I watch YouTube a lot. I have pfSense with lists for blocking Google as well as a Samsung phone with Disconnect (that supposedly blocks all tracking). When I watch YouTube, I usually gets only ads about visiting some place or some photography related ad.
Then one day, I got an ad for a divorce attorney. I freaked out because the first thought I came to mind was the Target (?) story where the girl's dad found out she is pregnant because they send pregnancy related ads to her house. Did Google's algorithm
figure out I am going to get divorced?
I am from India, working in US. My wife recently went back to India. Plan was I will go back after 4-5 months. But she and her parents were worried that I would change my mind. I am worried that she may leave me if I don't.
One or two days after I saw the ad, I dismissed my fears of about to be divorced as my paranoia.
I have 2 YouTube accounts, the main one and another one that I use for watching porn (I like YouTube porn than those in porn sites). I never used this second account outside a VirtualBox VM. I always restore the VM to a known state every time I use this account.
I have seen that sometimes I get recommendations related to the videos I watch in this porn account when I go to YouTube from my regular Windows without even logged in. I thought may be Google is showing it based on my IP address.
4-5 days after the divorce ad, when I was speaking to my wife, she mentioned about one of her friends who divorced her husband because he didn't love her or something. I immediately felt she is indirectly warning me.
7-8 days after the divorce ad, when I checked YouTube from my regular OS without logged in, there was a recommendation video similar to the kind I watch on my VM porn account.
One possibility immediately occurred to me. What if my wife searched for divorce related stuff from India and Google's algorithm decided to show that ad thinking she is still in US? I don't know.
I am from India, working in US. My wife recently went back to India. Plan was I will go back after 4-5 months. But she and her parents were worried that I would change my mind. I am worried that she may leave me if I don't. One or two days after I saw the ad, I dismissed my fears of about to be divorced as my paranoia.
I have 2 YouTube accounts, the main one and another one that I use for watching porn (I like YouTube porn than those in porn sites). I never used this second account outside a VirtualBox VM. I always restore the VM to a known state every time I use this account. I have seen that sometimes I get recommendations related to the videos I watch in this porn account when I go to YouTube from my regular Windows without even logged in. I thought may be Google is showing it based on my IP address.
4-5 days after the divorce ad, when I was speaking to my wife, she mentioned about one of her friends who divorced her husband because he didn't love her or something. I immediately felt she is indirectly warning me.
7-8 days after the divorce ad, when I checked YouTube from my regular OS without logged in, there was a recommendation video similar to the kind I watch on my VM porn account.
One possibility immediately occurred to me. What if my wife searched for divorce related stuff from India and Google's algorithm decided to show that ad thinking she is still in US? I don't know.