Is Google finally listening to us? What happens with “suspicious” ads?

September 27, 1997

Google is born. Actually, Google has other dates on which it could celebrate its birthday. The google.com domain was registered on September 15, 1997, and Google was founded on September 4, 1998. But in recent years, it has chosen to celebrate its birthday on September 27.

Whatever the correct date, what is certain is that in the intervening 25 years, Google has become a real titan of technology and an integral part of modern everyday life.

Its search engine is so inextricably linked to everything we do that many suspect that Google now knows our every thought. After all, the theory that Google is listening to us so it can serve us targeted ads even for things we’ve never searched for online is one of the most persistent on the web.

It has happened to all of us that we talk to a friend about something and after a while, we see ads for that thing on whatever site we go to.

So is Google finally listening to us through our mobile phone?

The answer is simple: Yes. Our phone is always listening to us.

But if you saw an ad for a product you didn’t google, the explanation is different. According to experts, this is due to artificial intelligence and how good it is at… guessing. Whatever and if you do online – when you like a photo, when you watch a video, when you follow an account – you leave traces, which the applications of the big technology companies (see Google, Facebook, etc.) collect in order to serve you ads that interest you. In many cases, artificial intelligence is used to make inferences about you and what you will like. And that’s how you get ads for things you’re interested in, but you’ve never looked for online.

Want to reduce the things Google knows about you? You can start by limiting her ability to hear you. Your phone’s microphone is always open so the device can hear when you want to use voice assistance services, with commands like “Hey Siri” or “OK ​​Google.”

To stop this, if you have an iOS device, you need to go to ‘Settings’, then ‘Siri & Search’ and there turn off ‘Listen for ‘Hey Siri”, ‘Press Side button for Siri’ and ‘Allow Siri When Locked’.

On Android devices, you need to go to “Settings”, then “Google”. From there to ‘Account Services’ and then to ‘Search, Assistant & Voice’. From there, tap “Voice” and turn off “Hey Google.” After that, your phone can no longer hear what you say.

moneyreview.gr

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