another random topic
Posted by apstaats on Mar 20, 2007 · Member since Mar 2006 · 661 posts
Does anyone here have a gmail account? I have one, and it is a little too "smart". Since it is part of google, it puts a link at the top of my mail to pages that it thinks I might be interested in. Every time I go into my spam folder to delete junk mail, it puts a link at the top of the page for recipes containing Spam. It totally cracks me up! If someone had a gun to my head, I think I'd pick that clown-face luncheon meat instead! <shudders...>
Has anyone else noticed this? Anyway, sorry for the dumb post! Hope you all are having a wonderful day! :D
i've noticed that too. the recipe titles always look good until you hit the word "spam" lol
Yup. Gmail does "target advertising" which means that specific ads are selected based on the contents of your emails. They claim that your privacy is not compromised, but I know it makes a lot of people unfomfortable.
A friend of mine told me about Google Talk which is software to allow you to make free calls thru your pc...but if they target ads based on the content of your emails, does that mean they read the emails? And would they be listening in to your calls to be able to send you yet MORE spam? Or whatever...OK; I'm paranoid to the bone, we all know that...but just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you! ;D ;D
I'm actually not sure if they base the links on your e-mails or your google searches, but I think it's more likely that it's based on your searches. I think the only reason I get Spam recipes is because of the name of my spam folder, not the content of the mail. Google Talk is awesome! I use it all the time to call my dad in GA from CA.
Google has been very resistant about releasing information when the government has asked for it. I'm sure I may get some objections here, but I honestly believe their intention is to provide the most fitting ads in certain places (like here!), and not to invade your privacy.
They base the links on your emails, but nobody actually reads them, they use a computer program to scan them. Here's a link to gmail's page that addresses the issue:
http://mail.google.com/mail/help/more.html
One interesting thing I got out of it was:
So if having your messages scanned bothers you, you'd better stop using email!!
I too thought it was weird at first about the ads that go along with your emails. I've been using gmail for about a month and I thoroughly enjoy it!