A simple link reveals exactly what Google thinks it knows about you – from your relationship status to favourite sports and even the animals you’re most likely to get as a pet.
Tucked away under the phrase ‘how your ads are personalised’, the search giant shows users what information it has gathered to share with advertisers.
Although Google does not estimate your age, as this is put in when you set up an account, and claims not to estimate your gender, it does try to predict what you like based on your search history.
A link can reveal what Google thinks it knows about you – from your relationship status to your favourite sport and your treasured pet. It does not estimate gender, however, unless you have entered ‘rather not say’
The search giant also uses information you entered when you set up an account to establish your age, although it is unclear how it estimates whether or not you are in a relationship
A Google spokesman told MailOnline: ‘Data makes Google services more helpful and relevant, but how we use this information is an individual choice that belongs to you.
‘We keep you informed about what data we collect, how it’s used and why – through Google Account. And we build controls into your Google Account, so that you can choose the privacy settings that are right for you.’
This link will only work if advert personalisation is turned on on your Google account, and users are able to turn off this feature at any time.
To find out how accurate the Silicon Valley company, worth an estimated $110.8billion, really is, FEMAIL asked seven journalists to put it to the test.
They clicked on the link to find out how well the company really knew them – and got some surprising results:
LATOYA: ‘It thought I was married, although I couldn’t be more single’
Shopping habits and relationship status were inaccurate for Femail journalist Latoya
‘I have to admit I’m pleasantly surprised at how wrong my Google’s Ad personalisation is!
‘However, it does make sense considering the wide variety of sites I visit both at work and at home. The search engine correctly guessed my age range, city and interest in fashion.
‘Highly listed is Net-A-Porter, Chanel and Look Fantastic, although I rarely shop online and prefer High Street retailers to luxury brands – so if anything it should suggest River Island!
‘Google also listed my marital status as married, although I couldn’t be more single and claimed that I’d be interested in baby feeding and care, despite acknowledging that I’m not a parent.
‘My education level, homeownership status and size of the company I work for Is also wrong. Overall I’m glad Google doesn’t know me and can’t spam me accurately!’
MONICA: ‘It thinks I am a man’
Monica (pictured) found out that Google thinks she is a man after clicking on the link
‘The advertising got my age right but I wasn’t over the moon that it thought I was male, I was a bit shocked at the top two suggested retailers as there are definitely places I shop more, and Waitrose is very much not my go to supermarket.
‘Some of the beauty brands are sites I visit regularly so that wasn’t too much of a shock but I’m not sure why Australian football and baby feeding have somehow managed to wrangle their way in there.
‘Overall I would say this isn’t that accurate.’
After checking, Monica found out that her account’s gender was set to ‘male’, which was what Google was using. She has now set it to female.
The link also shows what the search giant considers to be your likes and dislikes, based on search history, which can include cars
BRIDIE: ‘I have zero interest in cars!’
FEMAIL has put how much Google really knows about us to the test. Bridie (pictured) found out that Google thought she wanted to buy cars, despite having no interest in them
‘This is a bit of a mixed bag – my age is (just about) right and so is my gender but I have basically zero interest in cars (I don’t drive), American football, or computer hardware.
‘I pretty much walk everywhere so don’t really have any interest in urban transport (apart from occasionally looking at CityMapper). Very surprised at these as I don’t ever Google them or look them up.
‘I also have a masters degree so that isn’t accurate either (obviously my google searches aren’t as high-brow as they should be).
‘I do love food, rent, and often looking up home improvement hacks – but have no particular interest in groupon, and while I don’t have a pet I spend most of my time looking at dog videos, so I can get why Google might think I have a furry friend.’
It also highlighted whether the Silicon valley company thinks you like household appliances and holidays on the beach
JACK: ‘I love coffee and sailing, and these are at the top of the list’
Jack (pictured) thought Google got some of interests spot on, after the search engine said he loved both coffee and sailing
‘This is scarily accurate. I love both sailing and coffee, and these are right at the top of the list.
‘Pretty much the only ones Google got wrong were American Football (a poor man’s rugby) and believing I’m in a relationship, which was a bit of a kick in the teeth.
‘It also got my targeting right. I searched for hire cars the other day for a trip home and now I’m constantly bombarded with ads from rentalcars.com.’
STEPH: ‘Worked out I’m “in a relationship” but without kids’
‘Google correctly identified my gender (female) and age range (25-34) and – rather spookily – has worked out that I’m ‘in a relationship’ but ‘not a parent’.
‘It also reflected recent trips I have taken to Paris and Malta, where I used Google to find hotels, restaurants and places of interest.
‘However the analysis was all over the place when it came to my interests.
‘While some like ‘fashion & style’, ‘royalty’ and ‘coffee & tea’ are spot on, others like ‘basketball’, ‘computer hardware’ and ‘motorsports’ are completely leftfield.
‘That being said, these might have been added to my profile as a result of my husband’s browsing as my account is our default for Google Chrome at home.’
PHILIP: ‘Slightly spookily, they got my relationship status correct’
Philip (right) said it was spooky that Google got his relationship status correct
‘They got my age range, gender identity, and the fact that I don’t have any children correct. Slightly spookily they also got my relationship status correct though I can’t imagine what I’ve searched for to allow them to guess that.
‘My interests were also globally correct, they not only correctly divined that I play video games, but also the genre and brand of said video games and my interest in comic books and sci-fi.
‘Though the results were generally correct, there were a few erroneous suggestions, they incorrectly hypothesised that I listen to rap music, and that I’m interested in DJ equipment (I have never DJ’d in my life).’
LUKE: ‘It thinks I am a woman!’
Philip: ‘Slightly spookily they got my relationship status correct’
‘As far as building a profile of myself, I thought Google did quite well overall – it got my age, most of my interests and relationship status.
‘However, there was one major pitfall. It thinks I am a woman!
‘This may be because I set my Facebook to female, specifically to confuse advertisers, but as it had managed to get ‘male interests’ in my likes and dislikes I would have thought it might be able to work it out.
Among other possible likes listed by the tech giant were tennis and cats
‘It got that I like cats as well, and the outdoors, but failed to identify my keen interest in chickens, which I have kept for more than ten years, and the fact that I am getting some pet fish, despite numerous searches about how to look after them – perhaps there isn’t a lot of money to be made in these likes.
‘Google had also decided that I like tennis, not something that I’m aware of, weddings, and shopping for cars.’
After checking, Luke found out that his account’s gender was set to ‘rather not say’. However, Google’s advert service had still attempted to predict his gender, and come up with ‘female’.