Law Chicas and Geek Girls

A few friends on facebook linked me to an issue with Google Ads.   Google Ads is that nice bit of Google that tracks every site you visit, so they can target their ads to your demographic.  It's really not an invasion of privacy.  (All hail the new google overlords!)

Actually, I don't have such a problem with targeted advertising, and there are easy enough ways to escape your web browsing being tracked.

However, I do have a problem with the algorithims google is using.   Google Ads Preferences infers your age and gender, based on your browsing history.  It seems that if you are the slightest bit geeky as a girl, google thinks you are a man.   Now, I'm more an old school nerd than a geek (with a bit of dag thrown in) so I was interested to see what google thought of me.

At my home computer, I'm a woman.  At work - I'm a man.  The primary difference?  I do most of my legal research (you know, my job) at work.   The other browsing is pretty consistent between the two locations.  Including my more 'girly' interests - knitting, cooking, is-the-latest-toddler-rash-life-threatening?, asos.com, gossip sites.*  Apparently the fact I look up the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties twice a day at work (I know, I should know the darn thing already) is enough to push all of that over to the masculine side of the spectrum.

So there you go.  Law, in google's eyes, is still a boys club.  My little wooden lawyer girl is sad to hear it.

* I know there are men who knit, and cook, and are paranoid about their kid's rashes, and browse asos, and read gossip sites.  And if you are one of those - well, more power to you!

PS - For both computers, Google puts me 5-15 years older than I actually am.  I'd protest, but given my reading and hobby tastes, I suspect it's a fair enough call.