"I may not have searched for Oreo cookies, but modern advertising systems rely on predictive models trained on millions of data points that don't even need to use my microphone to envision my interests with incredible accuracy. Let's say I watched a few baking or snack-related videos, bought lunchbox items online, followed some food influencers, or engaged with nostalgic or comfort-food content. Modern platforms can statistically predict where I want to go next."
"Companies like Google and Meta officially state they do not use live microphone recordings for ad targeting. By now, we are all aware that companies like Google, Meta (which owns Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram), and Amazon collect enormous amounts of data, including search queries, location history, app usage, purchases, browsing behavior, and even how long you pause while browsing."
People frequently experience eerily relevant ads after discussing products, leading to suspicions that phones secretly record conversations for advertising. Major tech companies deny using live microphone recordings for ad targeting. However, the precision of ads results from sophisticated predictive models trained on millions of data points including search queries, location history, app usage, purchases, browsing behavior, and engagement patterns. These systems can accurately predict user interests without audio recording. When ads appear coincidentally after conversations, the correlation feels causal but likely reflects algorithms already primed by existing digital behavior patterns.
Read at MUO
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