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Original poster

Can my phone read my mind

123 replies

crochetmonkey74 · 14/09/2023 19:41

I know this sounds mad. But over the last few months, on approx 6 occasions I have been thinking about something. Sometimes quite an obscure thing or place. I notice that within an hour , an advert comes up on the phone for the very thing. I haven't typed it on anywhere or searched anything . What is happening? Has it been just a coincidence every time?

OP posts:
WinterDeWinter · 14/09/2023 23:34

Wanderingllama · 14/09/2023 19:52

Facebook uae to do this to me until I turned microphone off.
It's listening

Can you explain for an idiot how you did this?

gwenneh · 14/09/2023 23:37

crochetmonkey74 · 14/09/2023 19:41

I know this sounds mad. But over the last few months, on approx 6 occasions I have been thinking about something. Sometimes quite an obscure thing or place. I notice that within an hour , an advert comes up on the phone for the very thing. I haven't typed it on anywhere or searched anything . What is happening? Has it been just a coincidence every time?

I work in marketing and deal with corporate level "big data" on a daily basis.

Much of it is based on your location. Let's say you're in the supermarket. You walked by a shelf full of products, and your phone location data confirms this. That's cross-referenced with all of your available data: age, income bracket, sex, marital status, family size, postcode, purchasing history. It's also cross referenced with the available data on people you spend time near on a regular basis - friends, partners, spouse, children, colleagues. After a while it starts to triangulate all of this (plus any browsing data, etc.) into a buyer persona -- so when you walk by that shelf full of things, the device's location data confirms this, then the ad service shuffles through the advertisers and serves you the ad you're most likely to click on based on all of that information.

That's how it feels like you're thinking about a product and then suddenly it appears on your phone. Chances are you walked by it at some point in time and the ad service has decided now is the optimal time to serve you that ad to make it most likely that you'll click - and they'll get paid.

I've had a few of these recently - yesterday, it was a very particular brand of sausage that I KNOW I haven't thought about and that is, in fact, produced in another country and very hard to obtain.

FairyPolka · 14/09/2023 23:40

I agree with this. I think this is what’s happening. It’s companies subliminally telling us what we need/want before we know that we need/want it. It’s so subtle that we aren’t aware that we’ve noticed it. And definitely location tracking. I think that’s what’s happening… there must be an expert on MN who can confirm and explain this. It’s is fascinating.

LadyLolaRuben · 14/09/2023 23:43

Yes I'm so glad you posted this. I've been saying the same as you for 2 years. Things I have thought about but definitely never got around to talking to someone about have appeared as adverts on my phone. It scary

whynotwhatknot · 14/09/2023 23:58

someone was talking to me about some mould spray

it came up on my fb later that day

BeverlyBrook · 15/09/2023 02:31

People this is the power of AI. It knows you better than you know yourself.
Can be useful. Can be terrifying.

Facebook Google maps do literally track where you go and possibly who you are near. Facebook is absolutely mad, the whole thing is designed to serve you up ads and keep you focused on the app.

WeWereInParis · 15/09/2023 06:20

Much of it is based on your location. Let's say you're in the supermarket. You walked by a shelf full of products, and your phone location data confirms this.

How does the location data know which shelf you're standing in front of? I understand it knows where you are, but how does it know that that's the cereal aisle (or whatever)?

FloorWipes · 15/09/2023 07:07

gwenneh · 14/09/2023 23:37

I work in marketing and deal with corporate level "big data" on a daily basis.

Much of it is based on your location. Let's say you're in the supermarket. You walked by a shelf full of products, and your phone location data confirms this. That's cross-referenced with all of your available data: age, income bracket, sex, marital status, family size, postcode, purchasing history. It's also cross referenced with the available data on people you spend time near on a regular basis - friends, partners, spouse, children, colleagues. After a while it starts to triangulate all of this (plus any browsing data, etc.) into a buyer persona -- so when you walk by that shelf full of things, the device's location data confirms this, then the ad service shuffles through the advertisers and serves you the ad you're most likely to click on based on all of that information.

That's how it feels like you're thinking about a product and then suddenly it appears on your phone. Chances are you walked by it at some point in time and the ad service has decided now is the optimal time to serve you that ad to make it most likely that you'll click - and they'll get paid.

I've had a few of these recently - yesterday, it was a very particular brand of sausage that I KNOW I haven't thought about and that is, in fact, produced in another country and very hard to obtain.

Show quote history

I have so many questions.

How do companies keep track of product locations on shelves? Things move around such a lot. Or perhaps it’s just a few brands paying for key positions in the shop that are tracked.

In this scenario, what company is holding and cross referencing all this data? Facebook? Nectar card? Google?

It doesn’t really happen to me. I use Google maps but not really any social media platforms. I originally deleted Facebook about a decade ago after a seminar on marketing where someone showed us a platform where they could track their brand mentions (or another key topic) across platforms from Facebook to radio stations. There was something so deeply creepy about how easy it was to monitor that and I was so shocked at the existence of that capability that I deleted Facebook right then. And at the same time I had a friend whose job was developing software that monitored where your mouse hovered over adverts. Creep AF.

Wanderingllama · 15/09/2023 07:10

How do companies keep track of product locations on shelves? Things move around such a lot. Or perhaps it’s just a few brands paying for key positions in the shop that are tracked.

Brands pay. You get printed out "map" of where things go when stocking. You can sometimes see them sticked to the shelves when they are prepping offers etc. They don't always correspond with actual size of the shelf so can be a pita😂

EasternStandard · 15/09/2023 07:14

I’ve had this and with no searches

Reading pp the one that stuck in my mind, I looked at a magnum Icecream, no purchase, words or searches and it came up

So the triangulation thing makes sense as I was in a corner store

ThroughTheForestUpTheHill · 15/09/2023 07:15

Watch The Social Dilemma documentary on Netflix, it explains a lot.

saymynamesaymy · 15/09/2023 07:16

Not really the same but if I'm talking to a friend on WhatsApp I notice my phone then shares pictures in memories of that person or suggests I call them etc

hastalavista · 15/09/2023 07:22

I think its read my mind a few times. I told my husband who laughed and said no. I know it cant be true but I do think maybe???????
The thing I thought of I didnt Google.

FloorWipes · 15/09/2023 07:31

Right now I am constantly being served ads about user testing, which start with “reading minds is hard” 🤣

sawnotseen · 15/09/2023 07:37

I was reading a thread on here earlier this morning where a woman was enquiring about dental work (vaneers, composite work etc). Just been on FB and my feed is full of cosmetic dentists apps!

inappropriateraspberry · 15/09/2023 07:45

Your phone is listening so if you talked about sod item, it will trigger ads.
Otherwise you're just noticing the ads because it in the forefront of your mind. Like when I get a new car, I then see that car everywhere! Or you're pregnant and notice more pregnant women around you.

Oldsu · 15/09/2023 07:48

The other day I was talking to a friend about a video I saw ages ago where a dog was trying to get a cat out of his dog bed, I said I THOUGHT it was a French bulldog, next day a video popped up on my FB page it was a French bulldog trying to get a cat out of his dog bed

GreenSeaGlass · 15/09/2023 09:16

Derren Brown used to have TV shows where he influenced peoples decisions through subliminal messages and advertisements- he would plan the outcome by planting pictures, using phrases and scenes in the person’s usual daily routine to guide their decisions.

This is what companies are doing to us - using our data to target adverts on social media and influence our decisions. It’s terrifying really.

Facebook have admitted using newsfeed to change users emotions. We are fairly suggestible and we are being manipulated by this technology.

Our phones aren’t reading our minds - they are planting the thoughts there in the first place.

Calistano · 15/09/2023 09:27

I was idly wondering how you go about changing your name once, next ad I saw online was for a name changing service Hmm really freaked me out

Original poster
crochetmonkey74 · 15/09/2023 10:29

I don't have Facebook but do have Instagram which is the same I suppose. I don't have any real people on there (ie friends I know in real life ) only famous people or artists etc
The mapping of shops is interesting though

OP posts:
Sauvblanctime · 15/09/2023 10:56

Yessss! I’ve had this loads. When I’m talking out loud and when I’m thinking it!

PurpleWisteria1 · 15/09/2023 11:02

It’s just confirmation bias I’m afraid. Nothing exciting or spooky.
Your mind has thought of something that morning- it’s still in your mind that you have thought about it- in your short term memory. Then what you see on the screen pops out at you- the stuff on the screen would have always been there but we see 1000’s of images and sounds a day - most of which gets filed under ‘not needed so ignore’
The brain picks up on ‘maybe needed’ as you have recently had that thought.
Have you never had for example someone pass away from a heart attack and now every bloody programme on tv is talking about heart attacks, tv dramas with heart attacks, adverts, films etc. you can’t get away. It’s happened to me many times in various situations.

Oliotya · 15/09/2023 11:02

It's just confirmation bias. You only notice the things you're thinking about.
Or you saw it earlier, and didn't notice or forgot. The algorithms are very clever and our subconscious is exposed to much more than we actively acknowledge.

gwenneh · 15/09/2023 13:24

The mapping of shops, and shop layout schematics/shelf place management, play an enormous role in targeted marketing. To use a supermarket as an example again, they'll have an external analytics company for category management, and that company measures how fast an item sells when placed in a particular space in the shop. The supermarket builds up a picture of that data over time so as operations, you quickly start to know which are the areas of the store that sell specific products the best - you learn that shampoo sells best in particular section of aisle 2, and that moving the broad beans caused a drop in sales, that sort of thing. Those little facts over time build up a "big data' picture of how the retailer functions and allows the retailer to develop very specific, very detailed ordering algorithms for every product in every shop. It adds an enormous amount of automation to the ordering process, which decreases the time and expense for the retailer.

Then with that picture a few things can happen:
-the retailer can provide that store schematic data to ad companies, and that data acts as another triangulation point for ads. A successful ad served is a successful sale for the retailer so they have a vested interest.
-when negotiating product agreements with suppliers, the retailers can offer premium shelf space as a part of the deal, sometimes with the supplier paying outright to be placed in that #1 position - it's another ad being served to you.

Also posters have brought up confirmation bias and yes, this also plays a role. An average person is exposed to between 5,000 and 10,000 ads per day - you're remembering only a very small, relevant fraction of them. Ad platforms serving you ads take this into account, as do marketing strategists planning those ads.

All this is to say that in terms of advertising, "you" as an individual aren't being tracked but the "you" that is a part of a larger buyer persona built up out of the bits and pieces of shared data around you definitely is. It's difficult to avoid it short of becoming a hermit.

Calistano · 15/09/2023 13:55

Tbh people just think of an explanation that sounds about right and accepts it. Doesn't mean it's true, that's the case for most things. People are very resistant to anything that goes against their internal logic.

Most people are "well actually" people who will regurgitate things they have vaguely heard in mainstream media without giving a single neuron to original thought. They will demand sources, which if you do provide, they will malign because they are not "mainstream". Nobody demands sources from the BBC or papers. They accept everything they spout as truth.