Targeted advertising woes

Picture the scene: you've just spent hours perusing various interweb sites to find the perfect present for that someone special.

You're certain that they are going to love what you have got them. It's not something that they had asked for, but it's right up their street.

You pay and wait eagerly for the parcel to be delivered, so that you can hide it in a cunning place where they will never find it.

So, fast forward a week, and said gift is squirreled away safely and all is well........................or so it seems!

I am happily checking what my friends on Facebook are up to and I get up to  make a drink, leaving my laptop on the sofa.

I come back and the 'someone special' is sitting on the sofa with a big grin on their face, looking at my computer screen.

And there, for all to see, in the targeted ads is the present that I had bought for them - lovely! Talk about ruining the surprise.

Birthday and Christmas season will soon be upon me and once more I will be looking for that special gift.

But this year I've beaten the ads. I've found a way of turning off the targeted ads. It was very simple in the end. When I was on Facebook, I noticed a little arrow and a link to the Ad Choices site, where I could stop targeted ads from showing up.

So this year, I can shop online for my loved ones, safe in the knowledge that my laptop won't spoil the surprise - unless they work out my hiding place that is.