How old do you act online?
While doing my daily troll of Gawker, I came upon an article about how Google calculates ones age. And you can figure out how old and what gender Google thinks you are by following this link.
Apparently due to my interest in Business, Aerospace, Defense, Space Technology, Government, Government – Legislative Branch, Legal news, Politics and elections, people and society, and casual apparel and T-shirts; Google thinks I am a 55 to 64 year old man. I am 27… Though Google thinks my iPhone is owned by a 45-54 year old man, which I can only attribute to a lot of time spent on the /b/.
I can only assume Google thinks PZ is a 176 year old demonic lord.
What about you, dear readers?
(Source: Gawker)
67 comments
1 ping
Skip to comment form ↓
jamessweet
January 27, 2012 at 20:15 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Well this is weird… they nailed my demographic exactly (25-34 year old male; I am 33 and male) but of my top 4 interests, three of them are clearly due to my wife’s internet surfing.
Jeremy Shaffer
January 27, 2012 at 20:19 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Gave me the 25- 34 year old male result. I am male but I’m 36 so close.
HumanisticJones
January 27, 2012 at 20:28 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Google thinks I’m a 35-44 year old male. I’m a 29 year old male… Got the gender correct but apparently I’m going to be one of those “Get off my lawn ya damn kids” old men.
Cuttlefish
January 27, 2012 at 20:32 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
They think I’m 65+ years old. What, just because I write in complete sentences? They take two guesses as to my science, and miss with both. My top interest is apparently automobiles, which must be why I bike to work.
It’s like they don’t even know me…
jamessweet
January 27, 2012 at 20:47 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
It’s definitely not complete sentences. They got my age accurately, and I type in complete sentences.
Er I mean, uh… lol wut y wud google care how i right i can type just fine 4 all intensive purposes.
Tara C. Smith
January 28, 2012 at 00:32 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Says I’m a 55-64 year old male. (I’m 35 and female).
Assassin Actual
January 27, 2012 at 20:44 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
What I really want to know is how porn factors into this.
Aliasalpha
January 28, 2012 at 13:02 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Surely it’d vary depending on the times you’ve searched for either “MILF” or “Barely Legal”
tubi
January 27, 2012 at 20:47 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Well, if it comes back saying you’re an 8 year old animated Japanese squid, then we’ll know.
Andrew
January 27, 2012 at 21:08 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Google doesn’t have any advertising info on me… Adblock Plus is doing its job well.
I’m sure Google knows everything about me from other sources though.
Jessica
January 27, 2012 at 21:12 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
45-54 Male
They have me pegged (I’m 31; potato, pah-tah-toe).
noastronomer
January 27, 2012 at 21:31 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
25-34, male.
They got the male part right, but I’m actually 49. You’re only as old as the websites you surf?
I doubt ones writing has anything to do with the assessment. Cookies don’t typically track that, it’s too much information. Rather they’re just considering the links you click and the websites you visit.
Mike.
Mikey
January 27, 2012 at 21:35 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Though Google thinks my iPhone is owned by a 45-54 year old man, which I can only attribute to a lot of time spent on the /b/.
Hahahahaha! Never pegged you for a denizen of /b/. Your picture has no obvious neckbeard.
When I was in the USAF I spent a couple years in a cav squadron TACP. Cool bunch of guys to work with, although the squadron commander looked at us a bit cross-eyed sometimes.
I’m 45 and Google puts me in 55-64. No idea why. At least it knows I’m male.
Katkinkate
January 27, 2012 at 21:41 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
That’s hilarious. They reckon I’m 18-24 year old male!! Ha! My obviously female derivative name might be considered a smoke screen, but the age is off by over 100 %. I’m just young at heart, I must be doing something right (or wrong, depending on your point of view).
unbound
January 27, 2012 at 21:43 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Awesome!! I feel so young now. Google has me pegged as a 18-24 year old. Only off by a couple of decades.
I guess keeping up with technology keeps a person young…
unbound
January 27, 2012 at 21:46 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
lol…sent the link to my wife’s computer, and although it showed different areas of interest, it showed the same 18-24 yo male. Maybe I need to watch her more closely… >.>
sumdum
January 27, 2012 at 22:10 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Google has no idea what demographic I am, though it does know I like MMOs.
Savagemutt
January 27, 2012 at 22:41 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Ha! Since this 43 year old male enters a online sweepstakes as a hobby it thinks I’m a 45-64 year old woman who loves to shop. I freaking hate shopping. I hate spending money on anything.
movablebooklady
January 27, 2012 at 22:44 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
They don’t have anything on me at all. That’s probably because my settings clear all cookies whenever I close my browser.
Paul Weaver
January 27, 2012 at 23:19 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
They think I’m 65, due to my interest in Law, Government, Emergency Services, and Antiques.
I am 43, recently retired from the Army, and active in my local volunteer Fire Department. I do enjoy shopping for antiques – but I’ve done that since I was a young chile.
Paul Weaver
January 27, 2012 at 23:20 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
*Child.
sailor1031
January 27, 2012 at 23:42 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Google had no profile on me. I’m using Adblocker and a number of other interference runners and apparently they work.
emc2
January 27, 2012 at 23:44 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Male 65+, News-Politics, Science-Biological Science-Anatomy.
Actual Male, 43. I have no idea where the anatomy comes from. Astronomy is my preferred science. The sports sites that I visit every day do not register at all.
Tanya
January 28, 2012 at 00:55 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Hrm… 25-34 year-old male. My nearly 39 year-old vagina protests.
sceptinurse
January 28, 2012 at 00:59 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Funny,
it thinks I am a 45-54 y/o male whose job is education and sciences interests are earth science and paleontology.
I am an almost 55 y/o female nurse whose science interests lie in biology and physiology.
James
January 28, 2012 at 01:12 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Arts & Entertainment
Arts & Entertainment – Music & Audio – Rock Music
News – Politics – Campaigns & Elections
People & Society – Social Issues & Advocacy
65+; Male.
OK, the gender is right, but my age is half that…and I really wonder how many 65 year olds are into 90′s indie bands? Not saying they can’t be, but I don’t imagine there’s a huge intersection there.
Melanie
January 28, 2012 at 01:16 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
31 yr old woman, Google thinks I’m a 65+year old man… until now: deleted.
qbsmd
January 28, 2012 at 01:32 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
“You currently do not have an ‘id’ cookie”
I thought it was because my browser clears cookies, so I went to Google News and clicked on a few articles, but still nothing. And I can see the id cookie so I don’t think I opted out. Google doesn’t want me to know what it knows.
Old Fogey
January 28, 2012 at 01:36 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Always knew it was a good idea to set browsers to delet cookies when they close.
It seems Google know nothing about me!
F
January 28, 2012 at 01:38 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Oops. Google doesn’t seem to know I exist. The practical upshot of which is that it can’t give me worse search results than it normally provides.
Trebuchet
January 28, 2012 at 01:49 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Apparently I’m identical to emc2. They’re not far off, I’m a year or two under 65. The biology part almost certainly comes from visiting Pharyngula. They also missed my interest in astronomy and space exploration, not to mention CATAPULTS! Presumably because Google doesn’t have the ads on those sites.
marypoppins
January 28, 2012 at 02:41 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Interesting game. Google thinks I am a 45-54 year old male. Reality – I am a little older and definitely female. Lots of Arts & Entertainment probably because I am watching an Australian tv series online. The Business, Industrial, Internet & Science things seem to what makes them think I am male.
Mary P
Susannah
January 28, 2012 at 02:53 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Google thinks I’m a 45 – 54 y.o. male. I’m a woman, pushing 70. They base it on my interests; Business – Economy, Politics, more Economy, Biology – Anatomy. Anatomy? Because I’ve Googled “anatomy of collembola”, “anatomy of a hermit crab”, etc., I guess.
I should really be Googling pink kitties and knitting patterns; maybe that would correct their wrong impressions. But then they’d send me ads for granny scooters. Yikes!
Grimalkin
January 28, 2012 at 05:07 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Hmm. I am male and 18-24 or or 25-34 depending on the device I’m on!
And I’m female. I have to wonder what makes me male though- all google on my computer knows about me is “pets” (which is weird, I can’t recall searching anything animal related). Google on my phone makes more sense- I’ve been looking up a lot on archery and electronics, and I suppose that flagged me as male, but at the same time, feminism and clothing comes up on my categories.
iknklast
January 28, 2012 at 15:54 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Well, that’s interesting! They got my age right, my gender wrong. I guess if you like science sites and freethought sites, you’re a male. I guess they ignored all those feminist sites I visit, like NOW, and weighted it to assume I like science, I must be male.
Of course, I’ve never bought anything PINK online, preferring black, gray, or green, so maybe that was the giveaway.
hauntfox
January 28, 2012 at 15:59 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Pretty much the same here… apparently women don’t like science, motorcycles, and “fitness”
elmo14
January 28, 2012 at 17:49 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
45-54 male. Should I feel flattered since I’m 25 or embarresed for the idiocy of my generation skewing the scale?
michaelbrew
January 28, 2012 at 17:49 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Seems pretty accurate for me. Though… I can’t imagine from where they got that I have an interest in water sports. I don’t even… oh… wait. That’s right. Porn.
FlyingToaster
January 28, 2012 at 18:58 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Teh Google can’t figure me out. NoScript with googleleadservices and google-analytics forcibly blocked (use about:config and edit noscript.untrusted manually).
It’s okay. I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t peg me as a small kitchen electrical appliance no matter what I browse ;(
macallan
January 28, 2012 at 20:41 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
They got some of my interests right. I guess it shows that I use google mostly for finding data sheets, random wikipedia articles and sometimes specific news articles. I’m 37 years old though.
Sithrazer
January 28, 2012 at 22:11 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I don’t use google to do searches, and I’ve got AdBlock Plus set up to block the google analytics scripts, so apparently I don’t exist.
Natalie Reed
January 28, 2012 at 23:39 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Wait… was ANYONE here recognized as female? Anyone at all?
Or does that require you spend all your time searching for vacuum cleaners and baking supplies?
…
They got my age range right. And pegged one of my interests as “society & people – social issues and advocacy”… so that’s close enough, I guess…
FlyingToaster
January 29, 2012 at 00:04 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I expect that if you do searches for disposable diapers, baby bottles, or sanitary products, Google will assume you’re female.
If they could track me, what would they think of searches for “4.5 inch Disney Fairies clothing” and “metal shell polycarbonate furniture casters”? Or worse, “LED replacement auradescent candelabra bulbs, bulk”.
I shudder to think.
Susannah
January 29, 2012 at 01:03 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Pink vacuum cleaners.
Cunning Pam
January 29, 2012 at 00:01 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Well, it got my age correct and a few of my interests were spot on. But it thought I was male. Based on the responses here, like Natalie I’m starting to wonder whether Google thinks teh intarwebs is only for menz! And I had done plenty of shopping before installing AdBlock, including deciding on and sourcing a vacuum, an induction cooktop, and (female) exercise wear. *shrug*
David
January 29, 2012 at 00:44 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Bastards! They think I’m 65+, I have opted out. That could be like 70, I’m not even 50, cheeky bastards! And i dont look a day over not even 50
David
janeymack
January 29, 2012 at 10:24 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Google thinks I am male and 55–64 years old. I am female and in a slightly younger age category. They have correctly noticed my interest in Paleontology, and they have my locality pegged reasonably accurately, but…TV Dramas? Finance? Construction & Maintenance? Not sure where they’re getting all that.
That’s ok. It infuriates me that they want to follow me all over the web and “tailor” my ad ‘experience” according to my interests. I don’t want them to tailor my ad experience–I do not, in fact, *want* an ad experience. I ignore ads whenever possible. Time to install an adblocker, methinks.
David
January 29, 2012 at 11:40 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
janey, there is an option to “opt out” I took. Now they dont know my age, and, more importantly, they dont add 20 years to it.
David, UK
janeymack
February 6, 2012 at 11:14 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Thanks, David. I will have to go do that.
Kapitano
January 29, 2012 at 14:15 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Apparently, I’m an 18-24 year old male, into martial arts and shopping.
One of these is correct. Either that or the 40 year old man into linguistics and computing is an imposter.
Tabby Lavalamp
January 29, 2012 at 16:53 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I can’t think of any good reason anyone would spend more than five seconds on that site…
Aquaria
January 29, 2012 at 21:50 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Arts & Entertainment – Entertainment Industry – Recording Industry – Record Labels
Pets & Animals
Pets & Animals – Pets – Cats
Pets & Animals – Wildlife
I figured out where the Record Label stuff came from. Last year, I cleaned up my ITunes catalogue, which consisted of looking up assorted classical music labels about some of their CDs (CDDB is a crap database). I did that for, oh, a couple of weeks.
And I haven’t gone back.
The Pets & Animals stuff? Okay, so I check out what’s been going on with Maru every other month or so, and even less frequently follow some of PZ’s Monday Metazoan links.
Google also thinks I’m a 25-34 y/o male. My 50 y/o female body wants to lodge a complaint here. If I’m going to be a 25-34 y/o male, I want to look like this: http://imageshack.us/f/214/sterimaz0008s.jpg/ Rather than how I do now.
Steve
January 30, 2012 at 22:30 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
65+! It off by nearly 25 years.
It’s probably basing that on my interest in ROK/DPRK politics. (Yeah, that’s it!)
Dave
January 31, 2012 at 01:06 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
65+ male. (4o-45 male, actual)
Science, social advocacy, politics.
Apparently Google assumes only seniors care about the society in which they live. I think perhaps the wizened tea party set is slanting this demographic with all of their Dick Armey driven internet Astroturf activity.
Keith Harwood
February 1, 2012 at 00:27 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Picked me correctly as an old fart, but it thinks I am interested in cooking and recipes. No idea where that came from.
Grave
February 1, 2012 at 23:10 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Looks like Google has moved this information to some other place.
Mommiest
February 3, 2012 at 16:56 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
They think I’m a man, 55-60 years old. Essentially, they think I’m my husband.
Moo
March 7, 2012 at 20:25 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
They pegged me as a 35-40 year old man. I am a 23 year female. Guess I like the news too much…lol!
gahiowww
August 24, 2012 at 02:30 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I’ve been surfing online more than three hours today, yet I never found any interesting article like yours The Google Age Game | Assassin Actual. It’s pretty worth enough for me. Personally, if all webmasters and bloggers made good content as you did, the internet will be much more useful than ever before.
Online Versandhäuser
November 11, 2012 at 09:50 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I’d need to test with you here. Which isn’t something I normally do! I enjoy studying a publish that may make people think. Also, thanks for permitting me to remark!
goedkoop uggs kopen
December 23, 2012 at 17:09 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
In fact picture is the presentation of some one’s feelings; it gives the lesson to the viewers.
Gazeta de maine
February 20, 2013 at 18:18 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Hi, Neat post. There’s a problem together with your site in internet explorer, would check this? IE nonetheless is the market leader and a big portion of folks will omit your magnificent writing because of this problem.
Elinore Hyter
March 7, 2013 at 17:31 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Fantastic blog article.
Chantay Dillahunt
March 22, 2013 at 03:46 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I really like your writing style, fantastic info, regards for posting
. “The superfluous is very necessary.” by Francois Marie Arouet Voltaire.
Leandra Tokarz
March 22, 2013 at 06:59 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
We should use Google Adsense new feature, which allow us to link to Analytics instead
Parker Cost
May 4, 2013 at 08:08 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I would love to add if you do not already have got an insurance policy or perhaps you do not remain in any group insurance, you will well make use of seeking aid from a health broker. Self-employed or people with medical conditions ordinarily seek the help of any health insurance brokerage. Thanks for your writing.
Damion Pefanis
May 4, 2013 at 09:09 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
You made some decent points there. I did a search on the subject matter and found most individuals will approve with your blog.
Geile Frauen finden
March 8, 2012 at 07:35 (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Geile Frauen finden…
[...]The Google Age Game | Assassin Actual[...]…