How does Facebook know this????
Discussion
This morning when I got into the office I was browsing for some goods on a well know retailers website, didn't buy just browsing, on my desktop PC.
At lunch time I open Facebook on my Mobile and there are adverts for the goods I was searching for earlier from the same retailer. Now I havent searched for these on my mobile so how does FB know I've been looking for these goods?
At lunch time I open Facebook on my Mobile and there are adverts for the goods I was searching for earlier from the same retailer. Now I havent searched for these on my mobile so how does FB know I've been looking for these goods?
randlemarcus said:
Cookies, user session tracking and a unifying "dickie" on both devices. Not everything only happens on your bit of the systems...
This. That little F icon conveniently located on a lot of pages tracks what you are looking at even if you're not using Facebook via cookies. It then sends this back to Facebook.
Yet another reason I use adblock and ghostery. I cant imagine how unusable the web is without them.
D1ckie said:
At lunch time I open Facebook on my Mobile and there are adverts for the goods I was searching for earlier from the same retailer. Now I havent searched for these on my mobile so how does FB know I've been looking for these goods?
FB doesn't know you've been looking at those goods, but the retailer's sites does.When you visit Facebook it sends a message to it's ad network saying "who wants to advertise to D1ckie (usually identifying you by your IP address)?". The retailer will take your IP address and look to see if it has any history for you. The retailer will see that you have been searching for flange widgets (even though you were using a different IP address) and reply to Facebook "yes please, show D1ckie this ad".
Now, you will have been browsing the retailer from different IP addresses, your work PC and your mobile. However, retailers will associate different IP addresses with your single account with that retailer, allowing them to join these two pieces of information.
If you want to see this in action go to Google's security settings and it will list all the IP addresses which have recently logged into your account.
Rojibo said:
Are you or have you ever logged into Facebook on the desktop PC?
They track your browsing, even after you log out.
ThanksThey track your browsing, even after you log out.
Yes maybe 2 weeks ago but I have IE set to delete history when I close down. Does that mean it still keeps some of my history and link it back to my FB account on my mobile?
Shakermaker said:
Hey there's always the slim chance that it could be a pure coincidence that you were the "target market" for the product you wanted and were therefore already going to see the advert for it because your profile matched enough of the criteria of people likely to be interested..
Definitely not, I was looking for something for home that I have never searched for beforeCzechItOut said:
FB doesn't know you've been looking at those goods, but the retailer's sites does.
When you visit Facebook it sends a message to it's ad network saying "who wants to advertise to D1ckie (usually identifying you by your IP address)?". The retailer will take your IP address and look to see if it has any history for you. The retailer will see that you have been searching for flange widgets (even though you were using a different IP address) and reply to Facebook "yes please, show D1ckie this ad".
Now, you will have been browsing the retailer from different IP addresses, your work PC and your mobile. However, retailers will associate different IP addresses with your single account with that retailer, allowing them to join these two pieces of information.
If you want to see this in action go to Google's security settings and it will list all the IP addresses which have recently logged into your account.
Thanks, understood. So is it likely that my mobile linked via wifi to my work broadband tracks this?When you visit Facebook it sends a message to it's ad network saying "who wants to advertise to D1ckie (usually identifying you by your IP address)?". The retailer will take your IP address and look to see if it has any history for you. The retailer will see that you have been searching for flange widgets (even though you were using a different IP address) and reply to Facebook "yes please, show D1ckie this ad".
Now, you will have been browsing the retailer from different IP addresses, your work PC and your mobile. However, retailers will associate different IP addresses with your single account with that retailer, allowing them to join these two pieces of information.
If you want to see this in action go to Google's security settings and it will list all the IP addresses which have recently logged into your account.
Is this similar to when FB shows you people you may know, but you have no connection to but may have been at the same location / event as you?
Gary29 said:
captain_cynic said:
Yet another reason I use adblock and ghostery. I cant imagine how unusable the web is without them.
The same. Apart from you get a couple of targeted ads in the banners, instead of a generic one.I have a weirder one than that, that I cant work out for the life of me.
I dont own a farm, never have, and have 0 need to google anything to do with calving.
Popped into the vets to pick up some treatment for my dog, this vets had a poster on the wall for Moo-call, this is a smart device that tells you when your cows are giving birth to your smartphone, it was such a odd and off the wall device that me and the wife briefly talked/joked about it, and I can assure you, if I had seen an advert for it before, I sure would have noticed it.
Half an hour later, back home, my facebook feed is covered in adverts for moo-call!
I dont own a farm, never have, and have 0 need to google anything to do with calving.
Popped into the vets to pick up some treatment for my dog, this vets had a poster on the wall for Moo-call, this is a smart device that tells you when your cows are giving birth to your smartphone, it was such a odd and off the wall device that me and the wife briefly talked/joked about it, and I can assure you, if I had seen an advert for it before, I sure would have noticed it.
Half an hour later, back home, my facebook feed is covered in adverts for moo-call!
sidekickdmr said:
I have a weirder one than that, that I cant work out for the life of me.
I dont own a farm, never have, and have 0 need to google anything to do with calving.
Popped into the vets to pick up some treatment for my dog, this vets had a poster on the wall for Moo-call, this is a smart device that tells you when your cows are giving birth to your smartphone, it was such a odd and off the wall device that me and the wife briefly talked/joked about it, and I can assure you, if I had seen an advert for it before, I sure would have noticed it.
Half an hour later, back home, my facebook feed is covered in adverts for moo-call!
Similar thing. I was in the car and my son was asking me who made vans apart from the Ford Transit. I mentioned that Renault Trafic is quite a big seller in the UK. Next time I log into Facebook I'm inundated with adverts for Renault Trafic vans! (Ihave never owned or needed to own any van)I dont own a farm, never have, and have 0 need to google anything to do with calving.
Popped into the vets to pick up some treatment for my dog, this vets had a poster on the wall for Moo-call, this is a smart device that tells you when your cows are giving birth to your smartphone, it was such a odd and off the wall device that me and the wife briefly talked/joked about it, and I can assure you, if I had seen an advert for it before, I sure would have noticed it.
Half an hour later, back home, my facebook feed is covered in adverts for moo-call!
sidekickdmr said:
I have a weirder one than that, that I cant work out for the life of me.
I dont own a farm, never have, and have 0 need to google anything to do with calving.
Popped into the vets to pick up some treatment for my dog, this vets had a poster on the wall for Moo-call, this is a smart device that tells you when your cows are giving birth to your smartphone, it was such a odd and off the wall device that me and the wife briefly talked/joked about it, and I can assure you, if I had seen an advert for it before, I sure would have noticed it.
Half an hour later, back home, my facebook feed is covered in adverts for moo-call!
Oh wow. Did either of you have a smartphone in your pocket at the time?I dont own a farm, never have, and have 0 need to google anything to do with calving.
Popped into the vets to pick up some treatment for my dog, this vets had a poster on the wall for Moo-call, this is a smart device that tells you when your cows are giving birth to your smartphone, it was such a odd and off the wall device that me and the wife briefly talked/joked about it, and I can assure you, if I had seen an advert for it before, I sure would have noticed it.
Half an hour later, back home, my facebook feed is covered in adverts for moo-call!
I've set my browser to always delete cookies/cache etc. upon closing, so I usually get ads based on the first couple of things I do on the internet. The other day, I connected my camera to my computer. That day I hadn't searched for or done anything to do with cameras online, although the first advert I saw after connecting my camera was for camera stabilisation devices. These can't be coincidences. I'm really interested in what extent these companies go to.
sidekickdmr said:
I have a weirder one than that, that I cant work out for the life of me.
I dont own a farm, never have, and have 0 need to google anything to do with calving.
Popped into the vets to pick up some treatment for my dog, this vets had a poster on the wall for Moo-call, this is a smart device that tells you when your cows are giving birth to your smartphone, it was such a odd and off the wall device that me and the wife briefly talked/joked about it, and I can assure you, if I had seen an advert for it before, I sure would have noticed it.
Half an hour later, back home, my facebook feed is covered in adverts for moo-call!
This sort of thing has happened to me in the past - and I don't own a smartphone or a phone with any internet on it, nor was I near such a device at the time of the conversation.I dont own a farm, never have, and have 0 need to google anything to do with calving.
Popped into the vets to pick up some treatment for my dog, this vets had a poster on the wall for Moo-call, this is a smart device that tells you when your cows are giving birth to your smartphone, it was such a odd and off the wall device that me and the wife briefly talked/joked about it, and I can assure you, if I had seen an advert for it before, I sure would have noticed it.
Half an hour later, back home, my facebook feed is covered in adverts for moo-call!
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