Google Chrome pushes ahead with targeted ads based on your browser history

It's well done, but there's a big flaw. It doesn't make clear that Google isn't selling your data. In fact, Google's entire business model would be obliterated if it actually sold your data.

What they're selling is use of their ad network, which they can tout as having these huge profiles on everyone to advertise to. So if you're an advertiser and want to sell bee-keeping equipment, Google can say, "We'll show your ads to people who've expressed interest in keeping bees or related topics."

If they sold the data itself, no one would need the ad network, and their ads revenue would dry up after the initial data sales.

So it's in their best interests to keep your data secure. The problem is that it's also in their best interests to give you minimal control over that data, and - as the comic eloquently makes clear - harvest as much of it as they possibly can.

That link deserves to be its own post