Regarding Optune ads
First, it seems to go away on google after you’ve searched for DCVax-L several times (I reproduced Flipper’s experience). That makes sense assuming google has optimized its algorithm in certain ways. There’s probably an optimum number of ad impressions before diminishing returns kick in.
Second, as Biosect points out and I experienced as well, it started showing up after the Optune conversation on this board. Google could be tracking what we read, though multiple ways. Or perhaps some of us did some google searches regarding Optune in response to the conversation here. A test of that would be for those who know they never did a search for Optune to try a search for DCVax-L to see if you get the ad. I’m pretty sure I did at least one search of Optune in the last couple of weeks.
Joe Rogan told of a personal experience related to tracking across multiple platforms that was particularly creepy. He and his friends were talking about a specific Jean-Claude Van Damm movie from the ‘80’s one afternoon. Later that night, back at home, Joe logged onto Netflix. Several Van Damm movies were recommended to him. He contends the only way that would have happened is if his phone had been monitoring his conversation because he hadn’t done anything in the intervening time to trigger that result other than talk about an obscure movie with friends a few hours before.
That one’s phone is listening to conversations and parsing for keywords and updating a database somewhere is certainly feasible. And given the fact that assholes like Mark “Privacy is dead” Zuckerberg have such prominent roles in technology these days, it’s likely to be the case that some app on your phone is doing that. It’s one of many reasons why I don’t download any apps on my phone. Paranoid? Knowledgeable? Both?
However, an equally likely way to explain Joe’s experience that is somewhat less creepy and could be more easily justified to the public if it got out would be for ads to be also based on our close network of friends and family. One of his friends in the conversation probably googled the movie even though he didn’t. Netflix no doubt buys marketing data from google since it is one of the best sources of information on us in the world. Netflix’s algorithm probably uses friends’ profiles to predict what you might like. This makes a lot of sense based on social network research. Even some friends of friends can be highly predictive of some of our traits and preferences.
Of course it’s possible that Joe’s Van Damm experience and Optune starting to advertise on social media after the conversation here are both coincidences. Perhaps we are more attuned to seeing the word Optune after the last couple of weeks. This would fit if it’s only due to Optune’s use of AdWords/Adsense of whatever it’s called.
I think some kind of data mining/sharing is likely however.
