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Amazon Snooping Your Surfing For Targeted Ads?
Jewfro_Macabbi writes, "Recently after browsing major online retailers for Bluetooth adapters, I went to Amazon.com to find front-page ads for, you guessed it, Bluetooth adapters. Disable cookies, the ads go away; re-enable cookies and the ads re-appear. The EULA is ambiguous as usual. Try it for yourself and see."
I too tried to shop for bluetooth devices at a major online retailer... then I went to Amazon.com. Not a single reference anywhere to any bluetooth devices. For me the experiment ends there. I had cookies turned on (always do), and was logged into both sites with an account login.
Aren't "other" cookies supposed to be invisible to a domain application? I thought so. So, is there a possibility you are surfing at some retailer that has a partnership of some kind with amazon (many do), and hence the information is shared in a partnership, but not across the proscribed browser boundaries?
How long did it take you to figure that out Jewfro_Macabbi?
To my end user (of Amazon.com) knowledge, they have been doing this for at least a couple of years. Of course, the problem with the EULA is that the cookie is set as soon as you visit unless you explicitly disable cookies.
Of course being anonymous is getting harder and harder these days (especially if you are surfing from a place that is having packets sniffed by someone like the NSA. (for kicks do a traceroute (*NIX and OS X, tracert on Windows) on NSA.gov from where you are and look for the AT&T hub that is splitting the traffic (The AT&T hub for my traffic is tbr1013801.dvmco.ip.att.net). I know my packets are sniffed coming from an edu domain as well.......
Visit Jonesblog and say hello.
The only way amazon could know you were looking for an item would be if they themselves set the cookie. I think you'll find one of the retailers you visited was an amazon shop or the like. I don't use these 'one-click' pioneers myself but this is just bullshit!
He's not claiming Amazon hacked his browser. It's been known for ages that if two sites both use the same ad company to display ads, that your activity on both sites can be linked. He's saying Amazon is using these data to target ads on their front page.
I wonder if the original submitter happens to browse with the A9 or Alexa toolbars enabled? Both are subsidiaries of Amazon.com. One would need to review their EULA's though to see if said info can be used to target shopping ads from their own site.
$ man woman *
-bash:
It seems more like amazon is hosting these major retailer's websites. For example, if you go to target.com it says on the bottom right, "Powered by Amazon.com". Amazon has their hands in a lot of retailers pockets. Mostly because it is just easier to pay amazon to do it than it is to set it all up yourself. Especially when amazon.com is a "proven" website.
While searching a bit torrent site for old episodes of La Femme Nikita, I was regaled by an ad which read:
"Can't find La Femme? Buy it on eBay!"
Really. Just a rental as per usual, or an all out purchase?
Can I take it for a test drive?
The shipping would probably be horrendous. I'll bet they sell them "pick up only". Which is, after all, the usual way. So who needs eBay?
"I may be synthetic, but I'm not stupid." -- Bishop 341-B
There is nothing anti-semite about the nickname.
Jewfro = A type of hairstyle.
Maccabi = Courage, Victory, Success.
I agree. The language in the GP is a bit unnecesary but the editor who contributed the article needs to do better. Mod up the GP to set an example.
It's actually a Ninja named Roger who's pissed at him. He's waiting for the author to click on the wrong link.
It's either on the beat or off the beat, it's that easy.
I moderate therefore I rule!
--
Hey nitwit, do you want random stupid commercials or commercials that you might actually be interested in?
Personally if I'm have to watch commercials (for free programming or whatever) then I damn well would rather watch something that might interest me.
I am building a website on website traffic tips n tricks and stumbled upon this...
Retargeting
I am 90% sure that this is what they are doing or some variation thereof. Inexpensive service that should work well.
Place a curse in the RIAA/MPAA.
After clearing my cache/cookies/etc, I closed and then reopened Firefox. I went to google and did a search for "bluetooth adapters." I middle clicked on everything on the results page except the amazon.com link. I then opened a new tab and went to amazon.com. They wanted to sell me LCD TVs, an electric toothbrush, some DVD box sets, iPod and cell phone cases, purses and messenger bags, and some watches. No bluetooth devices at all. Go figure...
This guy's the limit!
A browser feature to block cookies that either: a) originate from a different domain than the top-level page or b) ignore cookies sent with non-HTML pages. I got the latter idea from CGIProxy.
Firefox doesn't seem to have anything like this. Internet Explorer can be configured to block all "third-party" cookies. Opera doesn't appear to have anything like this either.
Of course with Firefox you can get rid of the cookies as a side effect if you use Adblock or otherwise block ads.
I found out about the in the worst way possible a few months back. Me and a buddy were searching for artwork by Stephen Gammell, the illustrator of those infamous creepy Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark books. It was late at night and we were getting creeped out just looking at the artwork. But imagine then, going to Amazon to buy one of the books only to find that THE BOOKS ALREADY KNEW WE WANTED TO BUY THEM, and had marched to Amazon's front page to greet us with their hideous covers before we even got there.
Needless to say, no books were bought that evening.
What, are you new to this whole internet thing? Of course online marketers store your browsing information and sell it, that's how they exist. Are you also suprised at where all those 2o7.net cookies came from, and confused as to why some sites need to load images from dozens of different servers?
Of course, it could also be that you're the kind of person who shops for things like bluetooth adapters on amazon and other sites in the past. So when you went back to amazon during this session they were using your past browsing on amazon to suggest something that you actually need.
We always knew Comcast was corrupt, here's the proof: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1909890&cid=34545432
.. think that trying to sell you exactly what you're looking for is a dispicable business practice and ought to be outlawed immediately!
But seriously, maybe when you enabled cookies Amazon recognized you from a previous visit and through the magic of their recommendation engine, perhaps based on a previous purchase where other customers who bought the same item also bought a bluetooth adapter, guessed that you might in fact be looking for a bluetooth adapter.
Is there any way to turn this off? Apart from removing cookies?
Ages ago I brought a friend a book on giving the best blow job ever and now I always get recommendations on similar books. It's well embrassing
This guy has a long history of anti-Semetic comments on Slashdot. Check his post history.
Okay, so I don't necessarily like having records of my browsing habits stored by databases that can later be subpoenaed by the government, but it's basically unavoidable -- I know I keep extensive records of my site's visitors. And the privacy issue is largely secondary -- Amazon isn't interested in stalking you, they're interested in learning your buying habits to improve their own profits. The funny thing is that the best way for them to improve their profits is to sell you more stuff, and that means out of their millions of products, they need to choose carefully to show you the few products you're going to buy.
I wish that marketing was even more strongly targeted than it is. I like being shown advertisements for products that I actually want. I don't need to see ads for Viagra, Women's Hygiene, or the latest carbon fiber golf clubs. Amazon knows to show me ads for wireless routers, the latest Harry Potter books, and Armani tuxedos. I can't wait for TV to catch up with my online experience.
--brian
Search the web for things that you do not need.
I went to Amazon.com to find front-page ads for, you guessed it, Bluetooth adapters. ... At which point, you immediately died from the terrible harm that this caused you?
This is a definite step up from the "Punch the Dog Win $100!!!" ads.
Coincidence? - I had one hit and four misses. Looked for HDTVs and amazon matched, but they failed on cellphones, laptops, my textbook for this semester, the godfather dvd collection. Went to google each time, searched for item, went through a few links (4-5) and then went to amazon. Went to bestbuy for everything but the textbook. Cookies are accepted for session until I close firefox. JS and flash are blocked but I doubt that matters. Need a lot more data before can conclude anything one way or another.
Another test - clear all cookies and hit refresh a lot. Amazon seems to throw up the same links a fair bit - slippers and sandals, clothing, watches, jewellery, HDTVs, bags and luggage and a few dvds. The HDTVs popping up here is telling. Might be interesting to also get a new IP address each time and then refresh though I'll leave this to some of you who have a bit more time.
Reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled.
Just use Browzar.
This is actually a) very useful, b) very clever on Amazon's part, and c) not at all slimy. IMO at least. Kudos to their web developers for making a relatively simple (technically speaking) mod that dramatically increased their store value to most people... at least, if you ignore the ultraParanoid amongst us.
You're special forces then? That's great! I just love your olympics!
And on a serious note, I've been wondering where a certain tracking cookie was showing up from, but never quite got motivated enough to hunt the site down. Well, I just swept my system with Spybot S&D to make sure it was clean, went to Amazon.com, re-ran the search, and... lo and behold, I have an Aornum tracking cookie again.
It's not a big deal to me; I've bought dozens of things from Amazon.com and marked hundreds more in the recommendations service, so it's not like they don't already have a database on me.
For sale: one sig space, gently used. Inquire for details.
I was googling St. Malachy's prophecy, an alleged 12th century document fortelling the rest of the Popes until the end of time. Went to Amazon a few minutes later, and a book on the subject was on the front page. I think that's a bit more unusual than the consumer electronics tests that people are trying out here.
Nice try though. Cookie paranoia is a bit worn out for me.
Welcome to the internet.
Amazon uses ATDMT.com to serve ads. The sites you were searching for Bluetooth gear on were also using ATDMT.com to serve ads. It's not Amazon that knew you were looking for Bluetooth gear, it's ATDMT.com.
That's why they're called "Tracking Cookies."
Surf tracking and targeted ads are a way of life. There is no privacy online. Get used to it.
The government can't save you.
I can clearly see the bad implecations here, but as a responsable user, this has helped me over the past few months: I look for an item on Target, walmart, froogle, whatever, then go to amazon and it is right there, no searching needed. This is not good privacy wise, but pretty conveniant for those of us who delete cookies at responsable intervals (read weekly or more).
Wow. I thought america was going through tough economic times, with people taking 2nd jobs and stuff.
My impulse purchase ceiling is about £3 ($5). Maybe it is because i can remember when £3 bought 5 (6) gallons of petrol.
They whose government reduces their essential liberties for temporary security, receive neither liberty nor security.
[It was] newsinthe90s
I know there's nothing anti-semitic about my Nic, I'm Jewish!
Were you totally offended and disgusted because they showed you stuff that you were just looking to buy (hypothetically) a few minutes ago?
I don't get it... we all love computers and the Internet until they do something useful? I understand the scare, but it isn't there. The scary part would be if Amazon just sent you a bluetooth device and charged you for it. "We knew you'd be wanting this!"
I just wish they would sell these technologies to porn marketeers. I know someone, somewhere already has a database of the things I like. Start making recommendations on things I've not seen or heard of yet!
Get your Unix fortune now!
1) The retailer is using Amazon software/ The retailer is part of Amazon
2) Amazon is sniffing the search URL you came from
3) Amazon set a cookie
Cookies can only be read by the site that set them. Maybe you are clicking on Amazon ads on the retailer site.
Privacy is a big issue. I don't know what's going to happen in the future. One thing that bugs me is how I think Google displays text advertisements of the major metropolitan of which I live near. I don't think I ever searched on Google using the city I live near though. Maybe it's my imagination.
Iirc Google made headlines a while back about targeting users with ads based on their activity. Isn't this the same thing?
the mods may say you posted flamebait, but to me it's a flame that warms my heart. rock on, brother! --chebucto
It's called Data Mining. Most universities with a statistics/OR/IE/FE department teach data mining. Amazon had LOTS of affiliates, or companies they work with to collect data. (review sites, other sites that sell items, etc). You probably visited one those. -DB
I went to a site a while back and saw a little graphic saying "Hello Doug. Guess how we know your name."
It was a link to amazon.com using my registered name there. Harmless enough, but still a potential security leak.
>>It's been known for ages that if two sites both use the same ad company...
and further more:
doubleclick is the plague you would be refering to. 'Everyone' is using doubleclick in order to share a common cookie. doubleclick is the one tracking you, following you and report back to everyone else. There are a few others of course, like tribalfusion, Fastclick, etc..
Everyone should be using a host file to block these, and keep scripting turned off except for trusted sites. (Your bank, not myspace, youtube or yahoo)
The government which is strong enough to protect you from everything is strong enough to take everything from you.
"This guy has a long history of anti-Semetic comments on Slashdot. Check his post history" I'm a Jewish WOMAN.
Individual americans are going through tough economic times in large part due to a culture of irresponsible debt spending. Having a comparatively high ceiling for impulse purchases is part and parcel.
(Obviously, this doesn't apply to everyone).
I noticed twice in the last week some strange ad behavior on Amazon.
The first time, I'd been looking at DVD players via search on Google (FireFox on OSX, not logged in), then later that day when I went to Amazon (not logged in) the front page of Amazon showed me DVD players. I thought perhaps there was some unhealthy cookie sharing going on.
Then later in the week I'd been at Amazon (not logged in) looking at books on a topic I didn't want in my recent history or interested-in lists. I left Amazon, used FF to "clear private data" and went back to Amazon and logged in. There were my dang recent searches. So what's up with that? Have they added IP matching, or is FF OSX not as good at dumping my personal data as I'd like?
What you're probably seeing is Amazon's new "Omakase" ads. They've been beta testing them for a little while. Apparently they take into account the user's Amazon search history (have you searched for widgets on Amazon or affilates?), the site's referral sales history (have ads on the site resulted in widget sales before?) and the site's content (is the site about widgets?). I've been using them on my blog -- not sure if they are more or less effective than regular ads, but I do like that their appearance is more customizable and can be made less in-your-face and more Google Adsense like.
I'd go in and change it, but that's not possible on Slash.
Heh :-)
That is a chicken/egg thing that hadn't occurred to me. Nice one.
Sadly, being a cheapskate doesn't seem to have improved my own tough economic times. Or does my miserliness cloud my view of how many blessings i have?
They whose government reduces their essential liberties for temporary security, receive neither liberty nor security.
This is as old as cookies itself. Nothing new under the sun, no story.
-espen
-- ess
or gtfo
capcha was "obvious" lol
I think it's much the same. It's a bit scary though. After searching for tourism info on a middle-east country, many of the Google Ads I see on Slashdot are written in Arabic.