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If you go to this page and then click the link in the left-hand margin that says, “Ads on the web,” you’ll see how old Google thinks you are, based on the websites you’ve viewed that have their advertising network’s tracking bugs embedded on them.
Weirdly, Google thinks I’m 25-34 when I visit from my laptop, and it thinks I’m 55-64 when I visit from my iPad, missing my actual age (46) on either side. I am guessing this is because the actual cookie they place (and track) is different on each device, regardless of the fact that I’m logged into the same Google account in both cases. I also am guessing that the way I use my iPad — I read longer pieces, often deep political essays and or literary analysis, which I pick up from longreads.org or Flipboard — is what’s making them think I’m older when I use it.
They correctly identify me as a male on both. I wonder if they know I’m gay? I’ll bet they do. I’m sure there’s a lot of information they’ve inferred about me based on my browsing habits which they don’t show on this page. I’d be interested in seeing it.
When I open that page, it shows no age information at all.
You have to click to “Ads on the Web” to see your demographic info.
Apparently I’m 18-24 years old, based on my interest in comics, indie music, and Sub Cultures & Niche Interests: SF&F.
Apparently, none of the political blogs or news sites I read count toward my demographics.
Do you see a set of links on the left, with the last one being “ads on the web”? If so, click that. I’ve found that it sometimes defaults me to the “ads on the web” page and it sometimes does not.
Nope, still no age info. I did the steps again and there’s categories, but nothing about who it thinks I am.
Where are you living these days? I know that there are some pretty strong privacy protections in most European countries … maybe Google isn’t allowed to guess who you are?