{"id":3940,"date":"2020-08-01T17:59:42","date_gmt":"2020-08-01T21:59:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.4kcc.com\/blog\/?p=3940"},"modified":"2020-08-01T17:59:42","modified_gmt":"2020-08-01T21:59:42","slug":"the-tracks-of-my-fears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.4kcc.com\/blog\/2020\/08\/01\/the-tracks-of-my-fears\/","title":{"rendered":"The Tracks Of My Fears"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"FEC<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Here’s a familiar scenario on the Internet: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You go searching for some product. After you’ve finished, you go to email or go on Social Media and you are bombarded with ads for that product. This happens to me all the time. It even happens when I actually bought the product the first time I went searching for it. To quote Monk, “It’s a blessing and a curse.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does this happen?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The product promotion I described below can happen thanks to something called “tracking cookies” and a process called “retargeting.” Here’s how it works: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. You pick up a tracking cookie on a shopping or search site. The cookie contains a unique ID.<\/li>
  2. The site owner signs up and pays for an advertising platform like Google.<\/li>
  3. Google and these other ad providers allow other sites to see the unique ID, send it back to the provider and recognize that it came from the site you originally were on.<\/li>
  4. Google (or whatever ad provider is involved) then shows an ad for the product you searched for previously.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    It’s a bit of a complicated procedure and you might not understand it even after you’ve just read how it works. The important thing to understand is that tracking cookies and retargeting are the culprits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    What can advertisers and others learn about you?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Oh, boy! A better question might be, “What can’t they learn about you?” For example, they can track your browsing history, which browser you use, what amount of money you normally spend shopping online and the list goes on and on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Why did you say it’s a blessing and a curse?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The basic idea of helping you find a particular product, perhaps at the best price…well, that can actually be a good thing (the blessing part). Being offered discounts and\/or free shipping for something you actually want to buy anyway – all without you having to spend more time searching – isn’t all that bad. However, companies gathering tons of information about you, well, that’s where the curse part comes in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Is there any way to stop this from happening?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If you’re one of those who thinks this is a total curse, I have good news and bad news. The good news is there are things you can do; the bad news is that you won’t stop this 100%. Let’s look at some things you can do to really cut down on searching and then being haunted by related ads:<\/p>\n\n\n\n