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Old 08-29-2014, 04:17 AM   #1
Carruthers
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Anyone else getting strange recommendations from Amazon?

My Amazon recommendations are becoming increasingly bizarre.

I'm at a loss to understand how they recommend the boxed set of Batman DVDs on the basis that I bought the book 'How Apollo Flew to the Moon'.

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More disturbingly, I was recommended 'In Plain Sight', an account of the loathsome Jimmy Savile and his eventual unmasking, on the grounds that I had purchased 'Flight 232: A Story of Disaster and Survival'.

That's about the uncontained engine failure and subsequent crash landing of the United Airlines DC-10 at Sioux City, Iowa, in 1989.

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Have a look at your Amazon recommendations, and if there are any oddities, please share!
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Old 08-29-2014, 06:01 AM   #2
Griff
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Amazon does well, but Pandora apparently thinks I'm a middle-aged Chicano.
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Old 08-29-2014, 06:44 AM   #3
Sundae
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Spam mail thinks I want a bigger penis.
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Old 08-29-2014, 07:59 AM   #4
infinite monkey
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Gmail has long thought I speak Portuguese.
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Old 08-29-2014, 09:03 AM   #5
manicotti
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Tries to sell me pasta and pasta accessories.
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Old 08-29-2014, 09:23 AM   #6
Carruthers
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I've just discovered two more. 'Curiouser and curiouser' said Alice.

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Perhaps if I purchase 'Zombie Death-Ray Flesh Eaters 2' it will trigger a recommendation for 'Pride and Prejudice'. Stranger things have happened.
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Old 08-29-2014, 09:56 AM   #7
glatt
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by manicotti View Post
Tries to sell me pasta and pasta accessories.
Well, can you blame them?

I can see how that would be offensive for pasta like you though. It's like slave trade or genocide or something. Selling one pasta to another.
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Old 08-29-2014, 10:29 AM   #8
manicotti
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I've written letters but they won't respond.
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Old 08-29-2014, 01:17 PM   #9
BigV
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Perhaps they're bummed because they can't start a letter.
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Old 08-29-2014, 01:22 PM   #10
manicotti
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There's a lot of that going around.
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Old 09-08-2014, 11:08 AM   #11
chrisinhouston
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I'm Amazon Prime and order stuff just about every week. The other day I logged in and it suggested all kinds of dog and cat food even though I have never gotten any from Amazon or even looked at any products like that.

Funny but I also sometimes look at Vegetarian and Vegan cook books and then I get lots of recommendations for Paleo books with pictures of meat on the cover.
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Old 10-15-2014, 01:53 PM   #12
Carruthers
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It's still happening...

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Old 10-15-2014, 05:54 PM   #13
Happy Monkey
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I suspect that the weirdness of the suggestions is inversely proportional to the popularity of the "because you purchased" item. It probably lists all items that shared a shopping cart with it, weighted by frequency. A popular item is more likely to have a pattern, while a less popular item will give a grab bag of random items.
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Old 10-15-2014, 09:18 PM   #14
Carruthers
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Happy Monkey View Post
I suspect that the weirdness of the suggestions is inversely proportional to the popularity of the "because you purchased" item. It probably lists all items that shared a shopping cart with it, weighted by frequency. A popular item is more likely to have a pattern, while a less popular item will give a grab bag of random items.
Ah! A commercial version of guilt by association.
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Old 07-07-2018, 06:23 AM   #15
Carruthers
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This morning's recommendation from Amazon:

'Toilet Roll Holder Wall Mounted Bathroom Tissue Holder Anti-Rust Aluminium with Mobile Phone Storage Shelf'.

Name:  Every home should have one..jpg
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You have to put your phone somewhere while you catch up with your paperwork.

Look, someone had to say it.

Link
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