HACKER Q&A
📣 andrewstuart

Is there a way to find why I am being shown certain ads?


I am being shown certain ads that appear targeted but I've never shown interest in the topic.

Is there any way to find out what the ad networks think my interests are and why they are showing me such ads?

Google gives hand wavy general reasons such as those found here: https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/1634057?hl=en

But I'm interested in knowing what specifically the ad networks think I am interested in and why they think that.

I found this page which gave a rather fascinating insight into what Google thinks my interests are and what my demographic profile is: https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated It was remarkably accurate except for a few things, but it did not indicate I have any interest in the ads that Google is showing me on this topic. So I'm puzzled as to why I'm seeing these ads - what bit of the Internet is concluding this is a topic of interest to me?

  👤 byoung2 Accepted Answer ✓
If it is Google then they will tell you exactly why you were targeted...there should be 2 icons in the top right corner of the banner add, one is an X and the other is a triangle. Click on the triangle and the ad will change to have to buttons saying "stop seeing this ad" and "why this ad". Clicking on the "why this ad" button will show you the reasons. For example I saw an ad just now for a high end apartment and I clicked on it. The page explains:

This ad is based on:

  Your visit to the advertiser's website and/or app
  Google's estimation of your Household Income
  Your age group
👤 jqpabc123
"Why the ads" is not relevant enough to justify spending my time trying to figure it out.

Just block ads and tracking in general and Google in particular. If DuckDuckGo can operate successfully without tracking, Google and their cling-ons can too. Figuring out how and why --- that's their problem, not mine.

Google is mainly an annoyance, kind of like a parasite. If Google shut down tomorrow, any significant loss of functionality could be easily overcome by the end of the day for most people.

👤 sock
Some (most?) ad networks will let you see a list of topics they think you're interested in. They can be quite hilariously wrong sometimes though.
👤 satvikpendem
Any reason why you're seeing ads in the first place? I recommend using an adblocker, specifically uBlock Origin.