If they’re tracking my Google footprints, every damn random search might get put on my Permanent Record, and I have delved into some of the web’s darkest underbellies in search of information on hundreds of subjects.

The most pervasive ads I got last week were from Adobe Creative Suites, and that was after I’d ordered the software for my daughter, so it seems that some vendors have direct input into these sites. Certainly I didn’t have to google Adobe to know where to find the product.

What you’re opting out of is tracking, which is good on general principles. But be aware that the consequence is likely to be a more random mix of ads and not any reduction in the quantity. You’re opting out of tracking, not the ads. As somebody said about their little triangle icon you’re seeing near ads nowadays, “it’s not an on-off switch”. They’ll simply have less info on which to base targeting decisions.

I don’t like having a bullseye on my digital back, so I’d opt out on general principles. I recall from past conversations that you don’t mind so much, and don’t object to advertising in general, so you might want to consider staying in, to get the “benefits” of having ads better targeted at you. Sounds masochistic to me, like carrying your wallet in a back pocket in a crowd full of pickpockets, but to each his own.