DON’T you get furious when obnoxious adverts keep popping up on a website you have visited? A middle-aged colleague recently encountered one on the site of, would you believe it, The New York Times. Out of the blue, the advert started warning him about sexual inadequacies – and it did so not just with written words but very loudly over his computer’s speakers. Pop-up blockers and complaints to the site produced no result, but the noisy ads disappeared when our colleague edited his user profile. People in their 20s get a much better class of adverts.
To continue reading, today with our introductory offers
Advertisement
More from New Scientist
Explore the latest news, articles and features
Popular articles
Trending New Scientist articles
1
The world's fastest spider tops 3.5 metres per second
2
Babies are born with the neural foundations for maths
3
Where, when and how to watch the 2026 solar eclipse
4
I’m the first person whose life was saved by CRISPR base editing
5
Our verdict on The Selfish Gene: An unpopular piece of popular science
6
We’ve uncovered a master gene that switches on human development
7
Humans sleep the least of all apes – is it the secret to our success?
8
Remote-controlled cockroach swarm can now breathe underwater
9
US government wants to have a useful quantum computer by 2028
10
The most detailed survey of the universe ever conducted starts now



