This article is taken from Wired and the link to the full article is at the end. I wanted to post this here because it goes to show that Google “not being evil” and all is tracking basically everything you do so that it can better feed you ads, because without ads Google wouldn’t be what it is today. So here’s the article…
Google has announced a new feature for its AdSense Advertising network — Interest-Based Advertising. Interest-Based Advertising, often known by its more Orwellian moniker, “behavior targeting,” gives advertisers a way to deliver ads to users who have shown interest in related items.
In short, Google plans to track your online moves and build a collection of “interests” based on which websites you visit. For example, if you start your day on the Major League Baseball homepage everyday, Google will know that you’re more likely to respond to ads for baseball paraphernalia.
Along similar lines are the “previous interaction” ads that will allow Google to show ads based on demonstrated behaviors. For example, if you put a shiny new Nikon D700 in your shopping cart, but never actually purchase it, Google will offer advertisers a way to place ads for the D700. Think of it as a way of constantly reminding you of the things you’re lusting after.
Creeped out yet? Well, on the plus side Google is handling the rather sensitive issues surrounding behavior tracking with a reasonable set of privacy controls. The first is that Google is allowing users to control their interest profiles, something many other similar ad systems don’t allow.
In a perfect world Google’s new ad system would be opt-in. Unfortunately in our world it’s opt-out, perhaps not ideal, but at least you can turn it off.
Don’t expect it to be easy to opt out though. Google is using a cookie to turn off the tracking, which means you’ll need to opt out on each and every PC you use and every browser you use on those PCs. Worse, should you ever delete Google’s opt-out cookie, you’ll need to opt out again (a plug-in exists that enables you to permanently opt out, but it only supports Firefox and IE).
Read the entire article over at wired.