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Thread: IP address based advertising or hopelessly paranoid?

  1. #1
    Mostly Me Lucio's Avatar
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    IP address based advertising or hopelessly paranoid?

    This might just be a weird ass conicidence, but lately I've noticed that several adverts on my PC are based on web searches that my partner has made on her iPad or via her phone.

    We don't share accounts, nor devices, and yet somehow adverts matching sites she's visited are being served up by sites which, in the past, I know have served behavioural targeted adverts.


    Is this just a paranoia inducing coincidence, or do we think BT (aka Plusnet) are subsidising their broadband packages by selling behavioural advertising information based off IP address ranges?

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    The late but legendary peterb - Onward and Upward peterb's Avatar
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    Re: IP address based advertising or hopelessly paranoid?

    Hard to say - I know I get targeted advertising from some companies after visiting their websites, but whether it is cookie or some other tracking is hard to say - but I ind it intensely irritating - to the extent that I re-installed adblock for selective blocking and chose all the disable options that Google offered. I don't do a blanket adblock - I know many sites only pay their way because of advertising - but if sites are using selective advertising the ad gets the chop.

    I don't mind adverts on sites in moderation, or where it is reasonably subtle and understated, but when the same ad comes up time and time again on different sites - it just got tedious. Of course it did mean I noticed them - but it had a very negative impact on my feelings towards the companies concerned.
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    HEXUS.social member Agent's Avatar
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    Re: IP address based advertising or hopelessly paranoid?

    It's less likely BT and almost certainly the ad-servers tracking you. IP based tracking has been around for years. There are very few downsides to it as far as they are concerened, as long as the recommendations are pretty short term (due to IPs changing and not being certain of the device).
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    Banhammer in peace PeterB kalniel's Avatar
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    Re: IP address based advertising or hopelessly paranoid?

    Adblock plus has a filter you can enable to prevent this if you like: https://adblockplus.org/en/features

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    Re: IP address based advertising or hopelessly paranoid?

    At work, all I ever seem to get from the "targeted adverts" are adverts for sites I've been to because its software I already have.

  6. #6
    Does he need a reason? Funkstar's Avatar
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    Re: IP address based advertising or hopelessly paranoid?

    I get a lot of advertising based on my IP. It is particularly evident when I'm using a corporate network that resolves it's IPs in another country, or I'm using a satellite internet connection hosted in Germany (for example).

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    Ghost of Hexus Present sammyc's Avatar
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    Re: IP address based advertising or hopelessly paranoid?

    Wouldn't a deliberate test of a run of certain sites, picking very diverse companies, the odder & un-mainstream the better, help settle it?

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