Like, I keep seeing more and more ads about things I only thought about while not looking up anything online about it. For example: after I got out of the shower this morning I thought about how I needed to apply cream on my arms to prevent dry skin. It was only a thought that took me a few seconds. And minutes later I receive an ad on Instagram about dry skin.
I have never even googled dry skin. I didn’t say anything about it to anyone lol. And I get the ad the day I think about it? These things keep happening more and more for some reason.
I know it’s not possible and I promise I’m not going insane or anything, so don’t lock me up lol. Just an observation.
I addition to other comments, it could also be that cosmetic products and dry skin is a big industry, so even if you have anti-tracker stuff and settings set to not personalized ads, the algorithms probably have a high priority to send those products as ads. Actually, having less data being used for the adds they send you would increase the chances of getting more generic, wide range products like those.
I also like the “you are being conditioned by prior ads to think about dry skin” comment too.