I've noticed lately, within the past three or so weeks, that I see a pop on the main page from the company that I have recently visited. Examples would be Legacy Audio and SVS Speakers to name a couple. This happens almost every time right after I have been on a website checking out a product or service, etc. How does this happen? Is it being done without your knowledge or is "Big Brother" watching over us and intercepting our website perusing perhaps and then without the knowledge of the admins, placing pop up ads on your website so as to follow up on any interest I may have had in a product or service, etc....??? This pisses me off to know that whatever I am doing on the internet is being watched and then even thrown right back in my face and I wish it would stop. Anything that can be done about this would be greatly appreciated. Would like to also know if anyone else reading this has experience the same thing happening to them..........??? Regards, BankShot...........(aka Terry)
I'm pretty sure that the ad popups you are seeing are driven by something as simple as a cookie having been placed on your computer when you were looking at a product website on Amazon or someplace similar. I even see ads on my smartphone for products I have looked at with my computer which, I presume is the price I pay for having Chrome synced across my devices. On many sites I use an ad blocker on the laptop but I've not come across one for an Android phone.
Thanks Joel - I try to delete the cookies my PC has picked up every few days but haven't done so for at least week now. I just now logged on and right away an SVS ad popped up so I went and deleted all cookies, came back on the site and whalla, it wasn't there anymore. I hadn't thought about it being a cookie causing this but should have had I put the old brain into gear. Thanks again, I will keep my cookies accumulation to a bare minimum from now on. I got really upset with a company I won't mention the name of, a while back due to them sending me an email just an hour or so after I had been on their website looking for something. The heading read, "Noticed you were looking at" such and such. Sent them an email and told them to knock it off, Hasn't happened again since so I guess they got the message................. Best regards, Terry
With all due respect, I take a totally different attitude about cookies. For example, it's cookies that enable you to come back to this site without having to login each time. To me that's a convenience that I enjoy. The only cookies I delete on a regular basis are those from the NYTimes that restrict how many articles I can read each month without a subscription. As for companies knowing where I have been, who cares? It's a never ending war to think that you can protect your privacy on the internet.
I used to work for a company that partnered with Google, Yahoo & other search engines to purchase search data. That data contained IP addresses. That data was then fed into proprietary software the company sold to retail clients so those companies would know with what type of ad to target you when you were on various webpages that had ad space on it. The ads are driven by one's search history & nearly impossible to prevent. Lori-
Joel - I am pretty internet savvy however I don't like the idea of a cookie being able to track my internet surfing or being able to chase me to the next website and throw up another ad in my face. Logging onto this site for instance each time is no big thing to me, my username automatically comes up as soon as I type in a few letters and my password is a quick few keys also. I can stay logged on if I care to but I will normally log off after I am thru with my visits, etc. To each their own on this of course. Now that I am aware of how and why these cookies chase me I can simply delete them more often than I have been doing so they can't follow me all over the web. That's my take on it but I of course also respect yours as well.................. All the best, Terry
I know there is little that can be done to keep us from being "spied upon" by companies who have to use these tactics to conduct their businesses. I for one am sick of it but in saying that also realize that's what the world of business has become nowadays. I do what I have to in order to keep them off my back and guess that's about all I can do. Still doesn't keep me from being pissed off about it but I'll get over it once we'reback out on the open road again shortly............. Regards, BankShot...............(aka Terry)
Terry: If you read Lori's post, which was nearly simultaneous with yours, you will understand that cookies are only a small portion of the problem. If major companies are tracking you on an IP address basis then nothing you can do is going to do much about it. Of course, wearing my WiFiRanger hat, I could suggest that you use a WiFiRanger with SafeSurf engaged which provides a nearly VPN-like environment which definitely should reduce the tracking. Joel
I did read Lori's post and do have a better understanding of how this web tracking crap operates. I'm probably making a bigger thing of it than need be, I just let it get to every so often and had to let off a little steam. As mentioned I will try "emptying my cookie box" more often as that seems to help a tad. Other than that I will just feel free to roam about the internet and hope that those companies that do follow my tracks will soon realize that I will not be buying anything from them, etc. I did send one company an email and told them exactly that and guess what, no more ads from them following me wherever I go. They must have gotten my message loud and clear.................. Regards, Terry
The Cliff Note version on this topic is that the cookies are partly responsible; as are, browser plug-ins if you have them installed on your PC. Ad block software will help curtail a lot of unwanted pop-ups. The program Ghostery will eliminate a lot of some tracking. Another solution is to use two separate browsers. One where you have gone into the settings and prohibited set cookies. With Firefox you can change the settings to automatically delete cookies on exit. Chrome incognito doesn’t record any history or cookies, and it disables browser extensions. Neither are as effective as using anonymous browsing software. If you aren't aware, Facebook is big into tracking your browsing. If you really want to nail the door shut on cookies and tracking then use VPN. Google search web browsing anonymously for more info.
I'm not all that convinced we can be anonymous anymore. Our smart phones & computers & TV's have microphones that, if turned on, listen to everything that's going on within earshot of them (Cortana, Siri...etc). How many people have an Amazon Echo Dot or a Google Home they can talk to, it hear you & respond. What info are those things gathering? Try as we might, that same advancing technology that makes our lives easier is also tracking us. Lori-
That's exactly why I don't own a smart phone, have a smart TV, or use any of those other "smart" devices, etc. I fly as low beneath the radar as I can but I also know that my normal cell phone calls can, and probably are, tracked and all my credit card transactions of course are known and so on. Technology is wonderful but at some point we are all going to have to pay the piper due to it. It's pretty sad to sit and watch a group of high school kids all texting each other and then find out that the person they are texting is sitting but a few feet away. I have a friend who takes his wife and son camping each year. He and his wife go for a hike and the son sits in the motel room all day playing video games. And we wonder why society is like it is................ BankShot...................(aka Terry
