My smart speaker started playing ads for a thing I only said out loud once.

I was telling my wife about a specific brand of hiking boots, the kind with the red laces, in our kitchen last Tuesday. We never looked them up online or typed the name. Two days later, an ad for those exact boots played during a music stream on the device. It felt like a joke, but it wasn't. I checked the privacy settings and found the 'help improve services' option was on, which I guess means they listen to more than just the wake word. Has anyone else had a voice assistant serve an ad based on a private conversation?

3 comments

3 Comments

emery_craig2mo ago

Man, that's wild but honestly not surprising. I had a similar thing happen where I was complaining about my old lawnmower to a neighbor, just talking about the brand by name in my driveway. Next day, my feed was full of ads for that exact company's new models. It never came up in any search of mine. It made me feel like my own backyard wasn't private anymore. I turned off all those 'help improve' settings on everything after that. The whole thing just feels like a step too far.

tyler_fox411mo ago

Emery, the "my own backyard wasn't private" thing hit me hard too. It's not just about the microphone, it's the principle of it. I had a similar deal where I was talking to my brother about getting a new chainsaw, just casually bringing up Stihl, and then boom, Stihl ads everywhere. I hadn't searched for it or looked at their website or nothing. It makes you feel watched even when you're just living your life, you know? Turning off those settings is about the only thing that makes me feel a little better, but the whole thing still bugs me.

kelly.dylan2mo ago

Okay but the "my own backyard wasn't private" feeling is the part I don't get. It's a microphone you bought and put in your house. It's always listening for the wake word, that's how it works. The ad was probably a coincidence, or maybe your phone heard you and synced up with the speaker account. These things connect a lot of dots we don't see. Turning off the extra settings is smart, but it's not some secret spying. It's just how the tech functions.