Maybe they won't suggest things you already bought, but will estimate what you're going to buy next, based on the statistical analysis of people who bought the same things.
Yeah it’s more like, hey you just bought stabilizing jacks and a water hose for a travel trailer. You must have just bought a new camper. Let’s bombard you with add for stick-up-hooks, rv-mattress sized sheets, cheap plastic dishes, etc.
Perhaps more like what fridge companies do via incessant water filter replacement reminders: Enjoying your Super Deluxe CoolPlus™ Fridge? Don't forget to check out the CoolPlus™ Fridge Magnetic Spice Rack and CoolPlus™ Fridge Juice Dispenser Add-on!
At some point the bigwigs will realize that a working item is worth more in future potential ad dollars than a broken one with a limited 1 year warranty and start asking their engineers why quality is so bad.
/The screams of 1,000 poor souls per second for 50 years
I'm sure thats the theory, and whats being sold to the ad buyers, but my money is on it ending up like the ads you get after buying something from amazon/ebay: same item you just bought.
you probably just notice that because it doesn't make sense from your perspective.
it's probably more cost efficient for advertisers to just throw relevant ads at potential groups. Determining whether an individual already has the item is a waste of resources, and you probably don't notice when the ads are things you don't own.
Last time I observed this I was getting the exact same item that I bought being advertised to me constantly, across multiple sites. No variation at all. It was a pair of hiking shoes. If it had then offered me hiking poles or rain coats or anything else that would have been useful, but instead it was the same pair of shoes I had already purchased.
If the ad network had actually suggested useful paired items that i dont already own, then those ads should actually stand out, as they are actually relevant to me.
If its not cost efficient to actually target to the individual (and I dont doubt that it isn't), im not sure what Paypal is bringing to the table here that Amazon etc can't already do.
Fucking within like 2 minutes of using their apps too, they ask, "do you like the app?" Then another popup that says, "provide feedback for why you don't like our app?"
Because you keep getting in the way of me actually doing what I need to do. And it's getting uninstalled as soon as I'm done with it.
It’s to the point where no one wants to do shit on their website anymore. They force you to download the app. So they can get even more access and control of your info. And like I need more motherfucking apps on my goddamn home screens. Fuck that shit.
That's very different, they want you to either pay or not have access. This would be you still having access, but being paid for giving them data voluntarily.
That's perfectly legal and employed across many European business entities.
By showing you an annoying popup every time you use PayPal, and eventually you'll accidentally click OK and it will mysteriously remember this and never ask you again.
Let me guess: I'll buy a toaster because my old one died but then I'll get ads for new toasters constantly. You bought one, you must want another. And another. And another. Why aren't you buying more toasters. You bought one. Buy another! Buy twenty!! People who bought toasters also bought microwaves and kettles. Do you want a toaster? Does anyone want any toast?
"No, I don't want any toast. No toast. No buns, baps, baguettes or bagels. No crumpets. No croissants. No teacakes, no potato cakes, and no hot cross buns. And definitely no smegging flapjacks."
It's amazing that these companies spend ultraquadrillions on advertisement platforms and algorithms and all they ever seem to do is just spam products at you that you have already purchased. Where is all this money going?
The card companies can get data from the Merchant Category Code to infer the nature of purchases, without specifics. The stores also have a record of what items you bought, which could also be sold unless you have a contract with the store that guarantees they won't sell your purchase history (at least in the countries without strong privacy laws)
That's per store though, presumably when they sign up with a payment provider (because there's a lot of rules about e.g. using credit cards to gamble with).
If I buy sex toys from Tesco, it's still showing up as "groceries". If I buy from a sex shop, it's going to be more clear cut.
I can see from my emails that PayPal send out itemised receipts on behalf of their customers, so they're definitely collecting more data than the big two.
So happy I deleted my account with them 5 years ago after going throught their laughably bad customer protection (the only reason I had them to begin with, I had figured it was a good idea to have a buffer between merchants and my CC)
In the end, it was perfect because, as they refused to help, I went straight to the credit card to reverse the fraudulent charge and closed all accounts with PayPal... Then I get a whiny email from them when the CC took the funds and left them holding the bag... Sweet minor victory
The difference between selling your data and selling ads, is that only you can use your data. This is PayPal building a moat around its user private data so only they can use it.
Well, this sucks. PayPal was great for only having your credit card information in one place - now it looks like I'll have to risk it with every website.
I like the concept if disposable CC numbers, but looks like i need to link both to my bank account. Anything like this that can link to another credit card?
Cap One 360 checking - free, and offers single use cards. Think they regen on each usage,and can get the number etc easily in app.
Edit:missed “credit” card. Believe Cap One does same for their credit cards, not entirely sure tho. It’s becoming more common on credit, but def not “most” cards doing that yet
Thought they charged something to put $ on temp card, via EFT though I may well be wrong.
Don’t recall the org name I conflated w them anymore u fortunately.
And from where I sit, yeah they pay me to some degree - the acct costs me nothing, and it’s got a handful of the usual “edge case” insurance benefits and such most debit cards don’t.
Not real useful to me, admittedly, but I do receive something.
That, and they reliably post direct deposit exactly 48h early, plus or minus fifteen minutes. Ability to plan my life around when exactly my check will show up has value. Seems to be very much a “best effort” basis to post early w/ most banks.
Lots of that stuff is useful because of my individual habits and patterns of spending I’m sure, might well not be for you.
Will check out privacy, now I’m kind of curious if there is something even more friction free for my scenario.
It's basically a credit card through an online bank that draws from a debit account.
For me, as a later of protection, I made a free capital one account (any will do, cap one was mostly random and i don't particularly endorse or hate them) and then the pdotcom "credit" draws from that. Their early implementation was using a prepaid debit card but they switched to credit like 2 years back and it's been good ever since. Even with other solutions I can't recommend enough taking a look.
There really isn't going to be, besides giving them your card directly (or paying crypto🤢). PayPal is less about the software and more about the service, which isn't something FOSS can really replace. An alternative would have to have a company behind it that works with major financial institutes and whatnot.
How is Apple Pay just as bad? I haven’t heard anything that they do like this. There is no advertising in the Apple ecosystem. In fact, several places (like Walmart) don’t want to adopt the tap to pay because for some cards, it blocks tracking from them by using a pseudo randomized credit card number every time. It makes using the rewards for places a pain, but it works at maintaining harder tracking for whoever you’re paying.
PayPal will use data from billions of customer transactions to supercharge its nascent ad business.
The new PayPal Ads group is headed by recent hire Mark Grether, a senior vice president and GM at PayPal, who says the budding advertising operation will "help make merchants smarter to sell more products and services effectively, as well as enable consumers to discover more of what they love."
But, his reported statement doesn't really dwell on the fact that it will be using customer data, including purchase history, to pull this off.
In addition to the main PayPal platform, it also operates cash transfer app Venmo and Honey, a browser extension designed to find deals online.
The report also mentions that Venmo will see fewer ads served in order to not drive off its younger users.
PayPal's data on users' purchases and other transactions, combined with AI, might prove to be great at advertising, though probably to the consternation and frustration of recipients.
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