[yjftsjthsd-h]

You can use context from the site, just not from stalking the user. Showing diaper ads on a site about babies is fine. Showing ads for AWS on a tech site is fine. Showing diaper ads on a tech site because you've been spying on the user and decided that they might have a baby is a problem even if it does happen to be true.

[Alupis]

Why is it a problem if the user searches/shops for diapers, and then advertisers show diaper ads? The person is interested in diapers after all, and you don't just buy diapers once.

[yjftsjthsd-h]

Couple reasons, depending on where those ads are:

1. If I search for diapers, and get ads for diapers, the usual pattern is to show the ads above the real search results, which tricks people into buying more expensive and/or lower quality products (after all, why else would the company need to pay to show up at the top of the search results?).

2. If I search for diapers on one site and get shown ads on a different site, then it follows that companies are trading information about me behind my back, which is not okay from a privacy perspective.

[Alupis]

> which tricks people into buying more expensive and/or lower quality products

> why else would the company need to pay to show up at the top of the search results?

I dare say you do not understand how search results have worked for the past two decades.

> then it follows that companies are trading information about me behind my back

That is not how it works.

[yjftsjthsd-h]

Enlighten me, then; "no you're wrong" isn't really useful unless you fill it out a little bit.

[crtasm]

Because it's none of their business what websites I'm looking at, especially completely unrelated websites. Remove the re-targeting and tracking then they don't need to know who's looking at the page.

[Alupis]

You probably use a debit or credit card for a lot of your purchases - don't you?

[endgame]

Nope, I use cash. Besides "and yet, you participate in modern society therefore you must endorse all of its problems" is not a good take, IMHO.

[Alupis]

> Nope, I use cash.

So you admit to being an extremist then. You probably find problems with a great deal of the modern world as well.

You can't buy things online with cash. Your opinion on what people do online is therefore, colored significantly and is definitely out of touch with most people's experiences.

[yjftsjthsd-h]

Declaring anyone who disagrees with you (and acts on those ideas) as an extremist is a neat trick, but the only thing it actually gives you is an ad hominem.

[crtasm]

A thread doesn't have to have a winner.

[crtasm]

Most of the websites I look at I am not making any kind of payment. What is the point you're trying to make?

[Alupis]

So you're telling us you are receiving targeted advertisements for websites that don't even sell anything?

Color me skeptical.

[crtasm]

No.. I really don't know what you're on about.