ejstubbs Posted March 29, 2019 Share Posted March 29, 2019 Yesterday evening I sold (on Gumtree) a mountain bike that was surplus to requirements. Later that evening I was browsing eBay and up popped a suggestion for a Garmin multisport watch that I'd been thinking about getting: brand new, £20-£30 cheaper than any seller I'd seen, and the last one they had! Needles to say, I succumbed. What I want to know is: how did eBay know that I would be so vulnerable to their blandishments just at that moment?! (Come to think, something similar happened a few weeks back with Amazon. I'd been looking at some software being offered at a good price, but it disappeared before I could convince myself to buy. A few days later up popped a suggestion for the same product, from the same vendor, at the same price - and the last one in the shop!) The Amazon one I can kind of understand, but the Gumtree/eBay combination can only have been a coincidence. But a lucky one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete the Elaner Posted March 29, 2019 Share Posted March 29, 2019 I think... Websites like this query your cookies/history. It would be interesting to flush history after each browsing session & see if it still happens. Setting this up to flush automatically is an option on most, if not all, browsers but about 3 options deep on Opera, so not the easiest to find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejstubbs Posted March 29, 2019 Author Share Posted March 29, 2019 The Amazon one was wholly within Amazon so no real mystery there, just lucky timing on their part. The eBay/Gumtreee one can only have been a coincidence. The bike had been listed on Gumtree for some time, and I haven't yet updated/shut down the listing since it sold. And the buyer paid in cash. So minimal electronic trail for eBay to follow, although they knew that I was interested in the watch because I'd done a number of searches for it and had some auctions watchlisted. I'm happy with the products I ordered and the prices I paid for each, so I'm not complaining. Though I would be unhappy if I thought data was leaking from Gumtree to eBay via cookies (I'm pretty hot on shutting down the use of third-party cookies when the option exists - as it should by law). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly Posted March 29, 2019 Share Posted March 29, 2019 (edited) Gumtree is owned by eBay iirc Edited March 29, 2019 by Kelly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
black and decker boy Posted May 18, 2019 Share Posted May 18, 2019 On 29/03/2019 at 13:19, ejstubbs said: . So minimal electronic trail for eBay to follow, although they knew that I was interested in the watch because I'd done a number of searches for it and had some auctions watchlisted. You have your answer right there, in your searches and watch listing, you have clearly told eBay you are interested in that item. The system then simply sends you relevant listing. The fact you had disposable income at that time wasn’t a driver for them but clearly perfect for you and the vendor. its the same as a supermarket printing you vouchers at check out for an occasional treat purchase you make. They log every item you buy, where, which day & time of day and use that to predict shopping habits and also target advertising. Big Brother is out there And has been watching for years. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 On 29/03/2019 at 12:33, ejstubbs said: ... how did eBay know that I would be so vulnerable to their blandishments just at that moment?!... Assign punishment to operative DRH/0052987492247 for extreme carelessness in revealing system omniscience, and note in permanent record. Whoops, you weren't supposed to see that. I'll go and have all my teeth extracted without anaesthesia. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold adb968008 Posted May 21, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 21, 2019 unfortunately big data crunches data faster than your credit card processes a transaction. Billions of feeds of data can be analysed and interpreted from thousands of sources in milliseconds. its the stuff if Sci-Fi but AI and Machine learning is now so optimal it will predict your intentions before your brain has. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crosland Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 You have to monitor all popups over a period and to realize that there's not really anything sinister going on. Eventually one will match your requirements, especially if you have previous history showing interest. We are all prone to applying greater weighting to coincidences that are...coincidences, and ignoring other events. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium kevinlms Posted May 23, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 23, 2019 21 hours ago, Crosland said: You have to monitor all popups over a period and to realize that there's not really anything sinister going on. Eventually one will match your requirements, especially if you have previous history showing interest. We are all prone to applying greater weighting to coincidences that are...coincidences, and ignoring other events. Agreed, just consider the 'EBay Madness' thread, since we all click on those links for a laugh, why wouldn't Google think, that such items are something we ARE interested in? So we have ourselves to blame. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now