Meh, it happens with any kind of advertising or lookup. Even the old paper Yellow Pages depended on bigger paid ads to catch our eye first 🙂
When I search for a tool on Amazon, yes I think sometimes it first shows me ones from a company I've used before. And/or from one having a promotion. If so, that makes perfect sense. My local hardware guy would do the same!
I still have plenty of options though, which includes sorting by price and rating instead. Or going shopping somewhere else. (I often compare prices between eBay and Amazon, for instance. When they're close, of course, Prime shipping is often the winner. And gawd I love having same day delivery to my tiny town sometimes! )
As I've always said, it's no different than back when we all shopped in the same neighborhood (as many people still do). In my small town, the deli knows what sandwich I want (so it's ready almost as soon as I walk in), the pharmacist knows all my ailments and allergies by heart (and gives extras if needed), the local stores know my brand and price preferences (and keep my favorites around), and our local restaurants know what I like (even if it's no longer on their menu). These are all huge benefits because my shopping is not all private.
This latest fad towards absolute "privacy" seems to me to just be another result of the non-social behavior of today's device-raised generations. Kids don't even call anyone any more. Grump grump etc 😛
That's an interesting perspective, truly. I have a different way of going about things.
The guys that work in my local small hardware store are mostly retired contractors or inspectors (other than the teenagers stocking the shelves). They usually recommend what tool they think is best, even if its not the one currently on sale or not from a brand I would typically buy.
I don't like going to the same restaurant often, and I love it when they change management or chefs resulting in a menu change. I will always prefer a new experience over one I have already had. The same applies to sandwich shops - the guy at the deli knows my name but doesn't know what I want because I always get something different. If anything, he knows I will ask what they have in that is new or fresh.
I like trying new brands of normal things. For example, I find that if I wear the same deodorant for too long, I start to get used to it's smell and notice it less. So I switch it up. Thus I rotate through 4 of so brands, and I would absolutely try a new scent or a new brand if it seemed compelling. The same applies to soap, or whatever other expendable things I buy at the pharmacy.
To me, privacy is an issue certainly. But it's not the end all - as long as it's a clear quid-pro-quo, I'm ok with data collection. For example gmail - the best browser-based email server by far, and it costs me $0 provided I allow google to scan and index all my emails for advertising purposes.
The bigger issue I worry about, particularly from Amazon and Facebook, is how it will affect newcomers to the market. When Amazon makes it easier to just say, "Alexa, order me soap" and Amazon knows you mean Dove soap and instantly processes the order, it becomes that much harder for a small business to enter the soap market. At least at a your local pharmacy the other brands stand a small chance of being noticed on the bottom shelf, with Alexa, they have no chance.
