spanish goblygook ??????

[flowerweaver]

The online ads are personalized to your buying habits and online searches. For instance, I've been shopping online for area rugs and that's what I'm seeing here. However, one day on one of the sites (I'm not sure if it was this one) my ads were in Spanish, too. Which was a little disconcerting since I didn't search for anything relating to that, only I am learning Spanish using an online service, so advertisers can even find out things like that.

I use a program called HitmanPro to remove the ad spying software that invades your computer every time you web search, especially products. Because I live remotely I buy a lot of things online. Each time I run the software it removes about 50 of these, so it's almost a losing battle. And worse, sometimes I actually like something they show me--oooh, that's a lovely rug I didn't see before! I have a friend in advertising that changes her Facebook location to odd places all over the world just to see what gets marketed to her through ads.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Yes, this morning I looked at a premade chicken coop someone was considering buying on BYC. Now most of the pop-ups are about prefabbed chicken or rabbit coops. Rabbit weren't even mentioned! That kind of stuff happens all the time. I'm pretty good at just ignoring the ads.

 

[TheSeedObsesser]

One of the problems with Spanish is that there are different distinct dialects on the Spanish mainland itself plus different "Spanish-speaking" countries don't always speak the same Spanish either. I once tried to get around Spain using a South American Spanish dictionary. I never did figure out which South American country that dictionary was meant to represent. The Andalusians around Cadiz were very good-natured about it but I did give them a few chuckles with my attempts. It's not so much the spelling as the pronunciation, though they have their own regional colloquialisms that can make it even more fun. It did not take me long to learn how to order a beer no matter what part of Spain I was in.

That, and depending on where you go you can get some influence from native languages. Like Quechua around the Andes in South America. Kind of like how the names of many states and cities here in the U.S. stem from the natives.

 

[flowerweaver]

The oddest advert I've seen was for Muslim swimsuits. I had been reading the news about the Middle East online, but nothing else. I had never considered such a thing might exist, let alone need to be advertised. There were no images, and I was really curious as to what one might look like in a culture where only the eyes of women are seen beneath solid black or blue drapes, but I did not click the link, lest I get bombarded with burka ads or find myself on some list somewhere.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I took the chance. Could not resist. Bare feet but with fairly tight full-length pants, topped with a long-sleeved top much like a trim almost to the knee dress. A head covering but most of the face was exposed. If you saw someone wearing it you'd recognize it as probably Muslim but while the skin is covered, it's not as modest as some people would expect. But that's just what is advertised.

My current pop-up is Pampers swaddlers. I have no idea where that came from.

 

[flowerweaver]

You are a brave one @Ridgerunner now let's see what is marketed next to you! Thank you though for the description. Were they just in black or blue? Patterns? I've been considering getting a surfer's one-piece swimsuit with sleeves because I burn easily (they are very wild looking), maybe I need one of those instead!

 

[Ridgerunner]

The top is not as long as I mentioned in most of them, more like a microminiskirt length. I misled you with my earlier description. The tops are not that long. Mostly black but a few blue ones. I even saw a white one though it was called blue. Many of them have splashes of bright colors on the top part.

My current pop-up is a Harvest Automation, wanting me to rent robots? I can't even imagine which of my searches brought that one on.

 

[flowerweaver]

LOL. I've gotten them for stiletto heels. Not very appropriate farm wear! Maybe they knew I was tired of using the step ladder to reach my highest shelf? That I need to aerate my lawn? My guess is when a company purchases an ad the sellers must guarantee so many views, and if there isn't enough data on appropriate targets, then it's just sent out as a wildcard.

 

[Nifty]

Thanks for the discussion!

Yup, the ads on here are through our partnership primarily with Google AdSense. They target ads based on a TON of variables... see tons of info here:
https://support.google.com/adsense/answer/9713?hl=en

Usually they do an ok job of targeting ads, but sometimes they mess up and sometimes some bad stuff slips through.

If you see ads that are inappropriate, please PM me / start a "conversation" and let me know.

To find and remove the ad we need to know as many details about the ad as possible. We work with many ad networks which makes it difficult to track down who is showing a specific ad.

If you see an inappropriate ad, here is what we need:

1. A screenshot of the ad on the site (how to do a screenshot)
2. The time & day(s) you saw the ad
3. The "click URL" of the ad. One way to get this is to hover-over the ad and right-click and copy the link URL.

(Note: for the ads that are inappropriate that slip through our filters, you probably won't want to click the ad. Hopefully you can still grab some info about the ad to make tracking it down easier)

Again, we are anxious to make sure these kinds of ads don't sneak through, so we need as much info as possible to remove them.

 

[so lucky]

By inappropriate, though, you are speaking of pornographic, right? Or....? I doubt if we could consider an ad for Muslim swimsuits or one in Spanish actually offensive.
Incidentally, one of the car dealerships in my area has started showing car ads on TV in Spanish, with Hispanic spokespeople. I am sure it is profitable for him, as we have quite a few hard working Hispanics in the area.