# How do these advertisers know where I am? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 23, 2007, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-these-advertisers-know-where-i-am/401300 "2007-04-23T12:50:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-these-advertisers-know-where-i-am/401300/1 "2007-04-23T12:50:14Z")
We’ve all seen the ubiquitous “hot single girls in your area are just dying to meet a no-marks like YOU!!” adverts cluttering up otherwise useful sites. But in the past few months they seem to have become, if not cleverer exactly, a couple of degrees less dumb. You still get the same generic photographs of the sort of hot single girls who are of course queuing up to meet internet addicts, only nowadays they are captioned “Claire, 21, Wokingham” or “Alison, 19, Aldershot” etc, with the names of towns within 10 miles of my home. How do they do that, then? ---
**Author:** ![Olive\_The\_Other\_Reindeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Olive\_The\_Other\_Reindeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olive_The_Other_Reindeer)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-these-advertisers-know-where-i-am/401300/2 "2007-04-23T12:52:04Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] We’ve all seen the ubiquitous “hot single girls in your area are just dying to meet a no-marks like YOU!!” adverts cluttering up otherwise useful sites. But in the past few months they seem to have become, if not cleverer exactly, a couple of degrees less dumb. You still get the same generic photographs of the sort of hot single girls who are of course queuing up to meet internet addicts, only nowadays they are captioned “Claire, 21, Wokingham” or “Alison, 19, Aldershot” etc, with the names of towns within 10 miles of my home. How do they do that, then? [/QUOTE] Probably from your IP address. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-these-advertisers-know-where-i-am/401300/3 "2007-04-23T12:57:53Z")
[QUOTE=Olive, The Other Reindeer] Probably from your IP address. [/QUOTE] Well I had thought of that, but would my IP address really be THAT specific? I use a UK-wide cable broadband provider, and it seems like I get a different IP address each time I shut down the cable modem. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-these-advertisers-know-where-i-am/401300/4 "2007-04-23T13:05:29Z")
The IP address is how they do it. It doesn’t always work and it is common for it to be off by a few miles but it generally does fine which is good enough for advertisers. Click on this site to see for yourself: > **[What Is My IP Address? Find Your IP, Whois And More On IP-Adress.com](https://www.ip-adress.com/)** > > Find out what your IP address is or use free website tools like our Whois lookup, proxy checker, and services to trace or verify an email. ---
**Author:** ![abel29a](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@abel29a](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abel29a)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-these-advertisers-know-where-i-am/401300/5 "2007-04-23T13:09:50Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] Well I had thought of that, but would my IP address really be THAT specific? I use a UK-wide cable broadband provider, and it seems like I get a different IP address each time I shut down the cable modem. [/QUOTE] Yeah but the first numbers stay within a certain range. First byte gives your country - second is usually ISP spesific (each ISP has a limited range) the third and fourth bytes are for more spesific locations. Your ISP has a pool of IP adresses assigned to each area of the country, and therefore it is possible to make a fairly accurat guess as to your location most of the time. Have a look at [http://www.ip-adress.com/](http://www.ip-adress.com/) to see what location your current IP is pointing at. (Mine is off by about 15 KM at the moment) EDIT: Oh Shagnasty beat me to the punch 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-these-advertisers-know-where-i-am/401300/6 "2007-04-23T13:33:49Z")
[QUOTE=abel29a] Have a look at [http://www.ip-adress.com/](http://www.ip-adress.com/) to see what location your current IP is pointing at. (Mine is off by about 15 KM at the moment) [/QUOTE] Mine points to a spot just north of Wichita, Kansas… but I’m in New York. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-these-advertisers-know-where-i-am/401300/7 "2007-04-23T14:00:04Z")
[QUOTE=Shagnasty] Click on this site to see for yourself: [http://www.ip-adress.com/](http://www.ip-adress.com/) [/QUOTE] Apparently I’m in Wales. _checks out window_ Nope. ---
**Author:** ![MrFloppy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@MrFloppy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrFloppy)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-these-advertisers-know-where-i-am/401300/8 "2007-04-23T15:42:24Z")
Mine points to Wichita Kansas also. Hmm…I’m in Maryland. What’s going on in Wichita? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-these-advertisers-know-where-i-am/401300/9 "2007-04-23T16:48:57Z")
[QUOTE=MrFloppy] Mine points to Wichita Kansas also. Hmm…I’m in Maryland. What’s going on in Wichita? 🙂 [/QUOTE] Me, three! Apparently, while I thought I was in suburban Atlanta, GA, we really ARE in Kansas, Toto. Very Matrixy, don’t you think? ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-these-advertisers-know-where-i-am/401300/10 "2007-04-23T17:11:10Z")
[QUOTE=Doctor Jackson] Me, three! Apparently, while I thought I was in suburban Atlanta, GA, we really ARE in Kansas, Toto. [/QUOTE] I’d bet my lunch money you’ve all got the same ISP, with a main connection in Kansas. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-these-advertisers-know-where-i-am/401300/11 "2007-04-23T17:17:45Z")
I have a country house that is not far from a very small town. When I fire up the computer up there I get the pictures of the hot babes showing their stuff. The name of the “city” underneath the name is the small town I refered to. I’m thinking, “There must be a huge whorehouse in this town that I’m not aware of. I have never seen this many hot babes around this place, yet if they are there, they’ve ALL decided to pose nude and beg for action. Amazing!” ---
**Author:** ![milquetoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@milquetoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milquetoast)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-these-advertisers-know-where-i-am/401300/12 "2007-04-23T18:25:00Z")
[QUOTE=Spartydog] I have a country house that is not far from a very small town. When I fire up the computer up there I get the pictures of the hot babes showing their stuff. The name of the “city” underneath the name is the small town I refered to. I’m thinking, “There must be a huge whorehouse in this town that I’m not aware of. I have never seen this many hot babes around this place, yet if they are there, they’ve ALL decided to pose nude and beg for action. Amazing!” [/QUOTE] Can I borrow your country house for the weekend? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![boygenius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c68b51/32.png) [@boygenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boygenius)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-these-advertisers-know-where-i-am/401300/13 "2007-04-23T18:29:31Z")
Another possibility is that you typed in the name of your town on some web site and a cookie was stored with this information in such a way that the singles sites can access it. Try clearing all cookies from your web browser and seeing what happens. ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-these-advertisers-know-where-i-am/401300/14 "2007-04-23T21:12:37Z")
[QUOTE=Nanoda] I’d bet my lunch money you’ve all got the same ISP, with a main connection in Kansas. [/QUOTE] Maybe. I’m using Time Warner/Road Runner. But I have used other IP locating tools that point to a location with a few miles of my house. Like [Proxify](http://proxify.com/whoami/) or the locate me function on Microsoft’s [live.com](http://maps.live.com). Although, I just tried I few other online tools that I founf through google, and a few of them returned the right IP address but the wrong physical location. ---
**Author:** ![Baffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dec6dc/32.png) [@Baffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baffle)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-these-advertisers-know-where-i-am/401300/15 "2007-04-23T21:36:49Z")
The program got the city right but is evidently showing the central server as inside of a cemetary. That’s creepy. ---
**Author:** ![Iggins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Iggins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggins)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-these-advertisers-know-where-i-am/401300/16 "2007-04-23T21:47:05Z")
My Verizon FiOS service at home used to give me New York targeted ads. Now it’s for my area (Beaverton, OR). Sometimes it switches back, though it hasn’t done so in a while, so I suspect cookies are also involved. So, it’s the IP, maybe cookies, and the ceiling cat watching you. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-these-advertisers-know-where-i-am/401300/17 "2007-04-23T22:04:17Z")
[QUOTE=Baffle] The program got the city right but is evidently showing the central server as inside of a cemetary. That’s creepy. [/QUOTE] You’re just living in a modern [Twilight Zone episode](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Call_(The_Twilight_Zone)) and didn’t know it. I wouldn’t worry too much. ---
**Author:** ![Scruloose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@Scruloose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruloose)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-these-advertisers-know-where-i-am/401300/18 "2007-04-23T22:05:06Z")
[QUOTE=abel29a] Have a look at [http://www.ip-adress.com/](http://www.ip-adress.com/) to see what location your current IP is pointing at. (Mine is off by about 15 KM at the moment) [/QUOTE] According to that site, I’m in Plano, Texas. Missed it by _that_ much. (and by _that_ much, I mean 787.25 miles) ---
**Author:** ![galt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@galt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galt)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-these-advertisers-know-where-i-am/401300/19 "2007-04-24T05:27:15Z")
[QUOTE=abel29a] Yeah but the first numbers stay within a certain range. First byte gives your country - second is usually ISP spesific (each ISP has a limited range) the third and fourth bytes are for more spesific locations. [/QUOTE] As long as we’re fighting some ignorance here… no, this is not how it works. The divisions are much more arbitrary than that. For example, here are about 50 instances where the first byte indicates a particular large corporation or other organization: [List of assigned /8 IPv4 address blocks - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_assigned_/8_IP_address_blocks). Linked articles there discuss how the space is divided. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Hildo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@Johnny\_Hildo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Hildo)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-these-advertisers-know-where-i-am/401300/20 "2007-04-24T08:05:26Z")
[QUOTE=anson2995] Mine points to a spot just north of Wichita, Kansas… but I’m in New York. [/QUOTE] This happens to me too, on occasion. Most of the time the girl ads says simple “YOUR TOWN.” But every once in a while they say these dames are from Bumblefuck, Kansas. And I’m in Minnesota. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-these-advertisers-know-where-i-am/401300.md?page=2)