Why does google keep guessing

But with the recent upgrading of its Google Suggest facility, it appears to be trying to requisition our pre-thoughts, too. Start to type in a search query and Google will begin to guess what you are looking for. Sometimes its predictions are uncannily accurate; sometimes they take on a dark and often unwelcome journey into the collective human psyche.

For example, type in "i like to" and this, in order, is what Google Suggest comes up with: "i like to tape my thumbs to my hands to see what it would be like to be a dinosaur" 22, results ; "i like to think of jesus as a mischievous badger" 25, results ; "i like to move it move it" ,, results. Type in "is it wrong to. It soon becomes highly addictive. Type in "why can't " and the first two suggestions are "why can't black people swim" and "why can't I own a Canadian".

In Google's eyes, you might want to quickly call up your recent purchases, or your upcoming flights, so it's providing a useful service—but it's a little unnerving to discover that so much of your life has been catalogued and logged, even if the information inside Gmail isn't used to serve up targeted ads. Speaking of advertising, head here to see the ad profile that Google has built up on you.

Again, you'll have to be signed in. At the top is your age and gender, followed by a whole host of topics that Google thinks you're interested in—click on any of these entries and choose Turn off to strike it from the record. To opt out of ad personalization completely, use the toggle switch at the top of the page. Note that this won't reduce the number of ads you see, nor will it affect the amount of data Google collects on you. But at least it stops Google from linking the two together. You'll see the same number of ads around the web, they'll just be less tailored to what Google thinks you're interested in.

We've not yet talked about mobile phones. The main data Google collects here is around your location, though it obviously tracks you through its apps as well—Gmail, Google Docs, Google Maps—just as it does on the web. On Android, you can open up Settings then pick Google to tweak some data-tracking options.

Expect to see purchases and reservations show up here too. Location is the big one though. Tap Location from the menu to turn off location tracking completely for the Android device you're using. From there, you can specify what apps can access your location, camera, contacts, and more.

Over on iOS, Google doesn't have as many deep hooks into the operating system, as you might expect. If you open up the Google app for iOS, tap the three dots lower right, and then choose Privacy and Security , you can stop Google from tracking your location on this particular device.

To do it on an app-by-app level, head to the main iOS Settings screen, then choose Privacy and Location Services, and find the app you're looking for. Each app can be granted permission to view your location all the time, only when the app is being used, or never. For you. World globe An icon of the world globe, indicating different international options. Get the Insider App. Click here to learn more.

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It often indicates a user profile. Log out. US Markets Loading H M S In the news. Aaron Holmes. By clicking a link from Google's account settings page, users can find out what the tech giant thinks it knows about them based on search history and browsing data from Google-owned sites like YouTube.

Google guesses users' age, gender, marital status, income bracket, and personal interests. Using the tool shows that many of Google's predictions can be off-base, but the majority of them are scarily accurate. It's also possible to stop Google from tracking your information or predicting your profile going forward.