How to Disable Focused Advertising

Focused advertising is, to some, a real problem.  Some people don’t like to have advertising companies knowing about their particular browsing habits. I happen to be one of those people. I despise Bankers, Insurance companies, and Politicians– not necessarily in that order.

They all have one thing in common–  greed. Oh, it isn’t the love of money, but the love of power that money brings. I hate them all. Money is not the root of all evil, but Greed is.

That said, I have found a way to disable some of the focused advertising that gives them even more power. That, after all, is what they are ultimately after.

Let’s weaken them just a tad.

Cookies

There are a few things I should mention before we travel down this road:

• Cookies (good): They are little tidbits poked into your browser history to let sites you have visited know that you have been there before. Most of these cookies are benign and very helpful. Helpful in the way of not having to sign in to web sites you have previously visited. Also, they won’t nag you to once again fill in a bunch of information you have already punched in. It’s a memory sort of thing.
• Cookies (bad): They can also be used by the bad guys to remember things you don’t want them to remember. Such as what types of places you visit on the Internet. Facebook does that, along with countless other sites you may visit along the way.

If you happen to be one of those people that don’t like being tracked by “cookies”, then this article is for you. If you don’t mind, then you may happily ignore this as being one more of those things you don’t care about. Remove it from your list of things to do. and go about your business..

Let’s move on, shall we?

Opt Out Options

The first thing I need to make very clear to everyone is that this whole method depends on cookies. Even the opt-out method depends on them. If you are the type of person who deletes cookies from your system on a regular schedule, then it is important that you realize that this action will also negate any opt-out choices you have made here. You will have to do it all over again to put them back into effect. I hope you understand this in the fullest sense.

Here Is How You Do It

Go to this web site: http://www.aboutads.info/choices/

Note:

• You will have to disable any ad-blocking software and/or add-ons for that purpose
• If you happen to have the “HTTPS Everywhere” add-on enabled, you will have to disable it as well
• If you have cookies disabled, you will have to re-enable them for this to work. It is only temporary…

Once you have done the above, you should see this page:

The boxed in area brings up some important points about cookies. Read them and make proper decisions based on educated choices. ‘Nuff said.

Simply click the items you would like disabled and OK your way out of it.

Note: This is very important and I’ll repeat myself: If you delete the set cookies, then your efforts will be nullified. Plain and simple. Keep that in mind if you run into problems.

Facebook

In an effort to be thorough, I have decided to include a Facebook problem. Facebook, with all its benefits to the family-oriented, has a slew of privacy-related delicacies. Facebook has a hidden page which allows or disallows some of these settings. Here’s the Facebook link to this page. Read it carefully: https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=ads

Use the links within to navigate to places where you can disallow some focused-advertizing tracking.

It should be obvious that a Facebook account is required to access this page. Doh…

Conclusions

I personally don’t like strangers following me about. It isn’t something I feel comfortable with. Given that I may be a bit paranoid doesn’t mean that they’re not out to get me. Take it for what it’s worth.

The only reason I would ever use Facebook, or any other socal networking solution,  is because I would like to further my position in the Internet world. I have a web site, after all. It it weren’t for that, I’d never participate in one of those so-called social networks.. Just my opinion. People ain’t my favorite animal.

“If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man.” ~ Mark Twain

Richard

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