I have been finding more and more videos being recommended on my homepage which I search about even though my privacy paths I follow seem good enough. So this is how it goes:

  • I come across a term I don’t know on a Lemmy post.
  • I open my browser, Cromite which has been set to priv.au, a searx instance, as the default search engine.
  • Search the word and don’t even open any links to know, just reading the meaning of this term out from the subtexts present on search results.
  • And then I open YouTube and scroll a bit on homepage to find a video on that term.

This has happened to me twice in past few days and I am not understanding which service of mine is giving it away. To add more about my setup, I’m on mobile btw, using FUTO keyboard and using Duckduckgo VPN which blocks cross-app tracking. My mobile lemmy client is Voyager. I don’t even interact with the post containing that term. I just open it up, read the post and the comments. No upvoting no commenting.

Who’s the culprit here?

  • fubarx@lemmy.world
    11·
    1 day ago

    Think of Google as a set of signals.

    Every time you search, you’re sending it a signal that you’re interested in a subject.

    Google Analytics is embedded in lots of sites. Each time you visit, it sends them back a signal. If you click on one of the ads on the google site, or on any of the millions of sites with embedded google ads, it sends back a signal. If you use Android, each time you change location, make a call, or click on an app, that’s a signal.

    When using Nest, or Google Home, or Assistant, that’s another signal. If you use Google Maps , Google Auto, shopping, photos, drive, translate, image search, gmail, all the office apps, and Gemini. Bingo, a signal.

    If you follow a link in any of the above, shared by someone else. A signal.

    You don’t need to be logged-in. All is needed is an association of that signal with an ‘abstract user’ which represents you across many systems, devices, and applications.

    You can turn off tracking, or tighten privacy settings, or go private. All they need is a loose combination of factors (aka fingerprint) to match your previous actions with your devices, user accounts, or signals.

    When you get on Youtube, you’re at the tail end of a massive amount of historical data accumulated over time and attached to you. The algorithm just returns a best prediction of what matches that trail. And what you click on and how much of it you watch or skip. Yup, another signal.

    And no, none of us can opt out. The same is true for Facebook/Meta, and any other embeddable service, powered by ads.

    You can go private, turn off javascript, use alternate browsers, or go back to a flip-phone. Sorry, it doesn’t make a difference. Not any more.

    • girsaysdoom@sh.itjust.works
      1·
      18 hours ago

      There are ways to successfully circumvent Google’s tracking methods. It’s all based on how much you care about being tracked and how much convenience you’re willing to give up.