Inappropriate advertising

Neo is correct, and then some. Ads are based on your search, browsing and all activity history, not just your shopping history. And depending on whether you're using a computer or a phone, it gets worse. (You're only slightly more protected on a computer.)

Example: I have a Samsung watch, one day I was talking to a colleague in his office about the impending birth of his second child. I was wearing my watch, but my phone was on my desk in my office. For days afterward, ads on my phone, facebook, and personal computer were offering up maternity and baby things. (Work computer was not affected because I do not access any of my personal accounts through it.)

Lesson: When you use portable devices, social media and other apps downloaded onto those devices ask for permissions. Most people ignore that and allow them to install as is. Those permissions allow an app like Facebook to see ALL the data passed through your phone and access your microphone and camera without you knowing. Lock down your privacy settings on all devices, on all social media and browsers, and any apps you may use, even something like a calculator app. (Ever wonder why someone you don't know at all is offered up as a "person you may know" on the desktop version of facebook? It's because someone you're very close to, based on your phone call and text records, is interacting with them often on facebook or messenger. cough...maybe cheating...cough.)

Windows 10 has "apps" as well as the traditional "computer applications", so say using a PDF reader "app" instead of the Adobe Acrobat "application" to read a PDF that you've opened from your hard drive (not something from online) gives that app access to the content of that PDF. @jonalisa So if you were innocently reading an old article or a novel that mentioned hawaiian shirts or how to sew a shirt, or your phone heard someone say "hawaiian shirt", guess what ads are going to pop up on you? @CHlCKEN (nice "L" there btw) You probably searched a phone number for something or typed in seven to ten digits that were interpreted as you looking up a phone number. Or you may have a spam blocker app installed that searches for phone numbers as you get a phone call.

For a less scary explanation see here: https://www.seattletimes.com/business/are-targeted-ads-stalking-you-heres-how-to-make-them-stop/

To understand how worried you really should be, watch these two films (both on Netflix):
https://www.thesocialdilemma.com/the-film/
https://www.thegreathack.com/#the-film

Note on The Great Hack: I used to develop apps for iPhone, Android, and FB. I'll tell you right now that Cambridge Analytica did not exploit or hack anything. That was part of the FB app developer agreement from day one. If I could get you to answer a survey or play my stupid game, I could access all the private data and posts of ALL of your friends. (That's since been changed, but not much.)

The bottom line is, if you're using a free service, how do you think they pay all their employees? YOU are the product, not the customer.
This is most likely true, because I’ve been discussing dogs a lot lately and I just got this guide on how to sew your dog’s head on upside down to shut it up.
39A5F046-4E6F-4DAA-9B01-BDC26FB05080.jpeg
 
Many of my ads are location-based so that is a possibility too.
I considered elaborating on that aspect as an additional explanation for your example ad, but didn't want to trigger anyone's paranoia, because a lot of specific things have to be in place/going on in your life for that particular ad to be triggered by location data. My other explanations are much, much more probable.

I would suggest using the toggle button on your phone to turn it off unless you need it. An Android it should be in the swipe from the top menu, on Apple, it's in that quick settings menu, I think swipe from bottom or top right depending what version you're on.
 
This is most likely true, because I’ve been discussing dogs a lot lately and I just got this guide on how to sew your dog’s head on upside down to shut it up.View attachment 2667195
Seriously? It actually said that and you didn't just infer it from the photo because you read Game of Thrones?

The photo is disturbing regardless, which, for the uninformed has a name, it's called "clickbait". Google and YouTube (owned by Google, a.k.a. Alphabet) say they're actively cracking down on clickbait. Definitely flag that ad as inappropriate. Anything that was photoshopped back in the day would have triggered a fine for false advertising. Unfortunately, many laws were written before current technology existed and they have no way to be interpreted to include it.
 
Seriously? It actually said that and you didn't just infer it from the photo because you read Game of Thrones?

The photo is disturbing regardless, which, for the uninformed has a name, it's called "clickbait". Google and YouTube (owned by Google, a.k.a. Alphabet) say they're actively cracking down on clickbait. Definitely flag that ad as inappropriate. Anything that was photoshopped back in the day would have triggered a fine for false advertising. Unfortunately, many laws were written before current technology existed and they have no way to be interpreted to include it.
Obviously not! I’m just messing around here :gig

I don’t click ads like that because there is no telling what I’ll end up seeing. No idea what it was really about.
 
Obviously not! I’m just messing around here :gig

I don’t click ads like that because there is no telling what I’ll end up seeing. No idea what it was really about.
It's an ultrasonic dog bark collar. Whoever they hired to make their ads is unscrupulous, and the company can actually get fined for that. Considering how rampant clickbaiting and keyword stuffing have become again, I'm guessing that the government doesn't have the resources and the companies that serve those ads aren't policing like they promised congress they would.
 
I don't get what was so bad about the first ad that started this? Yes, I get what it (probably) means, but I've been told my mind isn't squeaky clean. It's just a shirt, scroll past if you don't like it
Everyone has their own level of comfort. But being a photo, it probably wouldn't get caught by a children's content filter either. Would you like to try to explain what that means to a young child?
 

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