How long after....and where?
 

After you visit BF, or just BF C&V, does bike-related stuff show up when you visit other sites?

Initially, I read that wrong. My answers would have been for 'when you visit other places ':

Craigslist/Offer up/lbs - within an hour
Ebay/online retailers - as fast as they can get it shipped

I think the op is talking about bike adds following his browser activity.

i am assuming you are noting targeted ads.
better get a VPN

Never

Never, but that’s because I use anti-tracking apps with my browsers

I clicked all the choices hoping to get one right.

Same. My ad blocker (Duck Duck Go) is currently listing 5 blocked trackers on this site. I also run Microsoft Edge as my browser which is a little better on ad tracking transparency. I am considering running Firefox on both desktop and mobile to better hide from ad networks and data brokers.

1. Internet Brands

   1. gdpr.internetbrands.com
   2. ibclick.stream

2. Google

   1. google-analytics.com
      Analytics

3. Permutive

   1. cdn.permutive.com
      Analytics

4. Facebook

   1. connect.facebook.net

I clicked news feeds because that was all that was left I don't do the first four.. I get targeted ads in my email inboxes, google searches as well. Does not affect my life.

Where is the option for “I don’t use any of those services”?

For a period a few years ago the ad algorithm decided that I was particularly interested in farming equipment, especially aftermarket performance mods to farming equipment. I live in the middle of the city and have never farmed a day in my life.

I don't think these algorithms quite understand the concept of "vintage" or "antique" because it is not specific enough. Even the keywords bike or bicycle are pretty vague in targeting a specific interest. Add to that the hundreds of brand names and builders, it doesn't seem to know what direction to go.

I'd bet that EU privacy laws are much more strict than in the US.

That and I use VPN's, have a Pi hole, and run script blockers in browser.

I use only the Safari built in browser on my Mac, iPhone and iPad. I guess it does well enough to block trackers or whatever it takes to make ad targeting successful as I don't see a lot of bike related ads even on facebook. My wife uses Firefox and Google Chrome on her Mac and seems to see a lot of ads based on her browsing history.

In addition to Bike Forums, most of us engage in Google searches, Amazon purchases, we visit vendor websites, and a whole host of other bike-related activities online that enable these targeted ads.

As soon as you google something for information or to purchase those adds will start showing. Hell, you just have to talk to someone about bikes and any one of many devices will pick that up and start hitting you with content. Would doubt it has anything to do with bike forums.

I believe this. We were having dinner with friends one evening and they were talking about Bombas socks. We all have iPhones and our friends have an Amazon Echo device. The next morning my wife and I both had ads for Bombas socks show up. Alexa and Siri have big ears.

Its a continuous process (N+1) an BF is one of the biggest influencers and cookie generators, based on your browser of choice. The real impressions are recorded directly in the brain, ie brookie's ;)

Happened two days ago with some colleagues, we were discussing a new, rather low-key restaurant in town and later that evening my pal shared a photo of a recommendation that popped up for the place on his phone. I've had it happen too many times to consider it coincidence, but hey... It's my choice to carry around an advanced computer that'll fit into my pocket and allows me to talk to people from anywhere in the world and take photographs that I can immediately share on the internet. I deal with it, however unsure I am of the morality behind some of the features.

-Gregory

I keep waiting for the ad for that one particular part to show up in my surfing after searching for it for a while.
Hasn't happened yet.

However, I did search on line for some truck parts, and have rec'd over 50 calls.
All with the same accent, telling me they have my parts in stock.
Once I get through the language barrier, decent experience. They know their databases.
I'm not sure how all those GMC truck parts ended up in India, but they sure have a lot.
The prices were very high, but my guess is that setting up this type of indexing/marketing operation is high.
Or maybe it's just the shipping. (Yes, I know it's US vendors using the services).
Very polite conversations, some even sent simultaneous pictures to confirm the parts.
Very cool. Just not a confident vibe. Yet.

The digital junkyard age. Without the dogs.

While you're comments about data being mined from other places is true (except devices listening without your express consent. This has been disproven except in the case of things like Alexa), BikeForums is very ad dependent and by nature those ad serving platforms are harvesting data. They also categorize that data based on what they know about you from here and other locations where their trackers live. They typically know age range, gender, location, device types, and your activity across the web. They also make money on the backend by selling data to data brokers.

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-r...t-data-brokers
https://www.wired.com/story/data-bro...security-news/
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/nati...eport/2888792/

I just went to the official website of the brand of shoes I run in. It took less that a minute for their ads to pop up on this site. The big one at the top and the one in the middle are now ads for that company. The ads on the right side and the bottom must be standard ads. Those are for a cycling company that I have never visited the website on any of my devices. The company started as a grain of sand in an oyster. They're telling me I need to go for a ride even if I don't know what direction to take.

Ah, yes. Big Brother.

Certainly. And I don't fault bikeforums for that as they have to pay the bills. But I found that a paid membership is worth every penny to not see all those ads.