Have you ever wondered why the things you search for (or even talk about) pop up in ads on the internet? It's not just you, everyone has this happen. Why? Surveillance-Based Advertising.
If you're not familiar with that term, at its basic form Surveillance-Based Advertising is where the advertisers gather as much information about you or your device usage & activity as they can, and then use that to establish what products you're most likely to want, and advertise them in a way that you're most likely to respond to. How do I know this is true? Boobs. Boobs is how I know. Bet you weren't expecting that, and quite frankly, neither was I. But before you run for the hills, away from any further anatomy references, allow me to explain.
I was at the office, working away, minding my own business and innocently searching the internet for an answer to a problematic server issue, when suddenly all the ads on the sites had changed from standard issue IT related ads to large slabs of skin.
Alright, who's been Googling boobs?
A sheepish manager sloooowly turned around and raised her hand. She'd been writing a quote for a plastic surgeon, and had been checking similar sites.
Anecdotes aside, how do they do it? Simple. We just give them the information.
Take Facebook for example: we fill out a profile when we sign up, some of us allow the phone apps to scan our contacts to add friends because it's easier, post our images and thoughts, and re-share things that resonate with us. People also put the "Facebook Pixel" on their websites to measure conversions, and others embed Facebook comments.
Look at Google & Amazon: we tell them the things we're looking for, use voice commands through our phones, or devices we've placed in our houses hosting Alexa or The Google Assistant. Of course, Google has more fingers in more pies than that: Gmail, Google Drive, Chrome, Google Analytics, and Google DNS etc. You get the idea.
Have you ever wondered why companies let the public have certain services for free? Well, now you know. We're paying for it indirectly with our data.
(It's worth noting: Google states specifically that they do not use your email for ads. I'm merely highlighting what data we allow them to have or have access to.)
Have you ever wondered why the things you search for (or even talk about) pop up in ads on the internet? It's not just you, everyone has this happen. Why? Surveillance-Based Advertising.
If you're not familiar with that term, at its basic form Surveillance-Based Advertising is where the advertisers gather as much information about you or your device usage & activity as they can, and then use that to establish what products you're most likely to want, and advertise them in a way that you're most likely to respond to. How do I know this is true? Boobs. Boobs is how I know. Bet you weren't expecting that, and quite frankly, neither was I. But before you run for the hills, away from any further anatomy references, allow me to explain.
I was at the office, working away, minding my own business and innocently searching the internet for an answer to a problematic server issue, when suddenly all the ads on the sites had changed from standard issue IT related ads to large slabs of skin.
Alright, who's been Googling boobs?
A sheepish manager sloooowly turned around and raised her hand. She'd been writing a quote for a plastic surgeon, and had been checking similar sites.
Anecdotes aside, how do they do it? Simple. We just give them the information.
Take Facebook for example: we fill out a profile when we sign up, some of us allow the phone apps to scan our contacts to add friends because it's easier, post our images and thoughts, and re-share things that resonate with us. People also put the "Facebook Pixel" on their websites to measure conversions, and others embed Facebook comments.
Look at Google & Amazon: we tell them the things we're looking for, use voice commands through our phones, or devices we've placed in our houses hosting Alexa or The Google Assistant. Of course, Google has more fingers in more pies than that: Gmail, Google Drive, Chrome, Google Analytics, and Google DNS etc. You get the idea.
Have you ever wondered why companies let the public have certain services for free? Well, now you know. We're paying for it indirectly with our data.
(It's worth noting: Google states specifically that they do not use your email for ads. I'm merely highlighting what data we allow them to have or have access to.)
But if everyone does this, can I escape it?
Back in 2021, I would have said no, it's not feasible to full escape this. Even if you're selective on who you share what data with, there's no guarantee that one of the companies you're avoiding won't buy one that you trust. For example, Instagram was purchased by Facebook, while WhatsApp and Nest were bought by Google.
However, the Europeans are moving in the right direction, having created laws along with hefty fines.
Just as they led the way with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), they're pushing against Surveillance-Based Advertising too.
In June of 2021, the Norwegian Consumer Council called for surveillance-based advertising to be banned. Jon von Tetzchner CEO of browser vendor Vivaldi (who is from that neck of the woods) wrote about this topic, stating:
For years, Big Tech has tried to speak for us. They tell anyone who will listen that we all want our data to be collected, so we can get "relevant ads". At the same time, they have told us that, without the right to collect and harness our data, they couldn't provide us with quality technology for free. Sadly, over time, they have managed to convince many people to accept this false bargain.
Now we find ourselves in 2026 and the story has progressed, but the EU didn't impose a blanket ban. Their actual regulatory response was the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and Digital Services Act (DSA) which are both now in force.
The DSA specifically prohibits targeted ads based on sensitive data and bans profiling-based advertising to minors, and requires ads to be clearly labelled with who's placing them and why you're seeing them.
Apple and Meta were both fined (€500 million & €200 million respectively) in April 2025 for DMA breaches. Meta even needed to restructure its ad model. (Compliance monitoring started in 2026.)
Back in 2021 Wired published an article about Chrome detailing the data that it can collect: your location, search and browsing history, user identifiers and product interaction (As well as one urging people to ditch Chrome). This isn't necessarily unique in the browser market place, but becomes surveillance when the data is linked to all harvested data to devices and individuals (story by Forbes).
On that note, nothing much has changed since March 2021, when Google's search competitor DuckDuckGo posted this rather eye opening tweet on X/Twitter...
After months of stalling, Google finally revealed how much personal data they collect in Chrome and the Google app. No wonder they wanted to hide it. Spying on users has nothing to do with building a great web browser or search engine. We would know (our app is both in one).
(Side note, DuckDuckGo produce a rival chrome-based browser. Their published aim is to stop Google from using your browser to collect and auction off your personal data.)
Does this still go on in 2026?
Oh yeah. It's even increased. While it's more regulated now, we end users are still the product that big tech uses to sell to and to sell to others.
So why do all this? Because it works. Any sales person will say that you need to know your target audience, and Surveillance-Based Advertising is just that - ramped up to billions of people.
Lastly, while this post doesn't really touch on audio aware devices, I'm reminded of this old meme...
(Blog initially written in 2021 - updated and republished in 2026)
