Is Talk of The Villages spying on me?

[Finnman]

Does Talk of The Villages monitor our Google searches? I ask this because I was using Google to research grill mats and then, an hour later, I accessed Talk of The Villages and to my surprise, there were several advertisements for.....guess what.....grill mats. Needless to say, I'm not amused. I don't think Talk of The Villages should be snooping around my research topics. What happened to our privacy? Have you had the same experience and if so, what steps did you take to prevent this from happening?

[graciegirl]

Does Talk of The Villages monitor our Google searches? I ask this because I was using Google to research grill mats and then, an hour later, I accessed Talk of The Villages and to my surprise, there were several advertisements for.....guess what.....grill mats. Needless to say, I'm not amused. I don't think Talk of The Villages should be snooping around my research topics. What happened to our privacy? Have you had the same experience and if so, what steps did you take to prevent this from happening?

That is life today sir. It is not done by Talk of The Villages but by the items you research who want to sell you something.

[manaboutown]

I see items I have shopped on Amazon and relating to searches I have made on many sites, not just TOTV. Big Brother is watching!

[Boomer]

I am being followed around right now by pendant lights and Eileen Fisher ankle pants. :shocked:

But I blame only myself.

[dewilson58]

Does Talk of The Villages monitor our Google searches? I ask this because I was using Google to research grill mats and then, an hour later, I accessed Talk of The Villages and to my surprise, there were several advertisements for.....guess what.....grill mats. Needless to say, I'm not amused. I don't think Talk of The Villages should be snooping around my research topics. What happened to our privacy? Have you had the same experience and if so, what steps did you take to prevent this from happening?

ToTV sells space on their pages which track your searches and then try to match advertising to your "interests". It's a money maker for ToTV. The only thing you can do to prevent, don't sign in to ToTV or use a different computer do perform searches.

[Ecuadog]

Ohhhhhh... that's why I keep seeing ads for extra large condoms.

[Carl in Tampa]

Does Talk of The Villages monitor our Google searches? I ask this because I was using Google to research grill mats and then, an hour later, I accessed Talk of The Villages and to my surprise, there were several advertisements for.....guess what.....grill mats. Needless to say, I'm not amused. I don't think Talk of The Villages should be snooping around my research topics. What happened to our privacy? Have you had the same experience and if so, what steps did you take to prevent this from happening?

It is Google that is spying on you. One of the most famous programs is Doubleclick by Google, that records your searches for consumer products and sells that information to the businesses searched.

Then the businesses have ads automatically added to sites such as TOTV. I don't know what kind of compensation TOTV gets for allowing the ads to appear, but it is certainly not TOTV alone that does this.

Doubleclick is know as "spyware" and can "infest" your computer. There are many others. There are several anti-spyware programs available, some for free, others at a cost.

The problem is that you can run the anti-spyware program and delete the spyware, but the next time you click on a web site that uses Doubleclick, you get re-infested. It's easiest to just be aware that your browser searches are monitored and recorded (perhaps also by the government) and live with it.

But, in answer to your question, it's not TOTV. It goes much deeper than that.

DoubleClick - Digital Advertising Solutions (https://www.doubleclickbygoogle.com/)

[SFSkol]

Not quite correct. Double Click is not a program that infects your PC. It is a web site/ database that according to how the offending page is written goes to report your page usage. You can block requests/ information to Double Click by installing a Social Media blocker in your browser, (sorta like Ad Blocker), such as Ghostery.

Welcome to the world of targeted marketing.

[Maddie2009]

They can spy on my water bill problem and tell the appropriate people to look into it! Please

[Polar Bear]

Does Talk of The Villages monitor our Google searches? I ask this because I was using Google to research grill mats and then, an hour later, I accessed Talk of The Villages and to my surprise, there were several advertisements for.....guess what.....grill mats. Needless to say, I'm not amused. I don't think Talk of The Villages should be snooping around my research topics. What happened to our privacy? Have you had the same experience and if so, what steps did you take to prevent this from happening?

Sorry, but if you don't like that, you better stop using the web. It simply comes with the territory.

Maybe if you created your own browser you could stop it. Doubt it. But maybe. :)

[golfing eagles]

Ohhhhhh... that's why I keep seeing ads for extra large condoms.

Were you searching "Fantasy Island"???:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

[LittleDog]

I thought these messages were because of cookies on your pc.

John

[Gpsma]

Ohhhhhh... that's why I keep seeing ads for extra large condoms.

or was that for Blow Up Dolls?

[Madelaine Amee]

Not quite correct. Double Click is not a program that infects your PC. It is a web site/ database that according to how the offending page is written goes to report your page usage. You can block requests/ information to Double Click by installing a Social Media blocker in your browser, (sorta like Ad Blocker), such as Ghostery.

Welcome to the world of targeted marketing.

Thanks - did a search on Social Media blocker and found just tons of interesting stuff. Love to learn about these things.:D

[rubicon]

Does Talk of The Villages monitor our Google searches? I ask this because I was using Google to research grill mats and then, an hour later, I accessed Talk of The Villages and to my surprise, there were several advertisements for.....guess what.....grill mats. Needless to say, I'm not amused. I don't think Talk of The Villages should be snooping around my research topics. What happened to our privacy? Have you had the same experience and if so, what steps did you take to prevent this from happening?

Because of all this snooping and unwanted telephone calls i am about to turn in my cell phone and search for a computer than only runs on floppy disks

[SFSkol]

TO:
Madelaine Amee

Thanks - did a search on Social Media blocker and found just tons of interesting stuff. Love to learn about these things.

Glad to be of service.

I replied to a series of posts about issues that people were having with the Classified portion of TOTV. You might also find it interesting,,,,
https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/computer-questions-92/classifieds-problem-work-around-241784/

[New Englander]

Most of the ads come from Google. That's how they make $$$. Just ignore them like I do.

[ggnlars]

Actually TOTV and Google are to blame. A few years back, not sure how long, Google & others started offering Web site owners a means to get paid for allowing ads on their site. The the amount the site gets is dependent on the total hits on the site and the number of clicks on the ads. Not surprising, Amazon is involved as well. While TOTV has ad space that is controlled by TOTV and sold to specific people, they also have space that they have given to either Google, Amazon or others to control the content of the ad. The site owner has some control on the type of content, but that is all. The "Google" sells this ad space based on similar metrics. The site owner will get a small percentage of this. This is not unique to TOTV. Almost every site you visit will have space used for these ads.
There is more pay off for actual purchases, so the reason for individually focused ads is clear. They are usually related to your most recent searches. Not sure what you can do about them, other than just ignore them.

[Ecuadog]

Ohhhhhh... that's why I keep seeing ads for extra large condoms.

Were you searching "Fantasy Island"???:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

My brother tells everyone that I was once arrested for indecent exposure, but released for insufficient evidence.

[John_W]

Does Talk of The Villages monitor our Google searches? I ask this because I was using Google to research grill mats and then, an hour later, I accessed Talk of The Villages and to my surprise, there were several advertisements for.....guess what.....grill mats. Needless to say, I'm not amused. I don't think Talk of The Villages should be snooping around my research topics. What happened to our privacy? Have you had the same experience and if so, what steps did you take to prevent this from happening?

If your browser is Google Chrome, then download 'Fair AdBlocker' and you won't see anymore ads. It blocks popups, ads, tracking and malware. I haven't seen any ads on TOTV in a couple of years.

Chrome Web Store (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/search/fair%20adblocker?utm_source=chrome-app-launcher-info-dialog)

[NotGolfer]

If your browser is Google Chrome, then download 'Fair AdBlocker' and you won't see anymore ads. It blocks popups, ads, tracking and malware. I haven't seen any ads on TOTV in a couple of years.

Chrome Web Store (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/search/fair%20adblocker?utm_source=chrome-app-launcher-info-dialog)

Is it free? Also, there are at least 3 or 4 options when I click on the "store" so which one would one choose??? I have a Chrome Book and HATE the pop-ups and ads. On the other news link I keep getting videos....will it block those too??

[John_W]

Is it free? Also, there are at least 3 or 4 options when I click on the "store" so which one would one choose??? I have a Chrome Book and HATE the pop-ups and ads. On the other news link I keep getting videos....will it block those too??

Yes, it's free. I have the first two with the red/white logos. You can see the first one has 5 stars from 55,000 users. I haven't seen an ad in so long I forgot they still have them.

[Carl in Tampa]

Not quite correct. Double Click is not a program that infects your PC. It is a web site/ database that according to how the offending page is written goes to report your page usage. You can block requests/ information to Double Click by installing a Social Media blocker in your browser, (sorta like Ad Blocker), such as Ghostery.

Welcome to the world of targeted marketing.

I was trying to keep it simple. The fact is that as far back as 2015 Google’s DoubleClick ad service was being hijacked to distribute malware. When you ran Spybot Search and Destroy, the malware was identified by Spybot as Doubleclick malware and you could have Spybot remove it.

But, as I said............ it comes back, whatever it is called.

[kstew43]

Avast on line security..a free program...stops the tracking.

[Bjeanj]

Actually TOTV and Google are to blame. A few years back, not sure how long, Google & others started offering Web site owners a means to get paid for allowing ads on their site. The the amount the site gets is dependent on the total hits on the site and the number of clicks on the ads. Not surprising, Amazon is involved as well. While TOTV has ad space that is controlled by TOTV and sold to specific people, they also have space that they have given to either Google, Amazon or others to control the content of the ad. The site owner has some control on the type of content, but that is all. The "Google" sells this ad space based on similar metrics. The site owner will get a small percentage of this. This is not unique to TOTV. Almost every site you visit will have space used for these ads.
There is more pay off for actual purchases, so the reason for individually focused ads is clear. They are usually related to your most recent searches. Not sure what you can do about them, other than just ignore them.

Best explanation so far. Not the funniest - just the most accurate.

[patfla06]

I am being "followed" by a cute outfit I sent my Granddaughter
(1st Grand!)

[NotGolfer]

Weird....I came into this thread and an audio of a jazz song came on. When I went to the next "page" it disappeared but this isn't the 1st time it's happened with TOTV.

[karostay]

so much for x mass shopping secretly online

[justjim]

Orwell was pretty much correct in his prediction. Big Brother, Big Google or Big Amazon----sort of amounts to the same.

[Barefoot]

Ordering Pizza in 2017

- Hello! Gordon's Pizza?
- No sir, it is Google Pizza.
- So, I have the wrong number?
- No sir, Google bought Gordon's Pizza.

- OK. Take my order please ...
- Well sir, you want the usual?

- The usual? How do you know me?
- According to your caller ID, the last 12 times, you ordered pizza with cheese, sausage, thick crust ...

- OK! OK! That's it.
- Sir, may I suggest to you this time ricotta cheese, arugula with sun-dried tomatoes?


- No, I hate vegetables!
- But your cholesterol is high!


- How do you know?
- Through the Lab subscriber's guide. We have the results of your blood tests for the last 7 years.


- Okay, but I want my regular pizza, I already take medicine.
- But sir, you have not taken your medicine regularly. Four months ago, you only purchased a box with 30 tablets at Drugsale Network.


- I bought more from another drugstore.
- It is not showing on your credit card.


- I paid in cash.
- But you did not withdraw that much cash according to your bank statement.

- I have other sources of cash.

- This is not showing on your last Income-Tax return, unless you got it from an undeclared source.


- WHAT THE HELL? Enough! I'm sick of Google, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp. I'm going to an Island without Wi-Fi or internet. Where there are no cell phones or satellites to spy on me.
- I understand sir, but you need to renew your passport, as it has expired 5 weeks ago!

[golfing eagles]

Ordering Pizza in 2017

- Hello! Gordon's Pizza?
- No sir, it is Google Pizza.
- So, I have the wrong number?
- No sir, Google bought Gordon's Pizza.

- OK. Take my order please ...
- Well sir, you want the usual?

- The usual? How do you know me?
- According to your caller ID, the last 12 times, you ordered pizza with cheese, sausage, thick crust ...

- OK! OK! That's it.
- Sir, may I suggest to you this time ricotta cheese, arugula with sun-dried tomatoes?


- No, I hate vegetables!
- But your cholesterol is high!


- How do you know?
- Through the Lab subscriber's guide. We have the results of your blood tests for the last 7 years.


- Okay, but I want my regular pizza, I already take medicine.
- But sir, you have not taken your medicine regularly. Four months ago, you only purchased a box with 30 tablets at Drugsale Network.


- I bought more from another drugstore.
- It is not showing on your credit card.


- I paid in cash.
- But you did not withdraw that much cash according to your bank statement.

- I have other sources of cash.

- This is not showing on your last Income-Tax return, unless you got it from an undeclared source.


- WHAT THE HELL? Enough! I'm sick of Google, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp. I'm going to an Island without Wi-Fi or internet. Where there are no cell phones or satellites to spy on me.
- I understand sir, but you need to renew your passport, as it has expired 5 weeks ago!

Isn't that called CANADA???:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

[Nucky]

Isn't that called CANADA???:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

The computer forgot one other :jester: thing????

[perrjojo]

I just wish the item would quit popping up after I have purchased it. :pepper2:

[rexxfan]

Sorry, but if you don't like that, you better stop using the web. It simply comes with the territory.

Maybe if you created your own browser you could stop it. Doubt it. But maybe. :)

You can opt out of personalized ads from Google. Go here for information on how to do so.
Opt out of seeing personalized ads - Ads Help (https://support.google.com/ads/answer/2662922?hl=en)
--
Bob C

[ColdNoMore]

Ordering Pizza in 2017

- Hello! Gordon's Pizza?
- No sir, it is Google Pizza.
- So, I have the wrong number?
- No sir, Google bought Gordon's Pizza.

- OK. Take my order please ...
- Well sir, you want the usual?

- The usual? How do you know me?
- According to your caller ID, the last 12 times, you ordered pizza with cheese, sausage, thick crust ...

- OK! OK! That's it.
- Sir, may I suggest to you this time ricotta cheese, arugula with sun-dried tomatoes?


- No, I hate vegetables!
- But your cholesterol is high!


- How do you know?
- Through the Lab subscriber's guide. We have the results of your blood tests for the last 7 years.


- Okay, but I want my regular pizza, I already take medicine.
- But sir, you have not taken your medicine regularly. Four months ago, you only purchased a box with 30 tablets at Drugsale Network.


- I bought more from another drugstore.
- It is not showing on your credit card.


- I paid in cash.
- But you did not withdraw that much cash according to your bank statement.

- I have other sources of cash.

- This is not showing on your last Income-Tax return, unless you got it from an undeclared source.


- WHAT THE HELL? Enough! I'm sick of Google, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp. I'm going to an Island without Wi-Fi or internet. Where there are no cell phones or satellites to spy on me.
- I understand sir, but you need to renew your passport, as it has expired 5 weeks ago!

That is actually close enough to where we're headed (and in some ways, are already there)...as to be scary. :(

To the OP...YES, you ARE being spied upon.

Just hope that if you manage to tick others off...there aren't any real nutcases in the group. :ohdear:

[EPutnam1863]

You can choose to have no tracking. Just Google "how to stop ad tracking." I turned mine off when given the choices while I set up my new computer. Hence I am never bothered. Also be sure to turn off the option to "Identify your location for purpose of tracking."

Several years ago when we were listing our house with a realtor, she told us that every time her agency was clicked, they had to pay something for each clicking. It might have been free for us but not for the realtors, retailers, etc.

[Carl in Tampa]

If your browser is Google Chrome, then download 'Fair AdBlocker' and you won't see anymore ads. It blocks popups, ads, tracking and malware. I haven't seen any ads on TOTV in a couple of years.

Chrome Web Store (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/search/fair%20adblocker?utm_source=chrome-app-launcher-info-dialog)

I did the download and the ads went away.

Thanks.

:ho:

[TNLAKEPANDA]

You can always not use Google or use a Private search like Duck Duck that does not track your search. There are options for privacy. :boxing2: