# Google Adds **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [February 18, 2006, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-adds/345125 "2006-02-18T22:02:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-adds/345125/1 "2006-02-18T22:02:33Z")
On more than one occassion I’ve checked the google adds on the bottom of the page after being directed there by some comment regarding the content. I’ve found that the adds I see bear no resemblance to what other posters claim to see. Are the google adds sensitive to the geographic location of posters? ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-adds/345125/2 "2006-02-18T22:12:52Z")
I think they’re just somewhat random. Google will create a list of ads that are relevant to the discussion, or at least that it thinks are relevant, and will display some of those. So they’ll change from person to person. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-adds/345125/3 "2006-02-18T22:30:11Z")
> [@](#): > > Google Adds It does? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-adds/345125/4 "2006-02-18T23:00:11Z")
But Yahoo! does factorials. ---
**Author:** ![6\_6\_6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e0b2c6/32.png) [@6\_6\_6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6_6_6)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-adds/345125/5 "2006-02-18T23:06:45Z")
> [@The Flying Dutchman](#): > > Are the google adds sensitive to the geographic location of posters? They seem to be. I often see lots of UK-specific stuff. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-adds/345125/6 "2006-02-18T23:22:11Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > It does? Yes. 🙂 [http://www.google.com/help/features.html#calculator](http://www.google.com/help/features.html#calculator) And factorials too. ---
**Author:** ![xbuckeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9e8a1a/32.png) [@xbuckeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xbuckeye)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-adds/345125/7 "2006-02-19T04:44:41Z")
I’ve seen ones that are specific to my state of residence. I have also seen different ads upon returning to a thread at a later time. My question is: If I click on the Google Ad, does that just encourage them? I have seen some that are just too tempting to avoid. Not that I have ever bought anything from them, but sometimes they are too interesting or bizarre to be ignored. ---
**Author:** ![indecisive1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/41988e/32.png) [@indecisive1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/indecisive1)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-adds/345125/8 "2006-02-19T10:58:29Z")
The company that places the ad chooses which keywords will display the ad. Several ads can be set-up to randomly rotate for the same keywords. When the ad is clicked, the company that placed the ad pays Google a pre-set amount, around $0.20 to $0.60 per click. The more you pay per click, the better position you get on the page. ---
**Author:** ![xbuckeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9e8a1a/32.png) [@xbuckeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xbuckeye)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-adds/345125/9 "2006-02-19T15:57:09Z")
So by clicking, I am making Google rich(er)? Can I make the SDMB richer? ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-adds/345125/10 "2006-02-19T16:09:41Z")
Yes and yes. 🙂 TubaDiva ---
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-adds/345125/11 "2006-02-19T17:47:00Z")
I have to add that the ads aren’t germane to this discussion at all. **Being Caribou**? I’ll probably click on that out of sheer curiosity. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-adds/345125/12 "2006-02-19T18:08:58Z")
As it happens, this thread right now has a Montana-specific ad, as I’m seeing it (I’ve also seen this before on other threads). Given that I doubt anyone would pay for a worldwide ad campaign if they’re trying to just target Montana, I strongly suspect that there’s at least some localization. The other three are about hunting, one of them in Alaska, but that might be triggered by **Hung Mung** ’s mention of the Being Caribou ad (which is one of the ones I’m seeing). Which just leaves the question of why **Hung** saw that one in the first place… ---
**Author:** ![Feydeau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df788c/32.png) [@Feydeau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feydeau)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-adds/345125/13 "2006-02-19T18:13:32Z")
**Chronos** , about the Montana ads, I would assume that they are being served to you because of your location listing which appears when you post (Bozeman MT) – or do you see Montana ads in threads you have not yet posted in? If the latter is the case, how goes Google know where you are? That’s a small bit of creepy, to me. ---
**Author:** ![MannyL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@MannyL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MannyL)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-adds/345125/14 "2006-02-19T19:16:12Z")
The ads I see now are for Bozeman Car Rentals Missoula Montana Motels and Kalispell Real Estate I’m in New Jersey ---
**Author:** ![Mbossa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@Mbossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mbossa)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-adds/345125/15 "2006-02-19T21:48:18Z")
Definitely localized. I often get two out of three ads specific to New Zealand. This includes threads to which I haven’t posted. It probably gets the location from the IP address of the computer doing the request. In this thread, I seem to be getting ads for Canadian Bear Hunting :dubious: :dubious: :dubious:. But this is an exception rather than the rule. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-adds/345125/16 "2006-02-19T22:18:04Z")
My four **ads** (not adds!) are all related to Bozeman, and I’m in San Diego. Given that I often get San Diego ads regardless of whether I’ve posted or not, and that I don’t get baseball ads in non-sporting threads (my location is a baseball reference), I’d say it doesn’t mine locations too hard and it cares a lot more about where you’re logging in from. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2006, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-adds/345125/17 "2006-02-20T09:53:30Z")
A lot are definitely keyed off the IP address - even on sites that use Google Ads where I don’t have any sort of log in at all, the ads will frequently be based off a combination of the pages’ contents and my location - if I’m visiting a web hosting site, it will show me ads for hosts in SA, or if it’s a food site, for gourmet shops in the area, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2006, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-adds/345125/18 "2006-02-20T14:08:13Z")
I’ve got bears, Canada, and the Being Caribou, and I live in the UK. ---
**Author:** ![Moe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moe/32/2972_2.png) [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2006, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-adds/345125/19 "2006-02-20T15:28:32Z")
All four google ads currently have “Montana” in their title for me. I’m in Queens, NY. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2006, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-adds/345125/20 "2006-02-20T18:55:09Z")
Hm, do all of you folks _normally_ get Montana ads? I’m thinking that I may, perhaps, have skewed the results with my previous post. Of course, now all the folks saying “I’m getting Montana ads too” are just reînforcing it. Poor confused Google, probably thinks we’re planning a hunting or skiing trip in this thread, now. Maybe we can get it out of my backyard, if we start talking about **fetus** ’ home of San Diego, or **MannyL** ’s New Jersey. And **fetus** , I wouldn’t expect it to pick up “baseball” from your location. Yes, it’s a baseball reference, but the only real indicator of that is “NL”, which could of course stand for many other things. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-adds/345125.md?page=2)