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Interesting ad on YouTube

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2020 3:10 am
by ex-khobar Andy
Watching some snooker (2020 Grand Prix) and I'm too lazy to sign in so I get the ads.

Just now they gave me an ad for a Thermo Finnegan 6000 Capillary High Pressure Ion Chromatograph. This is probably a $50,000 piece of kit (depending on which bells and whistles you want) and is definitely a limited market. Maybe they sell a couple of thousand worldwide annually.

I've procured several ion chromatographs (not this exact model) over the course of 50 years in the analytical chemistry game so although I'm retired, I was obviously once part of their very small target audience of potential buyers. And although I look at the scientific literature from time to time I can't recall the last time I looked at anything which needed an ion chromatograph.

Which all begs these questions. Was it purely luck that their ad and my interests coincided? Seems unlikely that they would scattershot ads that maybe 1 out of 100 viewers would even understand what it is. If I was targeted, how on earth did they come up with thinking that I might be a good bet? Yes if I had been googling stuff on chromatography, but I don't think I have been. Unless these guys have very long memories.

Re: Interesting ad on YouTube

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2020 8:32 pm
by TPFKA@W
I wonder if the cookies they plant when signed in communicate who you are even when not signed in. (Pulled straight out of my butt since I have no idea about this sort of thing.)

Re: Interesting ad on YouTube

Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2020 12:13 am
by Long Run
I get ads all the time that align with my prior interests and searches, and that is what those "cookies" are really all about but nothing as esoteric as your ad -- imagine the sales pitch on targeting advertisements for the Capillary High Pressure Ion Chromatograph!

At the risk of getting endless ads for snooker products, one of my favorite memories of a trip to the UK was every night after a day of sight seeing, winding down with the kids watching John Higgins march to his first championship. Made our billiards seem like a kid's game.