0

Lately I noticed that whenever I'm reading an article and I want to search something I read there, as I'm typing the keyword, Chrome autofills it. For example, I was reading a reddit post and someone mentioned the game Dungeons and Dragons. I opened a new tab, and as I was typing Dunge, Chrome autocompleted the full game name. I never searched that before.

UPDATE:

Okay that was a dumb question. But at least they are using clipboard contents. Today I tried to extract a zip file but an error occurred and then was typing in Chrome address bar "an error" Chrome autofilled it with the exact error statement and some other related suggestions. I tried to google using another browser, but there, I got completely unrelated suggestions. I'm not being a security nut but I just found out this today.

Improve this question
4
  • 1
    Dungeons and Dragons is the top result for google auto-completion of "Dunge" for me too and I have never searched that term before... I would say it is a coincidence, since it seems that's the result google returns regardless.
    – Numeron
    Nov 10, 2016 at 6:07
  • 1
    See this article
    – John Wu
    Nov 10, 2016 at 6:39
  • @Numeron Hmm. But I have noticed this several times. May be they were all popular search terms. :/
    – Neerkoli
    Nov 10, 2016 at 6:53
  • This is very easy to test: launch another browser, go to the Google homepage, type keywords and see how Google auto-completes. I think you are simply seeing Google's prediction algorithms. I launched a fresh Safari browser and "dunge" also autocompletes to D&D.
    – schroeder ♦
    Nov 10, 2016 at 6:57

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
2

No, not chrome itself. That would be illegal perceived as a huge breach of trust. But what they do is use analytics like tracking pixels to see what sites you visit. This is metadata everyone shares. Where the problem lies, is that the page you visit is usually public enough for google to know the content. So they can match your visit with what they know about the page, in effect reading the page you're visiting. The D&D example you mention is probably coincidence, but the general tought is correct, they do that a lot.

Improve this answer
9

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .