Here’s a familiar scenario on the Internet:

You go searching for some product. After you’ve finished, you go to email or go on Social Media and you are bombarded with ads for that product. This happens to me all the time. It even happens when I actually bought the product the first time I went searching for it. To quote Monk, “It’s a blessing and a curse.”

How does this happen?

The product promotion I described below can happen thanks to something called “tracking cookies” and a process called “retargeting.” Here’s how it works:

1. You pick up a tracking cookie on a shopping or search site. The cookie contains a unique ID.
2. The site owner signs up and pays for an advertising platform like Google.
3. Google and these other ad providers allow other sites to see the unique ID, send it back to the provider and recognize that it came from the site you originally were on.
4. Google (or whatever ad provider is involved) then shows an ad for the product you searched for previously.

It’s a bit of a complicated procedure and you might not understand it even after you’ve just read how it works. The important thing to understand is that tracking cookies and retargeting are the culprits.

What can advertisers and others learn about you?

Oh, boy! A better question might be, “What can’t they learn about you?” For example, they can track your browsing history, which browser you use, what amount of money you normally spend shopping online and the list goes on and on.

Why did you say it’s a blessing and a curse?

The basic idea of helping you find a particular product, perhaps at the best price…well, that can actually be a good thing (the blessing part). Being offered discounts and/or free shipping for something you actually want to buy anyway – all without you having to spend more time searching – isn’t all that bad. However, companies gathering tons of information about you, well, that’s where the curse part comes in.

Is there any way to stop this from happening?

If you’re one of those who thinks this is a total curse, I have good news and bad news. The good news is there are things you can do; the bad news is that you won’t stop this 100%. Let’s look at some things you can do to really cut down on searching and then being haunted by related ads:

• Use DuckDuckGo as your search engine. You can get an extension for you browser, you can get their app for Apple or Android or you can search at their website, duckduckgo.com. They don’t gather any personal information about you. Period. If you want to know more, go to their website and scroll down to read the “Frequently Asked Questions.”
• Use Adblock Plus. Adblock Plus is a free extension that allows you to customize your web experience. You can block annoying ads, disable tracking and lots more. It’s available for all major desktop browsers and for your mobile devices. You can read the questions about this software here: https://adblockplus.org/en/about.
• Instead of Adblock Plus, you can use Privacy Badger. (Don’t use both in the same browser.) Find out all the info about it here: https://privacybadger.org/#What-is-Privacy-Badger.
• Turn on the “Do Not Track” option in your browser. Please note, however, many sites ignore this request. Still, it’s worth doing. (In most browsers, this option if found under Settings, Privacy and Security and then in the area regarding Cookies.

By the way, DuckDuckGo, Adblock Plus and Privacy Badger are all free.

What about me?

I guess I’m more of a blessings guy. I don’t worry so much about the tracking, etc. Of the options I’ve mentioned, I only use DuckDuckGo and I’m only using it in Google Chrome and on my phone. Still, if being tracked bothers you, feel free to follow my other suggestions!