Flash Bristow ([info]techiebabe) wrote,
2012-01-26 15:32:00
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Well if I had my choice of matter, I would rather be with cats

I saw this article about google preferences and followed the link to "ads and preferences".

This is what google thinks of me:

Your categories
Below you can review the interests and inferred demographics that Google has associated with your cookie. You can remove or edit these at any time.
Autos & Vehicles - Vehicle Shopping
Business & Industrial - Business Services - Office Supplies
Shopping - Toys
World Localities - Europe - Nordic Countries - Iceland
World Localities - Europe - Western Europe - United Kingdom - England - London (UK)
World Localities - Europe - Western Europe - United Kingdom - England - South West England
World Localities - North America - USA - New England - Massachusetts


Your demographics
We infer your age and gender based on the websites you've visited. You can remove or edit these at any time.
Age: 45-54
Gender: Male

So I'm not just a man, I'm an OLD man!

What the heck is Massachusettes all about? Never been there! Gwyn, can you think of a reason I'd be linked to it?

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  • 16 comments

[info]cmcmck

January 26 2012, 15:38:07 UTC 3 months ago

Here's the perfect example of why this spying is so unecessary- it doesn't even provide an accurate profile for their ^&*&!* adbots!

Less of the old! I'M 54 :op

[info]techiebabe

January 26 2012, 16:01:44 UTC 3 months ago

Sorry! I'm 36, and that feels old to me now I am no longer 18-34 or whatever. My mum's 60, so while quite a few of my friends are nearer her age than mine (and her best friend is nearer my age than hers) you can see how it affects my perception.

How the hell did Google miss my interest in pylons? Don't tell me that's not a category? Surely structural engineering or something would be on there?

[info]cmcmck

January 26 2012, 16:42:27 UTC 3 months ago

I have the google ad cookies disabled so nyer to google! :o)

At least I'm told I don't LOOK 54 (whatever 54 looks like) so that's always something.

[info]bugshaw

January 26 2012, 18:47:54 UTC 3 months ago

Maybe you know so much about pylons you never need to search for them.

[info]alexmc

January 26 2012, 15:39:13 UTC 3 months ago

[*checks*]

Hmmm, it got me roughly right.

[info]techiebabe

January 26 2012, 16:29:48 UTC 3 months ago

Well you're a bloke for a start and it seems to think EVERYONE is a bloke. Haven't heard of anyone being rated female yet.

[info]alexmc

January 26 2012, 16:38:02 UTC 3 months ago

I did think of that, yes. :-(

[info]techiebabe

January 26 2012, 17:09:12 UTC 3 months ago

I've now heard of one woman who was rated female and another who was not given a gender at all.

[info]rmc28

January 26 2012, 16:03:21 UTC 3 months ago

Amusingly, Google claims not to have any ad preferences registered for me.

[info]gwynf

January 26 2012, 16:23:44 UTC 3 months ago

I'm guessing it's probably because of Taunton, Massachusetts- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taunton,_Massachusetts . Turns out the pilgrim fathers weren't that imaginative with their naming conventions.

Meanwhile Google thinks I'm 25-34- Woohoo! Makes me feel better about my teeth falling out...

[info]techiebabe

January 26 2012, 17:11:52 UTC 3 months ago

Oh right, I did wonder if there was somewhere with a matching placename in Massachusettes but I started looking for London based ones.

Hope your dentist sorted you out? Expensive? Here I just paid £47 for deep cleaning and 2 fillings, good old NHS (it was actually about 6 separate visits to the special needs dentist).

(For some reason LJ marked your comment as suspicious and probably spam. I have corrected it. Odd.)

[info]gwynf

January 27 2012, 18:38:11 UTC 3 months ago

American health care is pretty impressive IF, and it's a big IF, you have health insurance. Hardly any waiting, professional service, qualified staff, close by... You can't really compare it with the NHS though cos it's a different beast entirely. You'd have to compare it with BUPA or summat. If you don't have dental insurance you'd pay about a 100 quid for a teeth cleaning, and have to go into debt or get your tooth extracted for anything more complicated... But because the good lady wife pays a small fortune a month for insurance for the both of us via the university we're more or less covered. Preventative teeth stuff is covered 'free', fillings too. I got about 7 hour-long visits for 30 quid and last Sunday I was in and out of Casualty with a fistful of opiates within the hour.

That said, the US two-tier health care system is a national disgrace and despite the many shortcomings of the NHS, the UK has a fundamentally better system than the States. If you're sick and poor stateside, you're buggered. And iIf you're sick and uninsured, you could lose pretty much everything. It's something like the #1 cause of personal bankrupcies. Shocking tis.

[info]alex_holden

January 26 2012, 17:35:50 UTC 3 months ago

I got very similar results to you. Some stuff in there that I've looked for once in the past day; things that I frequently search for not listed. One mysterious category listed: 'Home and Garden - Laundry'. I wonder what triggered that one?

It seems you can manually customise your categories. It's tempting to list some categories related to businesses that I don't like and have no intention of buying from (eg. tobacco), so that I cost them some money every time Google feeds me their ads.

I just deleted the Laundry category and Google automatically replaced it with 'Smart Phones'; also something I don't recall searching for recently, though I did read a BBC News story about Nokia this morning.

[info]phelyan

January 26 2012, 19:04:12 UTC 3 months ago

No interest or demographic categories are associated with your ads preferences so far. You can add or edit interests and demographics at any time.

AdBlock and bespoke hosts files FTW. Advertisers don't know me.

[info]sheppeyescapee

January 26 2012, 22:12:37 UTC 3 months ago

Mine thinks I'm a 35-44 year old woman. Bwahahaha!!!

[info]hennes

January 27 2012, 13:01:26 UTC 3 months ago

You got marked with "Autos & Vehicles - Vehicle Shopping". Therefor you must be male.

On a similar note: I went to the dentist and they had two kinds of magazines in the waiting room. Car magazines and something with fashion and glamour. I am glad I brought a book.
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