I don't think this is true, or maybe it means something different when you take the colloquial meaning of what you said. (Maybe "connect" has a precise technical meaning at google.)

I get targeted ads from google all the time when logged out, even on machines where I have never logged in.

There seems to be correlation between targeting on multiple devices until I nuke all the cookies, etc.

Maybe you mean you only tie my profile to my real name and employer() while I am logged in? Or maybe there are N profiles tied to each machine, and one is "logged out but probably owned by a similar / the same person as these other machines".

() We use google's office suite instead of microsoft at work, leading to hilarious privacy snafus.

Google targets ads to signed-out users (if they consent, have cookies enabled, etc.), but they are careful not to join the fingerprint of a signed-out user with the fingerprint of a signed-in user.

In other words, when you're signed out, ads can follow you around, but in the network it should seem like you are a different user from your signed-in version. This way, signing out has a consequence.

From people I've talked to at Facebook, they are much less concerned about similar privacy issues.

I've seen ads on my work machine for things I'd searched for at home. My work machine is signed into my work Google Apps account (and never my home account; though I have used that in another Chrome profile) and home my home account.

So, even if you're not connecting logged-out users, it seems to me that you might be connecting different logged-in users accounts.

I don't mind; I'd rather have targeted ads than not; though it does seem a bit creepy and often it's useless - I'm sick of seeing ads for stuff I already bought; you're losing cash there!

Those pirates can be quite vengeful!