# MLS Ads - Post Removed



## Koploper (Apr 3, 2011)

Well, now that I understand how this ad finder works, I feel a bit stupid posting this. So if a moderator would like to remove the thread, feel free to do so. It no longer seems interesting or relevant to me given that my computer controls the ads and not some random ad generator. Sorry to have bothered you all with this.


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## SteveC (Jan 2, 2008)

*RE: MLS Ads - Really? By 2 Get 2 Free Bras!??*

Hey, that's Google's "getting the right ads to you" tracking, delete your cookies from your local cache.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

*RE: MLS Ads - Really? By 2 Get 2 Free Bras!??*

1. Stop letting your wife shop on your computer and google login. 
2. get some things like adblocker and ghostery 
3. Make sure that if you crossdress, that you erase your history... ha ha ha! 

Greg


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## JEFF RUNGE (Jan 2, 2008)

*RE: MLS Ads - Really? By 2 Get 2 Free Bras!??*

I have a nice ad from L.L. Bean for free shipping.


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## GN_Rocky (Jan 6, 2008)

*RE: MLS Ads - Really? By 2 Get 2 Free Bras!??*

OR you could join the First class membership and the ads go away.
If you use the web site here alot and like it here, then you could help Shap out and help support the site. Many of us long term members have done so. When you join First class, you get the ability to post classified ads to sell old/unwanted train items, plus you get - correct me if I'm wrong guys, 5 Meg of web space to store pictures, videos, etc. 
I don't know if it's still offered, but if you like that you can upgrade further to a life membership like I did that gives more web space and no more dues. I like it and it works for me








Gosh, I've been here quite awhile too.

Rocky


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## Koploper (Apr 3, 2011)

*RE: MLS Ads - Really? By 2 Get 2 Free Bras!??*

So you are telling me that these ads are targeted specifically to me based on google or the sites I visit on my computer? I don't have a google account? And I don't visit women's underwear sites. So what gives? Is it what we search for or what where we actually shop. I assure you that I'm not a cross dresser (not that there's anything wrong with that) so I'm stumped by this one. I would expect ads from model train stores, outdoor clothing stores, other hobbie stores, and maybe something from zappos shoes. But bras? No way. I'll have a chat with my wife.


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## Koploper (Apr 3, 2011)

*RE: MLS Ads - Really? By 2 Get 2 Free Bras!??*

Well, now that I understand how this ad finder works, I feel a bit stupid posting this. So if a moderator would like to remove the thread, feel free to do so. It no longer seems interesting or relevant to me given that my computer controls the ads and not some random ad generator. Sorry to have bothered you all with this.


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## krs (Feb 29, 2008)

Posted By Koploper on 09 Jul 2012 08:14 AM 
Well, now that I understand how this ad finder works, I feel a bit stupid posting this. So if a moderator would like to remove the thread, feel free to do so.

Wait a minute.........

@ Steve - So exactly how do these ads relate to google?
What happens if one is not using google as their search engine?
Is google using tracking cookies?

Every once in a while I get web sites popping up that I never visit, some other site redirects me and I end up with garbage like the on-line poker site even though I play neither poker nor gamble.
So would that mean I can expect gambling web site advertising on MLS?

This whole concept of tracking every click I make really bothers me.
I already have cookies setup to only accept them from sites I actually visit rather than from all the re-directed sites, but I sometimes wonder if that is just a useless exercise.

Knut


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## blueregal (Jan 3, 2008)

Like Greg says get ad blocker + and or Ghostery, You never see ads again. Works great no problems with it. P.S. if you aren't already use Firefox it's great been using it for years. Regal 

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/adblock-plus/


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/adblock-plus/We have been using AD BLOCK for 6 month or so and we really like it. It shows you who is trying to track your movements on the computer. It shows a number that indicates how many sites are recording where you are going. You can click on the number box and actually see the names of the sites recording where you are going. If there are sites where you want to see ads you can allow that site to be active. Since I am a 1st class member here and don't get any of the ads on the left side, so I have ad blocker inactive on MLS. Awhile back I was looking for one of the sponsors of MLS and noticed that their tags weren't showing, because I want those ads I deactivated ad blocker for MLS.

Occasionally, before we installed ad block plus, I noticed a small area of some sites that showed up "ad choice". This is a site that tracks your movements and targets your computer specifically for ads.

I think that you have to download a version of AD BLOCK for your specific browser. I downloaded mine for firefox. It doesn't seem to block Safari.

Chuck

PS I have been to sites where the number is up into two digits.

Regal:

This should make it clickable, if that's a word.

AD BLOCKER for firefox 

Sorry it is AD BLOCK, not blocker.


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## blueregal (Jan 3, 2008)

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/adblock-plus/ 

Sorry for the double post was trying to make link clickable, you'll have to copy and paste it. Regal


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## SteveC (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Koploper on 09 Jul 2012 06:11 AM 
Well, now that I understand how this ad finder works, I feel a bit stupid posting this. So if a moderator would like to remove the thread, feel free to do so. It no longer seems interesting or relevant to me given that my computer controls the ads and not some random ad generator. Sorry to have bothered you all with this.
*Koploper:* There's no reason to feel bad about posting, that's how we all learn about things we don't know about, additionally, it may help someone else when they run across the topic.









*Knut:*
If you want to learn about Google's practices, then click the "Privacy & Terms" link located in the lower-right on their home search page (see below image).

On a broader scope, there is a whole Internet industry out there built around advertising and getting ads to show up on an individual's computer based upon what that particular computer has been looking at while surfing the Internet. Just exactly how do you think all these *FREE* things get paid for, your information is worth big bucks even when it doesn't point directly to you as a specific identifiable individual.

Here's a link to a typical mindset for "anonymized data & tracking" on the Internet.

Business Insider - Internet Users Want No Tracking, A Pony[/b]


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Koploper, I'm sure you took my crossdressing joke as just that, but just reinforcing I was having fun. 

There are 2 "bots" used on MLS: Google Analytics and OpenX... heavens knows where they get your infor and who they sell it to. 

Does google use cookies? Make this assumption: virtually NOTHING on the internet doe NOT use cookies! 

I am a First Class member, so I paid and I don't feel guilty that I use ad blocker and Ghostery... There's not a single ad on my screen. 

Greg


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

Note that YouTube videos have "Tags" associated with them and those tags are tabulated for what you watch. So if you watch videos about trains, you might get adverts about travel. 

Unfortunately, some people deliberately add tags that have nothing to do with the video 's actual subject, in the hopes that by doing so, people searching for something else will stumble upon that video... which increases the view count for the person that posted it.

If you watch a video about trains, but the person that put the video on YouTube included tags that have to do with clothing, then it will appear that you might be interested in clothing and you will be fed adverts for clothing. But some YouTubers think that they will increase their view counts if they include tags in the realm of "adult subject matter", so if you watch that video it will appear that you are interested in such and get targeted advertising based upon that appearance.

I consider all this "tracking" on the internet to be akin to "stalking" and would love to join a class action lawsuit against the companies doing it.


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## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

Glade to say I also have ad blocker and ghostery and do not get blasted with the junk e-mails. Great stuff. Later RJD


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## Mike Reilley (Jan 2, 2008)

There's also another "ad target finding" technique that is being used by Google and, now, Facebook. 

Both companies scan all emails, messages, and posts made on their systems for KEY WORDS...and they keep them for ad sales. So, if you're on gmail (google's free email) or Facebook's new email...or you send an message to any recipient, those emails are scanned for key words and BOTH the sender and receiver's email addresses are saved. Also, all emails TO a gmall or Facebook.com account are scanned. They assume that folks on both ends of an email share a common interest...as reflected by the key words.

So...if you send a lot of emails about a particular subject that has sales potential, your email address, IP address, FB account, etc. can be sold by Google or Facebook to a vendor wanting to send ads to new clients...either through spam emailing or by tailoring the ad displays you see on many web sites.

Making matters worse, Facebook JUST changed the default email settings on their system so that the default email address was now your userID on FB plus @facebook.com. Oh...and they screwed up the forwarding processing, so it worked poorly. I just went in and over wrote the @Facebook.com address. NOW I gotta check periodically to ensure they have rewritten their crappy email address in there.

But the point is...emails are being scanned...and the key word contents sold....just like ad trackers track to which URLs you traveled. Thank God for Ghostery.com and AdBlock Plus in URL case...because they really stop this eves dropping. If you load Ghostery, your first big surprise will be to learn that there are often 10 or more ad trackers on a given URL...the information is THAT important. Ghostery can show you which ones are there...and which ones you're blocked or allowed through...and if you see one you don't recollect...you can add it the blocked lists with one click of the mouse. My default is to block everything...except for sites where blocking new cookies makes the site not work...like Home Depot's site.

One more thing...I routinely use CCleaner (free from CCleaner.com) to clean out cookies. It allows you to select cookies you want to keep...like the one from MLS...and deletes all others when you use it to clean your computer. I use it weekly to clean the registry, clean out the files, and clean up the cookie mess. I also use it deinstall programs. It's one of the best pieces of computer software maintenance software out there.


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

My son and I often "chat" using that feature of G-mail. The day that they announced that they would be monitoring e-mails I noticed that the single line advert at the top of the list of e-mails in the inbox happened to be about the thing we were discussing in chat. So we decided to change subjects and the advert changed to the new subject. We got it to change about a dozen times by just throwing out random words in sentences like "I want to buy a _____". Car, Shoe, Clothes, Computer, Windows, Campers, Boats, ... the advert line dutifully followed along with our silly conversation.

I am going to have to look up Ghostery and AdBlock to see what they have over what I am presently using. I just got "Do Not Track Plus" (DNT+) and I like the absence of many of the annoying animated adverts in several web pages I vist. (They are supposed to be "attractive" but I find them "Distractive" and as such I have come to HATE the companies that use them! I hope they all go out of business!)

I have been using CCleaner for a long time and I like it a lot. Sure cleans up the disk drive and Windows Registry. I run it just before I shut down the computer (which is at least once per day). I also use it to control what programs run at startup and what add-ons run in Internet Explorer. It does require one to have a good idea what all the options in the program do before enabling some of them, but I know computers and Windows well and I really like the program's capabilities. And by monitoring the list of startup and add-ons I can tell when something has snuck into my system.


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## NTCGRR (Jan 2, 2008)

WOOW Ed 
the truth comes ,,,out of the closet.....LOL


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

Thanks Guys, you can add me to the latest AdBloker + 'user group'. 
I'll check out the rest of your offerings also! 

Adds gone NOW!! never liked 'em either! 

Dirk - DMS Ry.


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## Koploper (Apr 3, 2011)

Thanks Marty....I knew I could trust you to keep my secret.


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