have you noticed that if you order something online, the SAME items will pop up in an ad.?

[James]

This is actually freaking me out. Is it me or does the system recognize this? Even when I look at cars, it will post the SAME cars on the site. It makes me not want to browse online. Does this happen to you? It's kind of creepy.

[Steve D]

Of course the system recognizes where you search/visit. Properly coded, a web site can read your cookie file, etc. which tells it the type of products you are interested in.

[Cacophony]

Get adblock, companies are tracking what you surf by collecting your data so they know what to market to you.

[na]

Yeah, the cookies aren't smart enough to indicate you've already bought the item either, so you get ads for stuff you already bought....

[SmartAZ]

It is called "cookies". Your activity is stored in little files on your computer and shared with various sites that want to know what you are doing. You can get cookie add-ons that allow you to monitor such activities and delete the cookies. You can get ad blockers and tracker disablers. You should be aware of what is available for your browser even if you don't use it.

[tazz]

One "trick" is to remember to delete your cookies often. You won't fool ads coming from companies having Search Engines, but for some of them, it will do the trick. As a personal advice, install AdBlock and avoid as many ads as possible. If you're really interested in something you'll find it by yourself easily, there's no need for ads. Good luck!

[Jake]

To clarify, you are experiencing a proven effective marketing method, Ad Re-targeting.

It's really aiming at shoppers who have not yet made a buy, when one visits an ecommerce site it may set an anonymous cookie in your browser, which can signal some ad networks to display their "come back" banner when you visit other sites. Advertising to someone who has already demonstrated an interest in a product is much more effective than blanketing the general public with the same ad.

There have been recent laws passed in Europe that restrict the use of these browser cookies for advertising purposes, you will find many banner ads have a voluntary regulation Adchoice link that allows one to opt-out of an ad campaign.

[Janice]

hmmmm - is that why i keep getting p*rn advertisements?