Can someone explain googles actions?

[Gomendosi]

Alrighty then, just heard as of midnight tonight? google is now bigger than the cagey bee and the effa bee eye put together!
Apparently they now have established protocol that allows them to data mine your every word for supposed, tailored adverts!

Please tell me I heard wrong because this is kinda scary in my opinion! (I can?t bring myself to google it :shocked




PS:
I was a few minutes late, it happened as of twelve o'clock here (Australia) whatever that is for you.

 

[epath13]

I thought they've been doing it for at least 2 years already. It's kinda funny sometimes, the adds they push on me I'm like - sure I'm going to be interested in that. I think it's not a bad idea business wise but they still have lots to work on customization wise. the same goes for search. wondering if somebody else would come up with better idea how to do what google does, the only problem is, they probably will buy the person (or company) off

 

[kasmanaft08]

This should explain everything.

Is Google God?

 

[epath13]

This should explain everything.

Is Google God?

If the god was the devil, and the devil was the god yeah...

I think the company is just a bunch of smart asses who took over a territory that no one else could. And Google is definitely not perfect (and that's said without underestimating its genius), I wish something better would come out one day.

 

[Gomendosi]

I thought they've been doing it for at least 2 years already.

Yeah this dude who comes into the shop said the same thing but he wouldn’t listen when I tried to elaborate, see, I don’t watch commercial tellie anymore as the advertisements outnumber the show a lot of the time ; ]
I said to him that I had been lonely lately and so last night I put the TV on for background noise and this show came on like compass or sixty minutes or something, they explained that while google has been saving everything you type for years… now they can follow you into sites? It’s called data mining and it includes passwords, medical info, sexual interests and the like.
The reason why I posted to see if someone could explain is because while I missed the first half, the bit I saw explained that they have gone even further now and there are US and OZ government officials that asked them to hold off on doing what they are now (as off 12 midnight last night) doing and they said that as there was no legal reason to stop they wouldn’t.
I don’t want to be a scare monger but, apparently, legally they now have more ability to gather information than some government agencies, and yes, the show…
it could easily have been a re-run!

 

[epath13]

Yeah this dude who comes into the shop said the same thing but he wouldn’t listen when I tried to elaborate, see, I don’t watch commercial tellie anymore as the advertisements outnumber the show a lot of the time ; ]
I said to him that I had been lonely lately and so last night I put the TV on for background noise and this show came on like compass or sixty minutes or something, they explained that while google has been saving everything you type for years… now they can follow you into sites? It’s called data mining and it includes passwords, medical info, sexual interests and the like.
The reason why I posted to see if someone could explain is because while I missed the first half, the bit I saw explained that they have gone even further now and there are US and OZ government officials that asked them to hold off on doing what they are now (as off 12 midnight last night) doing and they said that as there was no legal reason to stop they wouldn’t.
I don’t want to be a scare monger but, apparently, legally they now have more ability to gather information than some government agencies, and yes, the show…
it could easily have been a re-run!

to be honest I wouldn't be surprised if Google was providing information to CIA and FBI to some level, they might be even collaborating on regular basis. Whether it's true or not, Google, government (US possibly, but then again maybe others are involved as well) and those agencies will not going to admit it, admitting it wouldn't make sense.

 

[silent ABAB]

Hate to intrude on a semi-old post but I will. They are doing all this and more, it's pretty much that if you type in nuclear physics and things along the lines of "bombs" and when certain events will be held, the government can buy off Google (has already happened) to get info on people that are "suspicious". This not only includes what you searched, but what websites you entered from Google, since you used Google to get there.

 

[Daniel]

My opinions on the matter of Google don't quite share the same sentiments as those expressed by the other posters on here, but I do SEO work, so a big part of my job is to understand what Google does. Google's functions are all automated. All they care about is delivering "accurate" search results and perfecting their secret, magic formulas, so they can sell better-targeted ads.

I wouldn't worry too much about the government using Google to snoop on people, any more than they would use any other source of information when they had something to investigate. I only would worry if I was someone doing something illicit and using Google to find the information out there online. So if you're up to no good, don't use Chrome! Don't google it. Google "search alternatives to Google" and use one of those. And then search for internet privacy applications, and let that be the last unsecured search you do.

Or you could just keep your nose clean. There's always a fresh layer of snow on the ground when you're online -- everything you do leaves footprints!

(To those who don't like ads... Sorry, can't help you there. I guess I'm always so into whatever I'm looking for that I don't really notice them!)

 

[smith2267]

I am almost certain they sell data to facebook. Have been for awhile

 

[silent ABAB]

That's pretty much what I meant, although thanks for the better insight on it. I meant pretty much that if you just don't look suspicious with your searches, then your fine, and it's pretty hard to look that way with it being the internet and all.

 

[smith2267]

Try an experiment. Google some weird product you would never use...like, if you're a guy, tampons, or something like that...then hang out on facebook and wait for the ads to come up.

 

[Daniel]

Try an experiment. Google some weird product you would never use...like, if you're a guy, tampons, or something like that...then hang out on facebook and wait for the ads to come up.

Nice... it's really funny when you don't fit marketers' neat little categories. I read some stuff that's typically aimed at women, so I get hilarious suggestions all the time.

Pretty much any online advertising system uses user data to select ads, so you can get targeted ads on lots of sites. Facebook factors in the stuff you like, the stuff your friends like, the links you post, words that come up your posts and private messages, words that come up in your friends' posts and private messages, demographic data, etc. and develop an algorithm that spat out suggestions. I imagine that staying logged in with a cookie can also open you up to being tracked on anything you do on your broswer while the cookie is there (I'm just guessing here).

I don't really feel like digging into it too much, but here's a link to an infographic comparing the Facebook ad network to Google's ad network:
Facebook IPO: Can Facebook Beat the Google Display Network in Online Advertising? | WordStream

The two companies are competitors for ad dollars. It's possible that Google sells data to Facebook, but I wouldn't be surprised if Google preferred not to give Facebook tools to improve their product.

 

[smith2267]

Ok then it's a cookie.

 

[Daniel]

Nice part about cookies -- you can switch them off in your browser! If you like having your passwords stored, but don't want cookies, I use a great program called LastPass.