Google has a gigantic collection of data thanks to its many businesses and services on the Web. It is not only a search engine for web pages; It is also responsible for the largest operating system of the mobile age (Android), the email provider of more than 1 billion people (Gmail), a huge advertising agent, the creator of the most used digital maps in the world and the YouTube owner, among other things.
All these fronts allow you to have a very clear vision of the preferences and activities of Internet users, something fundamental when your business depends on serving online advertising effectively.
A chilling spider web
The first thing it knows is your search history. It is stored for eighteen months associated with a cookie , an indicator that is installed on your PC or mobile when you first browse the Google website. If you are registered as a Google user, this cookie allows you to identify yourself with your data. At the end of that time, the company anonymizes the data for its internal use.
This system makes ads chase you around the Internet. After looking for information about products or services, in the following days you see advertising related to them. This enables Google to be more effective than other ad networks and to attract more companies looking to advertise.
It also knows your location thanks to the combination of mobile devices and the different versions of its maps app. If you use Gmail, it automatically scans your emails for keywords that it can use to serve advertising; And if you are registered on YouTube, it knows what videos you have watched and for how long.
