Re: listening

On Sat, 22 Mar 2025 21:41:37 -0000 (UTC), badgolferman wrote :

Yesterday my friend who sold me the 2002 Honda Goldwing GL1800 showed up at
my house while I was working on the motorcycle. I asked him if he had ever
changed the alternator on this bike and he told me had changed it on the
2008 Goldwing he once owned, but not this one.  Today while I was watching YouTube, a video showed up in the feed titled
"GL1800 alternator replacement". How does this happen and what apps or iOS
settings should I check?
 I have Chrome and YouTube, but the microphone is disabled for both. I do
not have Google Search app. The microphone for Siri is enabled. I have not
searched for this video and do not need the alternator replaced.

Hi badgolferman,
Yours is a very good question & rather important to get to the bottom of.
I can't say what happened, but I can say that your experience is common
that something you said or did is tracked by Google & then used, by Google
to feed you Google materials (in this case, apparently, a video) about it.
Of course, if/when you watch that video, that's when Google can insert
targeted advertisements from Google, so it's in Google's vested interest.
For example, recently we covered the DSID cookie on Android phones, which
essentially tracks everything people do with their web browsers, even when
those people go to non-Google sites (it doesn't on my phone though).
 *Google Android "DSID" cookie, Android ID & Android System SafetyCore*
 <https://comp.mobile.android.narkive.com/JedCXG9A/google-android-dsid-cookie-android-id-android-system-safetycore>
At least on Android, Google uses the information about you to "feed" you
things it thinks you'll be interested in (and which it has ads inserted).
 *Google nag to turn Google Discover on*
 <https://comp.mobile.android.narkive.com/6UMMBRiy/google-nag-to-turn-discover-on>
Of course, in addition to having the DSID deleted, I've deleted that too.
 *How to delete Google Discover from both your user & work profile*
 <https://comp.mobile.android.narkive.com/KZuy78ga/how-to-delete-google-discover-from-both-your-user-work-profile>
Having said that, none of that *directly* applies to iOS, but it does show
that Google has pernicious ways to insert "stuff" into what you see.
At least on Android, it does.
I'm sorry I can't tell you more about it doing that for iOS but I'll look
it up for you if I get a chance and update this with iOS-specific data.
BTW, I've rewound a Suzuki GS650EX alternator in the olden days and I've
replaced the sulfuric acid in its battery. Both worked. For a while. :)