[planb]

This is not the simplest possibility. Based on how often Google Home misunderstands the simplest queries, the tech is nowhere close to getting purchase intents out of random conversations. Besides that - do folks on hn really believe the „our phones are listening 24/7“ conspiracy theories?

[planb]

I scrolled down further in the thread and it seems they do...

[6510]

We don't want to believe but here we are. [ha, ha] Our robotic overlords don't even need to be sure, sounds-like is good enough, apply some exotic filters and odds to sell things go though the roof.

My funniest was talking with someone at work (who works for a different company) then when I got home facebook suggested adding them. That I didn't have a phone at the time made it extra comical. Plenty of other people work there, it never suggested those and there are no common contacts. How the CONSPIRACY works exactly I have no idea, the candidate theories are all to hard to imagine. (Like, I'm easy to track because I have no phone?)

[NoPie]

I believe it is very possible.

My android phone often asks how did I like this or that shop. Sometimes I was just passing by those shops but on average the phone is quite correct which shops I have visited.

Google knows when you are in the pharmacy and might use a different routine interpreting ambient sounds when you are there. Voltarol (ibuprofen gel) is a distinct sound that even very lossy algorithm with low level of processing power can distinguish with a sufficient level of accuracy.