• doug@lemmy.today
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      15 hours ago

      I opted out of as many ad trackers as I could ~10 years ago and took every precaution I could.

      …it resulted in-- and I shit you not-- really embarrassing-looking ads with words written in capital red letters that read something like “HUGE DISCOUNTS ON HORSE SEMEN BY THE GALLON!” complete with pictures of creamy liquid.

      I searched as best I could to make sure I didn’t have a virus or something, and I found some user with the same query as myself; it was a legitimate advertisement from their bottom-of-the-barrel advertisers who-- I guess?-- didn’t pay to target users and had just put in the bare minimum money for ads.

      It was so horrible of an experience I stopped the charade and let them learn about me again-- which I can’t help but think was part of the plan.