
Ask HN: Amazon learnt I have a broken bulb at home – HOW? - samblr
In short : 
Made a search in amazon for Cooker and was shown bulbs. http:&#x2F;&#x2F;i.imgur.com&#x2F;LJfjyML.png<p>=====<p>This is getting ridiculous.<p>Today morning we had a bulb burnt out and we discussed about buying it next time we go out.But nobody at home did any search relating to a bulb.<p>Then after an early lunch - I thought we need a new cooker to ease cooking.<p>So I made a search to find cooker - I am shown bulbs as sponsor ads covering &gt; 50% of webpage.<p>I don&#x27;t carry a smartphone. Wife does and she has amazon app installed on her mobile. And today she was using kindle-fire too.<p>====<p>So how did Amazon deduce I need a bulb today!<p>Did app listen or kindle-fire ?<p>Seriously, what is going on ?
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stephen82
To verify your suspicions do the following with your wife: start chatting
around the room while her phone is near and say lines such as "we need new
treadmill", "a nice cheap treadmill", "a professional treadmill" and do so
sporadically, not sequentially to make it obvious and see how it goes.

You have got me curious now lol.

Keep us posted mate, good luck!

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samblr
lol - sure.

Amazon has access to microphone in android:

[https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeI...](https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201887200)

I think kindle fire can do more than that.

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whipoodle
Those are bulbs for cookers. You said you searched for cookers.

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DanBC
People searching "cooker" want either bulbs, or cleaner, or filters or new
cookers.

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samblr
With so many varieties in cookers itself - I wonder why they decided to show
up bulb upfront - beats me.

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dave84
They're sponsored links, so a bulb seller paid to make sure they showed you
the cooker bulbs because you searched for cooker. Looks like they're making a
good margin on wholesale so it's probably worth their while to advertise.

Was it a cooker bulb that was blown?

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mstolpm
Have you or your wife googled for a replacement bulb? These are sponsored
listings, maybe they are triggered by a cookie set by an ad network. (This
might even happen across different devices.)

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Finnucane
Big Brother is watching you, and wants to offer you a doubleplusgood deal on a
new Kitchen-Aid.

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cm2012
People who buy cookers buy cooker light bulbs. End of story...

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tugberkk
Welcome to the new world :)

