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Google Personalizes Search Results Even When You're Logged Out, a DuckDuckGo Study Finds (theverge.com)
According to a new study conducted by Google competitor DuckDuckGo, it does not seem possible to avoid personalization when using Google search, even by logging out of your Google account and using the private browsing "incognito" mode. From a report: DuckDuckGo conducted the study in June of this year, at the height of the US midterm election season. It did so with the ostensible goal of confirming whether Google's search results exacerbate ideological bubbles by feeding you only information you've signaled you want to consume via past behavior and the data collected about you. It's not clear whether that question can be reliably answered with these findings, and it's also obvious DuckDuckGo is a biased source with something to gain by pointing out how flawed Google's approach may be. But the study's findings are nonetheless interesting because they highlight just how much variance there are in Google search results, even when controlling for factors like location.
Obvious solution: When you need to buy drugs, hire an assassin, or process your bitcoin payment from the Russian FSB, just use someone else's computer. I use my cubie-mate's while he is taking a toilet break.
Another option is to use the terminals at the public library. Just watch out for the security cameras.
That's nothing. One day I was just thinking about something that I not normally think about. Later that day I looked up the YouTube main page and there was a movie about what I thought about in the Recommended section.
Oh yeah? That's nothing ... YouTube shows me things even before I think about them!
It happens on this site, too.
I look at one story, and most of the posts are trolls about APK, immanent Trump incarceration, and giant swastikas.
Then I open an article on a completely different topic, and what do I see? The very same posts about APK, immanent Trump incarceration, and giant swastikas.
It's downright creepy.
They even do this down to the micro-level, randomly inserting "â(TM)" into people's posts on my browser, no matter what the topic. I assume that they're targeted promotions for this trademarked "â" product. I don't know where they got the idea that I was interested in â.