Google does a couple things for internet sites, advertisers and users.
Google sells ad space to advertisers from all over the country. Each time one of those ads appears on an internet site Google gets a few cents if a person clicks on the ad. Also, the hosts sites where the ads appear get few cents with each click.
Google's servers keep track of the advertisers and the type of sites or viewers advertisers want to reach. Google also keeps track of its huge network of sites were ad spaces are available.
The sites, including Talk of The Villages, enroll with Google and get a specific ID associated with the ad blocks we permit Google to use.
Hold that thought while will we take a little trip to help answer the rest of the question.
If you look in the list of users online, you will see your login name and those of others who are online. Some of those users online are Google spiders. Those are software robots that cruise every website where they are permitted to crawl. They keep track of subject matter for Google search. Spiders also crawl through the web pages, as deeply as the owners allow, and classify the topic of each thread and each post in the threads.
So Google has a massive database of topics to aid users find material for which they are searching. Another database keeps track of topics for the Google ad service. Many of our members found our website by searching for topics related to "The Villages, Florida" or some such phrase. Google returns Talk of The Villages to people searching, and they come to our site and read or join or both.
Back to advertising. Keep in mind here that in our case a company wants to reach people in a group who are retired, ready to retire, or any of a number of criteria that matches our website's demographic group.
Google is able to tell by some magic, smoke and mirrors when a person decides to view Talk of The Villages. As the Talk of The Villages server, which is in Canada, by the way, displays a page to a member or guest, a script in the page tells Google that we are serving a page to a viewer that contains an ad block we allow Google to use.
Google immediately determines our demographic and checks against its list of advertisers who want you to see their ads. Right now as I write this, Google has determined that it should show me an ad for a business geared to improving my golf swing. Google doesn't have any idea that it is an impossibility to improve my swing, but it shows me the ad right there off to the left of the forum messages. Google also knows the computer address, called the TCP/IP address, of my internet service provider (ISP). Another database keeps track of where ISPs operate and where I probably live.
If Google has an advertiser in my area that wants to reach me, it will show me that ad. In your case, it may show you a different ad according to where you log onto the internet, the assumption being you log on from where you live.
Interestingly, if you go on the road with a laptop and log on from a hot spot or motel, you will get an ad from that area.
We don't directly tell Google your IP address, but Google gets it from your own browser that is requesting the page. More smoke and mirrors.
A lot is happening behind the scenes in the serving of a web site page and with showing you ads to which you just might respond. A favorable response for Google, the advertiser and the website rings a cash register when you click on an ad.
We do not encourage or discourage anybody from clicking on an ad. That is our deal with Google and, by extension, the advertisers Google places on our web pages.
So I see a golf ad offering services in my area. If i were traveling, I may see an ad from a local business or attraction to people like me who Google thinks I may be likely to patronize.
All this happens in the blink of an eye because of those spiders. Did you go look at the users list to see if any are online now? Try this link and look down the list.
https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...rder=asc&pp=40
You'll probably see spider robots from Google, Google Adsense, MSN, Yahoo, AskJeeves and others.
And now a self-serving comment. This is what makes internet advertising so successful. Ads are shown to people who are likely to be interested in that business. Unlike the shotgun approach of newspapers, magazines and radio, internet ads are served with rifllr-shot accuracy. End of self-serving comment.
This took a long time to explain, but I could have done it much quicker in person if I could have seen if you were following along. And I could have be waiving my arms and pointing in the good spots. Mrs. Tony told me I am including far too much detail and her eyes glazed over, but I'm going to go with this, and I am almost out of breath.
Now, we will entertain questions, and I am guessing I will have to call in Darrell, our internet guru partner. And he may say I am all wrong. Also, we have some members who are far more knowledgeable about this stuff than I am. I hope they correct me if I am wrong.
I suspect, too, a couple members will no doubt have fun with this description the way they did when I quite succinctly explained where something fantastic was going to be in the sky one night. They know who they are.