From: lew.pitcher@digitalfreehold.ca   
      
   On Thursday October 6 2016 15:17, in   
   comp.protocols.tcp-ip, "bit-naughty@hotmail.com"    
   wrote:   
      
   > OK, so I went to a shopping site, and was browsing a particular item. The   
   > next time I go to my mail site to check my email, it's showing me banner ads   
   > not just from that shopping site, but *the actual items I was looking at* -   
   > what the HELL is going on here?   
      
   Lemme guess... you use a web-mail provider like Google, Yahoo or Microsoft.   
   AmIright?   
      
   > This couldn't happen unless Mr. shopping was   
   > *sharing info* with Google Ads or whatever bloody ad network it was on my   
   > mail site....??!!   
      
   More likely "shopping site" purchases ad space from ad network that your "mail   
   site" uses.   
      
   > How does this work?   
      
   "Shopping site" seeds your browser with an ad network cookie specific to   
   the "shopping site". Shopping site records cookie value and items browsed to   
   it's own database.   
      
   Other web sites also provide ad network with iframe access to your web   
   browser. Your "mail site" looks to be one of them.   
      
   Your web browser requests a page from the "mail site", passing along all   
   cookies eligible for that site. This includes the "shopping site" cookie for   
   the ad network.   
      
   Ad network passes cookie info to "shopping site", which feeds back ads based   
   on the cookie values. Just happens that the "shopping site" has a database of   
   cookies and products, so you get back ads for the products you looked at.   
      
   >And how come no one's done anything about it?   
      
   That's what ad blocker browser plugins are for.   
      
   >Surely this HAS to be illegal??!!!   
      
   Not at all. It is a straight business deal between "Ad network site" and   
   both "Shopping site" and "Webmail site". You get a "free" service from   
   webmail site, paid for by "Ad network site". "Ad network site" gets money   
   from "Shopping site" to relentlessly remind you of the things you looked at.   
      
   --   
   Lew Pitcher   
   "In Skills, We Trust"   
   PGP public key available upon request   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)