Inappropriate advertising

[Nifty-Chicken]

I know there shouldn’t be but I’m sure it’s not hard to cheat it. Around the forums I’ve noticed several members who revealed their ages to be under the requirement, the youngest I’ve seen being only 10 years old!!

Adding to that, it’s a good thing we have the age restriction because those beneath it just aren’t mature enough to have their own account. I only wish it wasn’t so easy to get by it.

Agree. I have seen a few 9-year-olds on here too. 13+ seems fair to me!

If you see members breaking our rules (for example, posting their ages, etc. that show that they are under 13) please report them and we'll remove their access.

 

[cinnamoncockatiel]

If you see members breaking our rules (for example, posting their ages, etc. that show that they are under 13) please report them and we'll remove their access.

I do.

 

[jonalisa]

It is can be very difficult for the site host to police ad content. However, if you get an ad you feel is inappropriate, you can usually report them to the ad service (Google) so that you will not get that ad again.

Click the X in the upper right of the ad. Then click “feedback”, then “inappropriate”

View attachment 2664798View attachment 2664799

I have done this more times than I can count; each time choosing a different option. No luck.

 

[jonalisa]

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.

I work in tech, and I know this. I was referring to my case specifically- that this wasn't something I had looked at before. I hadn't seen this before, ever. And I only see it on BYC and no nowhere else. I see it on BYC every time I'm on BYC and nowhere else.

 

[jonalisa]

It’s not that way for me at all, I just get the weirdest and most random things. It depends on your Google account settings I believe.

Which settings?

 

[Tankueray]

I have done this more times than I can count; each time choosing a different option. No luck.

You keep seeing that exact ad and only that ad, even after you report it? And only on BYC?

First, log out of BYC and clear your cookies (and cache if on mobile). If that doesn't work, try another browser to make sure you don't have a hijacker.

Depending whether you're using a phone or desktop here are a few settings to modify:
"Do not track" I believe is a setting in both versions of Chrome and there's something similar in the phone.
In your Google account (not Gmail, but you can get to it from there, or your avatar in the upper right part of the screen on a google.com page), there are additional privacy and ad settings to review.
If you use facebook or any other social media app, check your privacy and ad serving settings there.
Review the privacy settings and app permissions on your phone to ensure that only apps you trust can access your phone, camera, microphone, photos, contact list, and location.

Make sure all your apps and phone OS are up to date and restart it after the above fixes.

Make sure Windows is up do date, Windows Security is showing no issues and has completed a recent scan, and reboot after going through all the same things as above on your computer.

Note that the privacy settings for Facebook, FB Messenger, Instagram, and anything else they own have to be checked in BOTH the desktop and mobile versions or they won't work correctly. (E.g., you can show "not available" or "do not show my activity" on FB, but messenger still shows if you're active.)

 

[Brooks_]

kids that are 13-19, are still kids.

Yes and no. 18-19 can do a lot of things, voting being one of them. Should kids be able to vote?

 

[jonalisa]

Somebody in a thread I was on randomly mentioned their cat, and the next ad I saw was for cat food. So yeah, what you look at on line generates the ads you see. We don't all see the same ads. I've never seen that shirt ad.

I've only seen it on BYC and nowhere else.

 

[jonalisa]

Obviously not! I’m just messing around here

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.

And that's my policy, too. I am an online research analyst. I spend most of my time on the web for work. I don't click on anything as far as ads, etc.

 

[Peas4Ducks]

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

this is the ad I most frequently see on this site and that’s an A+ explanation.

I’ve been searching for big heavy duty dog bowls but the algorithm doesn’t know that they’re actually for my ducks