There will be multiple sources of adverts appearing on any web page courtesy of cookies from all the other websites you have ever visited and millions of others you never have. This site like many others lists their "partners" and others with a claimed "legitimate interest". You can pretty much guarantee that they have never met each other and have no idea what constitutes legitimate interest. So this Gardeners World site isn't the main source of these adverts.
If you plunge down the rabbit hole of who all these partners are you find entities like Google and anyone who pays them. Some of the entries are Chinese and naturally use their own pictographic language. Even if you translate these you have no hope of discovering who owns and controls these entities who demand access to your data.
Avoiding all this unwanted attention isn't easy or entirely possible. Blocking trackers and adverts and clearing cookies after each session limits the surveillance of your internet browsing but means extra work having to log in afresh each time.
If I'm permitted to post on this thread now without arousing the ire of the OP I would add that a few months ago my OH's laptop died and he borrowed mine to research the purchase of an ipad ... ever since then I get pop up adverts for tablets on my phone ... I have an adblocker on my laptop but it shares information with my phone ... the octopus of internet marketing has its tentacles everywhere.
A good while back a poster objected questionable nature of some of the adverts they assumed were coming via the GW website ......... and then they discovered that someone else had been using their computer and searching for what I can only call 'non gardening items' 🤯 😂
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Another great reason for using ad and tracking blockers is that some sites contain adverts which are infected with viruses or other malware. Even well known and trusted sites can fall victim.
Just once, I clicked on an advert on this site. It turned out to be a Chinese scam. Fortunately they didn't catch me. The scam goes along the lines of: Photograph and advertise what appears to be high quality goods. Send crap from a warehouse in Reading Insist that rejected goods are posted to China at your own expense. ( postage always exceeds value of the goods and usually what you paid for them) If you try to get a refund via PayPal, a war of attrition starts. They know how to work the refund system.
I use an ad blocker because I got fed up with ad heavy pages that were taking forever to load. If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have a problem with them.
The tracking is annoying. If I Google something, I can guarantee an ad for it or a related product will come up on Facebook. I know some people think it's paranoid, but I swear Facebook is listening to conversations. I'd just had a new boiler fitted and the engineer was showing me the thermal imaging device he uses to check radiators. I went on Facebook not long after and an Amazon ad comes up for thermal imaging devices 😐 Another time I was at OH's mum's and had taken some trousers round for her to take up. I have an absolutely terrible record with sewing machines, I haven't touched one since the fourth year of middle school when I buggered up one of the brand new ones. We were having a laugh about unfortunate 13 year old me and a few minutes later when I went on Facebook, there were Amazon ads for sewing machines and accessories! There's definitely something weird going on but I don't know how!
I use an ad blocker because I got fed up with ad heavy pages that were taking forever to load. If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have a problem with them.
The tracking is annoying. If I Google something, I can guarantee an ad for it or a related product will come up on Facebook. I know some people think it's paranoid, but I swear Facebook is listening to conversations. I'd just had a new boiler fitted and the engineer was showing me the thermal imaging device he uses to check radiators. I went on Facebook not long after and an Amazon ad comes up for thermal imaging devices 😐 Another time I was at OH's mum's and had taken some trousers round for her to take up. I have an absolutely terrible record with sewing machines, I haven't touched one since the fourth year of middle school when I buggered up one of the brand new ones. We were having a laugh about unfortunate 13 year old me and a few minutes later when I went on Facebook, there were Amazon ads for sewing machines and accessories! There's definitely something weird going on but I don't know how!
Do you have an Alexa or other voice-activated device? Or any apps on your phone that do similar things?
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
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A good while back a poster objected questionable nature of some of the adverts they assumed were coming via the GW website ......... and then they discovered that someone else had been using their computer and searching for what I can only call 'non gardening items' 🤯 😂
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
The scam goes along the lines of:
Photograph and advertise what appears to be high quality goods.
Send crap from a warehouse in Reading
Insist that rejected goods are posted to China at your own expense. ( postage always exceeds value of the goods and usually what you paid for them)
If you try to get a refund via PayPal, a war of attrition starts. They know how to work the refund system.
The tracking is annoying. If I Google something, I can guarantee an ad for it or a related product will come up on Facebook. I know some people think it's paranoid, but I swear Facebook is listening to conversations. I'd just had a new boiler fitted and the engineer was showing me the thermal imaging device he uses to check radiators. I went on Facebook not long after and an Amazon ad comes up for thermal imaging devices 😐 Another time I was at OH's mum's and had taken some trousers round for her to take up. I have an absolutely terrible record with sewing machines, I haven't touched one since the fourth year of middle school when I buggered up one of the brand new ones. We were having a laugh about unfortunate 13 year old me and a few minutes later when I went on Facebook, there were Amazon ads for sewing machines and accessories! There's definitely something weird going on but I don't know how!
Do you have an Alexa or other voice-activated device? Or any apps on your phone that do similar things?