My Gmail e-mail
account is one of my newest e-mail addresses. I have had it for just over a
year.
When I started
using it, I realized that there were many advertisements around my e-mails that
were about subjects that I was interested in. Initially I believed that this
was a coincidence but later I realized that the frequency is too high. A
friend of mine brought to my attention that Google screens e-mails and chat
conversations rigorously. It was difficult to believe that but I knew it was
not impossible. As I thought more about this, I wondered if it would be
possible to characterize a person just from looking at the advertisement
surrounding their Gmail main page.
As I started using
my Gmail account more often, I realized that not only were the advertisements
related to my e-mail content, they were related to my chat conversations. I
felt Gmail was intruding my personal life even though "no human
being" was to ever read the content. Under no circumstances did I ever
imagine my private and confidential conversations being used to generate
revenue. Even though I will "never be identified to the advertisers",
I felt Google disrespected me by employing their aggressive advertisement
targeting algorithm.
Moreover, Google
claims that they will never display advertisements based on sensitive matters.
I recall a silly ad that was "served" to me regarding some financial
service that dealt with sensitive issues and I am certain this was triggered by
my friend and I discussing budgeting. Our conversation was very serious and the
content was definitely confidential. At the end of the conversation, it felt as
if we were mocked my Google when they "served" me that advertisement.
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