How can you keep your presents a secret....

[Kev Williams]

.....when every website (sometimes this one included!) puts up an ad for the item you just searched out and bought!?

About an hour ago I was asking the wife to come into the office to watch a video I'd seen on the news earlier in the morning, and there on top was an ad for the item I'd bought for the wife 2 weeks ago! I had to stop her before she got to the computer! Not sure she'd put 2 & 2 together, but this item (pair of items actually) is something that's NEVER "normally" advertised, it was ONLY on MY computer because I'd searched for it!

And then then just a few minutes ago I went to Amazon, and there in full color for all to see was EVERYTHING I'd bought in the past month! Which means if the wife ever logs onto Amazon....

And Walmart.com does the same thing... So much for my love of buying things online! Okay for most of the year, but it's pretty annoying having to ask the wife to stay off the computer! PLUS, am I going to find her gifts to me?

I hate having to spend time working on privacy settings, mostly because getting them to actually work can be reeeeeaally frustrating...

[Jim Koepke]

I just installed ad blocker. It seem to have removed al lot of the ads for items that I have recently searched or bought.

As far as the rest of it goes, maybe you need separate browsers or a way to get rid of the cookies that track your purchases.

I think others get around this by shopping on the computers where they work.

jtk

[Matt Schrum]

Also, in Amazon you can log in and clear your browsing history within Amazon (not the one for your browser, although that may help too). That may help, but either way, good luck!

We use Chrome for our internet browser and you can have 2 (or more) separate Chrome internet accounts. That means that not only are my bookmarks from work and home synced (and her's are also synced separate of mine), but she never sees my targeted ads and I never see hers. Again, not fool proof, but it helps. The problem is when she forgets to use hers and browses for shoes in my Chrome. I end up with ads for shoes everywhere for the next month.

[Myk Rian]

Also, in Amazon you can log in and clear your browsing history within Amazon

^^^^This^^^^

[Rich Riddle]

Take after the Grinch, don't buy presents. Or shop in person and pay cash.

[Dave Lehnert]

One thing I have noticed this year shopping on line.
I can go to a major retailer web site to shop and look around. Not log in or anything. Just looking. I will receive an e-mail later on my yahoo account advertising the item I was looking at from the same store.

[Dan Hintz]

Not Amazon specific, but also consider using private windows (in Firefox, called something else in Chrome, etc.). Unless you're logged into Amazon, there's no history for it to place ads to.

[Kev Williams]

Yeah, I should probably just use Firefox's 'private window', that would probably help...

[Brian Elfert]

If it is really that big a concern you could have separate logins to the computer. You would just need to be sure to logout when done.

[Bert Kemp]

Yea then you get accused of hiding stuff

If it is really that big a concern you could have separate logins to the computer. You would just need to be sure to logout when done.

[Kev Williams]

AGGHHH!!! Just happened again---

My wife has an Iphone 5, but not sure of the model. Thought I'd get an accessory or two for it. So I go online to access her Cricket account so I can figure out what phone she has.

Only Cricket was recently bought out by someone else, don't remember who, but it means her old account now doesn't exist. Only I don't know this, and hit 'forgot password'...

>> enter your phone number <<...

I did, and was expecting >> enter your email address << --

Instead I got "we just sent a temporary password to your phone" -- which my wife was reading when I ran upstairs hoping to snag it in time...

there went THAT surprise...

[Bruce Wrenn]

Ain't technology wonderful. When I search for hotel rates, I use "private window" option on Firefox. No pop up ads for months to follow. Last time I didn't us "private window", I got ads for six months after trip.

[Bill Orbine]

Focus on making her think what she's gonna get and give her something else. Hope you survive Christmas morning!

[Don Morris]

I got my neighbor to buy it so she wouldn't see the receipt nor get the mailing from Amazon. But in this case it came from India. She knows if it's from India it's got to be Assam Tea, her favorite.

[Jim Becker]

That's really simple and never a problem in this house...everyone has their own computer.