A non-geek's question

I use the Opera browser [paid version]. Now I'm trialling the new version before I pay for the v.upgrade, which I'll do shortly [I'm an Opera fan]

So right now, I'm using the ad-supported version, which gives you a choice of generic ad banner, or "Google-tailored" ad. Switched to the Google ads today.

Try not to laugh now. Seriously, how does Google "see" where I'm at? For example, I was reading an ATS thread about Bobby Fischer, & I got chess-related ad banner. In a thread about WMD documents, the ads changed to Iraqi war links. This is freaky to a non-geek!

They most likely just search the source of the page...just like the regular Google AdSense ads do on sites like ATS.

Well I knew it wasn't cookies, cos it still happened with other sites when I disabled cookies.

H'mm, source of the page? I guess that's something a non-geek shouldn't ask about - & wouldn't understand the answer anyway!

Thanks so much for replying.

The Source is jsut basically jsut the coding of the page....

Easy for you, difficult for me! Seriously, the phrase "source code" makes my eyes glaze over, I'm a GUI lamer who can barely find my way around with DOS commands. I hope to aspire to Linux before I die!

At least those "tailored: ads don't freak me out now thanks to you.

Oh don't underestimate thy mighty Google...

He always susprise me. It's like it knows everything about you. When I surf on ATS/BTS, he often shows me ads of websites that are in Canada. How the hell does he know I'm Canadian?

Originally posted by m0rbid
Oh don't underestimate thy mighty Google...

He always susprise me. It's like it knows everything about you. When I surf on ATS/BTS, he often shows me ads of websites that are in Canada. How the hell does he know I'm Canadian?

It's quite simple really. There's no point trying to explain to a 'non-geek', but to answer your question quickly:
They know which country you're in, and what ISP you're using just by performing a DSN Lookup on your IP address (Webpages, programs, etc can do this automatically in a matter of seconds - they don't need a manual person to do it by hand each time ) lol.

[Edited on 16-7-2004 by MetalHead]

Oh I'd definitely heard about DNS lookup - and even though I don't understand it, at least I now have an idea of what it's used for!

And my paranoia about the ads has gone, praise be.

Originally posted by Bastet
Oh I'd definitely heard about DNS lookup - and even though I don't understand it, at least I now have an idea of what it's used for!

And my paranoia about the ads has gone, praise be.

Good to hear