The end of the world is nigh, once again...

[ameerat42]

Well, it's been good chatting with you all.
From tomorrow (1 March 2012) Google will be using our search info for targeted advertising.

Look, I read this again in Sydney MX (for which I will be forever )

I know it's in their "New terms and cons" somewhere, but it was weeks ago and I didn't pay much heed.

And I thought it was the Mayan predictions I had to worry about. At least that gave us until about the end of the year .

OK, to stave of this calamity, does anybody recommend any other "reputable" search engine?

A(ufwiedersehe)m.

[Mark L]

It's futile to resist.
Someone else will get your info. It's mainly so they can target advertising at you =$$$$$ 4 them. Use adblockers, ignore ads that get through, turn of as much as you can in their settings, and use some of the good things they have.
They don't much care about me sittin' in my little corner anyway.

[nixworries]

you can change some of the settings to opt out

[ameerat42]

Ta, guys. I have ad blockers in place. That'll thwart the ads, but the surreptitious and [insert pejorative term here] collection of data still bug me.

Oh well! (Or is it Ow hell?)

But Rob, where?
Am.

[agb]

you can change some of the settings to opt out

What settings where?
Please.

[Mark L]

This may or may not be helpful ........ http://www.switched.com/2011/02/02/o...-targeted-ads/

[Ezookiel]

Personally, the way I see it is there are going to be ads whereever I go, so isn't it better that they be for products that interest me?
And data collection is everywhere, every purchase, credit card swipe, EFTPOS, the roads you travel on, phone calls to businesses, you name it, data is being collected. It's not something you can very well totally opt out of.
I'm pretty sure that most browsers have an "In Private" option, so you could always use that instead, but then it doesn't keep your login details for forums like this either, so you have to manually log in each time.
There are other search engines. You could always give Microsoft some more of your info by using Bing, or you could go Yahoo, or you could always revert to the old Alta Vista that used to be the engine of choice many moons ago - if it still exists.
Private browsing and maybe a play around with whatever settings Google allows you might work. There are probably more settings available if you "login" to Google, than just browse it, but then that also gives them info when you sign up.

[ricktas]

Spose it depends how you use the net. I never click ads from google, or facebook ads etc, so other than fairly boring stuff, they are not going to get much in the way of interesting information. I visit AP, facebook, ABC news, my bank and a couple of overseas new sites and not much more.

[ameerat42]

This may or may not be helpful ........ http://www.switched.com/2011/02/02/o...-targeted-ads/

Mark. Blowed if I could locate this fabled button. Searched and searched. Got sent here, there, back again.

[Ezookiel]

No button. But can't have looked too hard.
Part way down that page there's this section:

[hide][top]How do I opt out of interest-based advertising?

If you prefer not to receive interest-based advertising in web browsers, you can always click the “Opt out” button on the Ads Preferences Manager. When you are accessing the web through a web browser, Google also offers a number of options to permanently save your opt-out settings in your browser.

Following the link to Ads Preferences Manager has Opt Out in the left hand menu.

[ameerat42]

Probably right Ez., though it is not patently clear. I will effect the method forthwith after my Firefox reinstallation.

[ApolloLXII]

The best way to deal with targeted ads is to ignore them. I use Ad Blocker on Firefox and it works fine. At the rate that intrusive and targeted advertising is going, I can see the world evolving to a "Blade Runner" type future where airships will fly in the sky with huge screens and loudspeakers so there is absolutely NO WAY that you can ignore whatever the hell it is that they are flogging.