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Comment by prawn | Hacker News Reader

Not a Facebook user, but I see Twitter ads. If they're irrelevant to my interests, and almost all are, I flag them with the "Not relevant" link, which has become the awkwardly named "I don't like this".

I'm routinely surprised that despite me talking openly about my interests, I just don't get relevant ads. On one of my most frequently used sites (about basketball), the ads this week have been all womens fashion. I've not searched womens fashion and my wife doesn't use my laptop or phone. Waste of ad money.

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They probably guessed that you were male and then showed you women's fashion to make you buy something for your wife.

I have come to understand advertising a lot better since I asked, while looking at some lingerie ad, "Who would ever want to wear something like that?" and someone replied "This ad is for your spouse who wants to see you in this."

> "This ad is for your spouse who wants to see you in this."

The same reason that underpants come packaged with pictures of hunky guys on the front. The guys aren't there for the men wearing the underpants, so presumably they're there for the women buying them.

They're also there for you: "Maybe I'll look more like this wearing these?"

They don't crop the faces off the model's picture only for costs. They don't have a face so that it's easier to project yourself with said body.

My wife's fashion choices are best left to her. Giftware or gift vouchers for fashion stores I could understand, but not dresses.

Meanwhile, I research hiking trips almost every day of the year, talk online about hiking frequently, and I can't remember seeing a single ad for hiking gear or anything remotely related.

I agree with you, women's fashion choices are not something I think I'm an authority on. But, I research music equipment thoroughly before I make a purchase. There are a couple sites I use that I've white listed in AdBlocker and they serve me ads for music gear incessantly. Ironically, it's for a lot of the same equipment I've already purchased.

The timing of the ad makes me think that they are going after holiday shoppers. Might not be a waste?

In theory perhaps you're right. But for women's dresses, I'd be advertising to women, not hoping men dare buy clothes for their partner!

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