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0 pointsintended1y ago0 comments

Sure. But its fun, and we can always replicate, just need a terrible ad.

Do note, this was tested in a park, so no shared WiFi, no Bluetooth beacons/devices. Also, this ad doesn’t/didn’t show up for others, ever.

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paulcole1y ago· 2 in thread

I’m assuming like most friends you and your friends have nothing in common like interests, demographics, etc.?

And I’m assuming you also made them aware of other ads you’d seen recently so they could see if those showed up as well?

intendedOP1y ago

Yep. They 100% do not share an interest in ear wax removal, or had a medical need of that nature.

Why do you think I would put up a comment on HN of all places, with this degree of confidence.

> tested with other ads… If I knew that this, was going to be needed to study, 5 years into the future, I would have conducted a double blind study. Sadly I could not, however, it’s still fun, so we can always replicate.

The question is, have you found a horrid ad yet? Side note, this was in the UK

paulcole1y ago

I was kidding… Of course you and your friends share some demographics and interests—- making it unsurprising that you’d get similar ads.

> The question is, have you found a horrid ad yet? Side note, this was in the UK

The question is, why does it have to be a horrid ad? Does the phone only listen for things about horrid ads to show you?

You have to know that your phone isn’t listening to you right? That it’s just a coincidence and that when you’re told to be on the lookout for an earwax ad that you’re more likely to see one, right?

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