[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]

Originally Posted by 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?

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.

But I blame only myself.

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by 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?

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]

Originally Posted by 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?

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

[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]

Originally Posted by 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?

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]

Originally Posted by Ecuadog

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

Were you searching "Fantasy Island"???

[LittleDog]

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

John

[Gpsma]

Originally Posted by Ecuadog

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

or was that for Blow Up Dolls?

[Madelaine Amee]

Originally Posted by 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.

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

[rubicon]

Originally Posted by 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?

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