercises for ‘seniours’ and worrying dementia related stuff. They go away for a bit if you hide them. Ugh.
I wrote a news story about a family owned lingerie business. Did some background research, browsed their webshop etc. For months my Facebook, YouTube and Google Ads were covered in ads featuring scantily clad women. Horrible trauma for a gay man... 🤢
It's like there's some sort of algorithm, AI potentially, getting it spectacularly wrong 😂 I had Slayer and Henry Rollins playing on Spotify, then two adverts, one for Betfred or whatever the hell it is, I don't even know what an "acca" is, and another for Lola Young.
I once bought cat litter.
Now, I would be awash in the stuff, if I responded to all the blood ads for it! 😡
It feels like the restaurant scene, in Python's Meaning of Life, "oh, just the one more bag of cat litter...." 😳
Me too. Plus adverts that say ‘70 year old woman in Southampton couldn’t believe this low cost alternative to face-lifts’
Which I never click on.
But they’re still there.
Oh stop whining. Give it another 10 years and it’ll be new wives, investment advice and divorce lawyers it’ll be offering you, regardless of whether you’re in the market for any of them. Enjoy your relative youth 😂🙌
That’s all the adverts on LBC when I listen to @mrjamesob.bsky.social in the morning. Aimed at divorced men with lots of money who hate their children and don’t want to pay tax.
Maybe it’s my fault. I occasionally find an engagement ring metal detecting in the Thames and look up the hallmarks. I then get bombards by jeweller adverts. The great machine mind thinks…well if he’s in the market for an engagement ring and he’s middle aged…? 😂
They probs bank on somebody being AFK and then autoplay gives the creators they favour a free hit. Rinse and repeat that a few times, you have an algorithm that by it's own design, becomes biased towards certain things. Might be missing a trick, but it seems that way.
I feel your pain!
I listen to metal, industrial, electronic music...
Meanwhile YouTube always to convince me...
You do really want to listen to German folk songs right?
And no YouTube only over my dead unplugged AI!
It's worse for me... I am that demographic but there is no universe in which I would cruising with the sorts of fake (straight out of the Express Cremation advert) crowd show in the ads.
And listening to Classic FM, you’re bombarded with adverts for Viking cruises, and the woman’s pronunciation of how she thinks ‘posh’ people talk is excruciating.🤣
I get similar stuff about cruise ships and how to lose belly fat. What a state we are in. I have no complants about my midriff and zero interest in great big boats. There seem to be more pressing things to worry about.
The other day I clicked on "why I'm seeing this ad" on a hybrid suv. The criteria was "time of the day" and "location". So I guess the reason is these industries have enough cash and returns to target mostly everyone.
I thought I'd get back into photography, so read a few camera reviews online. Now there's no escape from the adverts. Just as well I don't Google 'big breasted women' (not my thing!) or I'd have some explaining to do
I used to chair the Planning Committee on a parish council and the council had set up gmail for all councillors. The clerk emailed out the agendas for planning committee. And then I started getting Google ads ‘how to build an extension without planning permission’.
BlueSky is absolutely convinced I want gay porn and art depicting fat furries. Twitter has relentlessly pummelled me with useless sports crap for many years.
Just look at what was 'trending' at one point:
And no matter how much I avoid right wing shills and morons, my ex-twitter feed seems to encourage me to conform with the aggressiveness, tribalistic violence of the new status quo…
My facebook details are pretty slim. I love the fact that it keeps trying things at random to try and attract me. Though recently it having decided since I like local history it is giving me details of local history groups from every place in UK, which obviously isn't local to me.
I’m only on Facebook for work, with no personal details. I don’t share holiday photos, stuff about families or anything like that.
And yet after I came back from a trip to Egypt Facebook started showing me stuff about the pyramids, pharaohs, Valley of the Queens - all the things I saw.
Creepy.
Possibly link between a google search and Facebook? I have noticed there seems to be some crossover between un-related sites. Just makes you wonder how much personal details are being collated.
Same.. I joined TikTok to assess it, as my kids want to join and I have been holding out.
Unfortunately all I see on my feed are teenage girls dancing suggestively. I can't work out if this is what everyone else would see or if the algo has decided it's what middle aged blokes want..
don't use google Ian, I switched to Duck duck go about 4 months ago and so much better, it is cleaner and provides the same info. I search for technical stuff for my job and always find what I need. It does not track you etc
Firefox is a navigator. G8gle is a search engine.
I'd suggest FF + Privacy Badger (or uBlock; I have both) + Startpage. (Startpage uses Ggl (and others) but through an anonymized interface.)
+ uBlock all GAFAM URLs.
I get no ads whatsoever.
Mine is convinced I'm a lesbian or too old to be attractive without the aid of the many bollocks products for women aged 40 or plastic surgery. No matter how I block this shit up it pops- it used to play on my insecurities now I just ignore it and use other search engines.
If you go into the deepest bowels of your Google settings you can shut down personalised ads. And use ad-blockers, whitelistng trusted ad-supported sites. The difference when browsing on my devices compared to the work computer (where I can't adjust settings) is remarkable.
Instagram was convinced I was either a large-chested woman who needed a serious sports bra so I could comfortably do serious sports or a tiny-chested woman who needed dainty bralettes so I could not go bra-less. But nothing in between.
Amazon is convinced I must like golf. I've been to a golf club once in my life, for my grandfather's wake. By Amazon is like, you're 40, I really think you should get into golf.
I have supposedly turned off ad tracking on YouTube. So I get a bunch of ads about weird human and dog food scams. (Both regarding food for humans and dogs…thank goodness!)
A fun game to play if you have a brother in the household is to hop onto one of their devices and start googling feminine hygiene products. It's kind of amazing how fast it switches to advertisements for Tampax.
It can't even come up with current reporting anymore. I've told it numerous times that 2018 is not current but it hasn't listened. Looking for a better internet search tool.
I muted two unknown subs in Hindi in my Reddit feed. I don't speak Hindi, have never loaded a post from an Indian sub, have never been within a thousand miles of India.
For reddit this was enough interaction to serve me a dozen new Indian subs daily.
Good luck . I’ve been trying to convince Outlook I don’t want Husk knives for about a year now . They’ve just appeared again today . We’re ok for cutlery in Sherwood Forest thanks . We’re not all running round in green tights hunting Bambi thank you very much .
Frustrated with BlueSky for similar reasons, except it’s US politics and cat pics here. If you want me to “discover” something new, why not suggest something new?
Same here. I see posts of half naked man in a gym showing off in my discover feed. I know I should go to a gym but I don't...because of those half naked man showing off. I 'block' those accounts, tell BlueSky 'less please' and hide the post...doesn't seem to work
What this entire thread reveals is that GAFAM are ROBBING #ADVERTISERS BLIND! Because none of us WANT all that shit you're all paying GAFAM to saturate us all with!
I have no doubt whatsoever that the "data" they use to screw you is digital Hasbara.
#Advertising #Marketing
Well I got some ‘surprise news about a Bargain Hunt presenter’ today.
Don’t watch it, never Googled it, could not tell you anything about the person the story seemed to be referring to, didn’t open it.
It does this to me all the time as well, very annoying. Weirdly, I am female. Perhaps Google doesn't know 😂. I would expect to be bombarded with unwanted "beauty" ads. clothes and reports about celebrities (all completely unknown to me).😃
I've told YouTube to stop with the gambling ads coz I have an underage son. [I haven't, but...] that's not the point! Where's the responsibility? Or is this another example of self-regulation..?
That should be systematically in MY feeds (maybe not so much football 😅 but def cars!), instead - wait for it! - it's 'loose weight remedy' A N D 'romance tips'!
I feel the algorithm is a piece of 💩!
I have used ducksuckgo for years. This morning I woke up and my Android had "updated." Now I have an unwanted and irremovable widget for an AI assistant AND my duck duckgo search engine won't work. I had to disable all the ai shit and uninstall duck duck then reinstall it. The world is evil.
I bit the bullet and started paying for Kagi search instead. I had forgotten what it is like to get relevant results at the top of the results rather than AI guesses and ads. How long that will last I will have to see.
I tried it for 3 weeks. Couldn’t stand the self-congratulatory messages about how well they were doing and how lucky I was to be using DuckDuckGo. So I shut it down.
Those of us who find no interest in sport and betting (I often wonder if they are actually separate things?) find it almost impossible to suppress them - in searches, in news sites, in "social media", on TV - everywhere.
It'll give me new animal species being discovered and pancake recipes and I say YES please this and then it will force-feed me "Kroger issues statement after customer complains checkout policy is 'fucking ridiculous' on social media", over and over again, despite me begging it repeatedly to stop.
My instagram ads keep telling me that I need certain supplements to enhance my bedroom performance. Apart from my age and gender I’ve no idea why I need to be peppered with such ads! 😂
Why are you using Google?! Use DuckDuckGo, and get relevant and consistent results, so two people do exactly the same search they get the same results rather than some algorithmically tuned nonsense.
For so long we were told that big tech will know you're pregnant before you do and start pushing ads or that Google has so much data on you it can sell you anything. In reality the fact that I bought something once convinces a certain shop that I want a new one every month. Big Tech=Smoke & mirrors
The internet wants me to gamble on football and it will use actors with obviously put on ‘ordinary bloke’ voices to do so and the whole edifice makes me sick
Conversely I never get pushed car content despite being vaguely interested (or I was when I was younger).
The algorithms are rubbish. Facebook used to push stuff I was interested in but has given up and just shoves clickbait "funnies" from Instagram instead.
I don't really understand that. I've seen a couple of women doing some really good carpentry on YouTube while wearing not a lot, and all I can think is that I'd rather just see the work. I don't really care what shape the carpenter is.
Twitter used to constantly advertise me the Lockheed Lightening II. I have no idea what part of my browsing history lead their ad algorithm to think I was in the market for, or could afford, a £100 million stealth fighter jet.
To be honest, the best idea would be to simply delete your Amazon account, remove the app, and use another, more ethical, company. I don't think Jeff really needs / deserves any of our hard earned 💰.
I’m so angry with the Internet billionaires siding with and promoting Trump and his mob I’ve downloaded
DUCK DUCK GO as my search engine and it’s great!
Was adding two PPT slides about gambling addiction into a lecture about... addiction. Now YouTube is recommending videos to help me with... you guessed it... gambling addiction.
I mean, I'm glad those resources are there for those who need them but that's not why I was looking 🤷♂️
I always wondered how many people buy multiple dishwashers. 🤷♀️
This pattern is especially frustrating if you search for and buy medicine for a sick cat, because then you get hounded with ads for feline treatments for years after your cat dies. So every time you go on the Internet you're sad.
Supermarket algorithms are slightly more intelligent. When my children were preschool they would recommend Calpol and gin, and when they reached school age, Halloween sweets, nit treatment and whisky.
I feel the same but with cats. I somewhat like cats but my feed gets it a lot even though all I wanna see is dogs, birds and llamas. Not sure how to get those no matter how many posts I like of em lol - I just want what I want 😫😂
reminds me of the old mobile phone advert that tried the "convincing" argument: Everyone's different, so we've shoehorned you into 4 groups to make our marketing simpler.
Happened to me when I turned off Google's ad personalization.
The second I did that it was Trucks, God and Praeger U ads because without the personalization it just uses your region for ad targeting. Since I live in Texas thats what Google pushes. Turning it back on might be the move.
Both Twitter and Bluesky think I'm interested in crypto and football. As I'm a female academic on an academic's salary who sighed a huge sigh of relief when both children decided on cycling over football, I think that demographic is "breathing".
Exactly. Both sound more interesting than football or cars. If you use Google news, keep feeding back you don't want to have stories about them and maybe the search algorithm will pick up on it.
For some odd reason I get camper vans. This is why I think AI, big data etc is nothing like as all powerful as the press would have is believe. I have a number of hobbies which are not hard to work out yet it's always frigging camper vans.
The origins of the Green Lantern Corps are fascinating, and the enduring ambiguity about whether Alpharius and Omegon are alive, and the clues we have regarding whether the Corps are loyalists to the Golden Throne raise more questions than answers.
One of the funniest things on Threads is people writing “Dear Algorithm…” posts desperately trying to get the home feed to show them something they care about
One of the things I've noticed here, is that the (old) Twitter algorithm actually did a decent job of surfacing and prioritising users/topics I was interested in.
Here I like the simple chronological feed, and I have some groups/feeds of my own. But there's scope for a curated/personalised one.
Of course you realise that “Green Lantern Corps” is code for Chevrolet Corvette and “Vertigo” is code for Ford Thunderbird.
Good luck.
PS. I get slutty women telling me how wonderful I am most days.
I tell them I’m a bankrupt drug addicted alcoholic.
They don’t respond.
How rude.
It's obsessed with showing me cock**oos. Absolutely no clue why. And despite me ignoring the links it keeps feeding them to me. Even typing an amended version of the word probably ensures it will keep it up for years more.
Thanks buddy:) now’s a great time to sign up, we’re on our first break week and the first chunk of 2025 includes a deep dive into Luther, a look at Red Valley’s most recent season, The Gorge and Lin Codega’s superb Motheater. https://alasdairstuart.com/the-full-lid/
Well…my profile suggests to Instagram that I might like busty, AI generated, older ladies to interact with. I had to instruct Insta, in my preferences, that I’m fine thanks.
Give it a few years and it’ll decide you’re also bang up for testosterone supplements too, so at least they’ll be broadening the variety of irrelevant guff.
If you switch your history off for a day or so then switch it back on you can kinda jumpstart your algorithm. Helps when youtube endlessly suggests the same videos you never click. My feed is like 50% cat videos now.
Especially at Christmas when family ask for specific things, send me a link, I order it and two weeks later the internet thinks I want another one. And then another one.
As a wobbly middle aged woman I get lots of shape wear ads which I don’t wear because yes it does push everything in but it also makes you look like a sausage.
I have an inordinate amount of cats in my feed since I joined Bluesky this week…. I have nothing against cats and enjoy the odd picture of funny felines but it feels ominous. What does it know about my future that I don’t…
Comments
Now, I would be awash in the stuff, if I responded to all the blood ads for it! 😡
It feels like the restaurant scene, in Python's Meaning of Life, "oh, just the one more bag of cat litter...." 😳
Now, it is convinced I have no interests outside women's fashion
Ok I like tanks, but still 😉
Which I never click on.
But they’re still there.
I get the ad all the time on YouTube. It doesn’t make sense and I’m not goin’ to click on it. It’s so odd.
I listen to metal, industrial, electronic music...
Meanwhile YouTube always to convince me...
You do really want to listen to German folk songs right?
And no YouTube only over my dead unplugged AI!
Algorithm: You’re fu*king old and need a miracle so we’re going to play this ad all day long, even though you skip it, until you buy!
**** Google.
Just look at what was 'trending' at one point:
And yet after I came back from a trip to Egypt Facebook started showing me stuff about the pyramids, pharaohs, Valley of the Queens - all the things I saw.
Creepy.
Unfortunately all I see on my feed are teenage girls dancing suggestively. I can't work out if this is what everyone else would see or if the algo has decided it's what middle aged blokes want..
I'd suggest FF + Privacy Badger (or uBlock; I have both) + Startpage. (Startpage uses Ggl (and others) but through an anonymized interface.)
+ uBlock all GAFAM URLs.
I get no ads whatsoever.
For reddit this was enough interaction to serve me a dozen new Indian subs daily.
What is inexplicable to me, is that they are convinced that
I want endless stories about the Royal Family, which is absolutely not the case.
In the case of search try @kagi.com big difference when you eyeballs aren’t the product.
I have no doubt whatsoever that the "data" they use to screw you is digital Hasbara.
#Advertising #Marketing
I never get an ad. 🤷
Don’t watch it, never Googled it, could not tell you anything about the person the story seemed to be referring to, didn’t open it.
Like I get it, I'm a bit of a diva but I'm just not in the market for looking like one too
I feel the algorithm is a piece of 💩!
Why is the advertising industry so invested in dated and tedious gender stereotypes?
I believe the term is "Enshittification"
I live in the South of England and own a Cupra Born EV.
Hilarious to think how much Zuck has spent on Nvidia H100 GPUs 🤣
The algorithms are rubbish. Facebook used to push stuff I was interested in but has given up and just shoves clickbait "funnies" from Instagram instead.
I did, and all it is is weird ai generated videos and what looks like adverts for only fans!
Would probably turn in to a curse.
All manner of ne'er-do-wells, and estranged family coming to try and get their grubby mitts on your deskless lamp.
One might start to pine for the days of regular lamp and desk pairings
“Where does he fuck?”
“EVERYWHERE!”
I don't need a timepiece, Jeff. Fuck right off.
I use it as sparingly, as I can, trust me.
But sometimes (like many of us with families and busy lives), I need to use the bloody thing.
DUCK DUCK GO as my search engine and it’s great!
That's all I get.
Snowstorms. Chaos. Devastation.
Wild predictions.
None of them ever happen, and I've never clicked to read one.
Baffling.
I mean, I'm glad those resources are there for those who need them but that's not why I was looking 🤷♂️
This pattern is especially frustrating if you search for and buy medicine for a sick cat, because then you get hounded with ads for feline treatments for years after your cat dies. So every time you go on the Internet you're sad.
I don’t have any children.
Yeah. Right, lads. I think I’d rather stab myself in the nads with a pitchfork
Somehow or other it knows me.
We get the Apple News with all the magazines
Now I won’t read any article involving a TeSSla or even open a magazine with one in the cover
Wonder if the algorithm will eventually figure it out
Disenshittified Google search:
https://udm14.com
(props to Cory Doctorow)
The second I did that it was Trucks, God and Praeger U ads because without the personalization it just uses your region for ad targeting. Since I live in Texas thats what Google pushes. Turning it back on might be the move.
They show you the results that paid them the most whether you want to see them or not.
oh you like Y?
Have you tried:
"Y with a Bit of Misogyny"
Checking, are you signed in when experiencing this?
https://myadcenter.google.com/home?sasb=true&ref=ad-settings
The origins of the Green Lantern Corps are fascinating, and the enduring ambiguity about whether Alpharius and Omegon are alive, and the clues we have regarding whether the Corps are loyalists to the Golden Throne raise more questions than answers.
@iandunt.bsky.social liked your comment (I checked) but so far has failed to respond.
somewhat disappointing tbh.
I like Ryan Reynolds' little mask
Here I like the simple chronological feed, and I have some groups/feeds of my own. But there's scope for a curated/personalised one.
Good luck.
PS. I get slutty women telling me how wonderful I am most days.
I tell them I’m a bankrupt drug addicted alcoholic.
They don’t respond.
How rude.
Well, they can f*ck right off
We will get pigeon-holed by an algorithm because we belong to major groups…. Male, UK… etc.
The algorithms will always have a bias towards grouping traits, rather than individualism. That is before we start thinking about programmed bias.
I've never had one, never wanted one, in fact I think they're ridiculous.