I'm being stalked by advertisers

[DBissett]

Recently, I'd say within the past month or two, I've started getting ads pop up for stuff I just looked at online, anywhere and everywhere. It's not computer stuff it's just stuff in general....cameras, books, bbq grills, clothes. I look around almost any website and the next time I log on my homepage and any other page I hit contains ads for the stuff I just looked at. Not only is this plain irritating, but I really don't want to look at stuff I just looked at. What's causing this to happen and what can I do about it? I already use Window Washer, CCCleaner and Vipre...is there something else I'm not doing? Thanks.

 

[Slugbait]

Cookies cause this to happen, sometimes after being logged into your account. It's like going to a car dealership, looking interested at a particular vehicle, and then trying to leave without buying it.

I take care of this with my HOSTS file: http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm

 

[DBissett]

Thanks for the reference to the Hosts file. I installed it just now. Do you do anything to update it over time?

 

[Dryfter]

I use Spybot Search and Destroy's "Immunize" function for the host file. Seems to add all the necessary "bad" stuff to the host file.

 

[Slugbait]

Do you do anything to update it over time?

Yup...I go get the latest one every few months or so, but that's primarily for getting the latest bad guy URLs (don't often see newer ad URLs).