Moses, there should be an 'x' (close sign) in the upper right corner of the ad. Close it and select 'Do not show this ad again.'

Moses,

She sees you when you’re sleeping, she knows when you’re awake, she know if you’ve been bad or good…!

Creepy or not, I decided to order from them once and see how it goes. I have an order of bare roots arriving the week of January 13, supposedly. I hope it all turns out well. But I know what you mean, Moses. It seems I can’t google anything plant related without having them pop up somewhere.

I ordered a dozen or so roses from GRF this year and I have a few coming next year. Two failed and were replaced and the others are doing very well including this Koko loko tree rose. Ironically, I’m only seeing J&P and Heirloom ads these days (also places I have ordered from). I think you can select to not see certain ads as Elana advised.

Ben, I suppose taking your humorous perspective cures the dismay. Thanks for your shared wit. As usual, you bring rose gardening to a higher level of sentience.

Moses

Moses, I read this thread when you originally posted it, but I hadn't experienced the GRF ads you'd seen. But for the past few days, I've been Googling various rose nurseries just to get to their sites, and every single time, GRF comes up as the first result. Never searched for GRF. "Sponsored ad". Boy, that must cost a bundle for her :-D

Moses, if you eventually decide to give GRF a try and find a rose you'd like to have, go for it! This season is supposed to be a good one for her. The roses are grafted and grown by Fransic, and the holding and distribution center is also well-known in the industry. She offers a $15 discount on many roses, with a shipping cost of $20. I recommend paying with PayPal, just in case. She also provides a 3-year warranty.

Next year, she plans to graft roses herself, but on multiflora rootstock.

There are two types of people: those who regret not doing something and those who regret doing it.

PS. Her business is thriving, especially with rose bouquets, which allows her to afford aggressive advertising.

They must have a huge digital marketing budget. If you happen to use Chrome as your browser, you can turn off targeted ad tracking (which is serving you ads like those from Grace Rose Farm) by doing this:

• Click on the three little dots in the upper left-hand corner of your browser.
• Go to Settings
• Select Privacy and Security
• Select Ad Privacy
• From there, you can turn off Ad Topics, Site-Suggested Ads, and Ad Measurement

I'm guessing other browsers may have similar settings you can adjust.

There are also ways to adjust ad tracking in social media, but it's not something I've looked into fully.

Elena,

Yes! I have seen on Facebook many people are enjoying GRF business, orders are arriving high quakity and on time this season already! atons of orders I see delivered! . Looks like her business is thriving. The proof is in the pudding!

And she has a marketing degree and floristry background as well as talent in farming roses, her specialities! It seems smart for her to use her expert marketing skills and other abilities. That is her business! I see florists try to put up the most beautiful photos of their arranging bouquets and gardens and she seems to do that, too! She has more of a florist photography approach to her marketing rose sales, which is beautiful! Gorgeous rose photos! Nicer photography! It’s enjoyable artistry!

Ben, Nice witty comment. Marketing is her forte! And she’s knows how best to use her skills.

Thank you, Elina, advice duly taken. Thank you!

Moses

Don't write our Roses Forum off. The move could be regretted. There is a tremendous knowledge base here....personal experience being the acorn of learning. "Conspicuous consumption," is apparent, but what's an excess to me may not be to my neighbor.

Moses

It was too perfect to resist

“The roses are grafted and grown by Fransic [sic], and the holding and distribution center is also well-known in the industry.”

That was a test.

I couldn’t log in for weeks, until today.

Unless I wanted to buy a sofa.

Moses: I wanted to point this out 2 weeks ago, but I couldn’t log in then.

“I have yet to see a business, especially a rose nursery, expending so much of their advertising budget on the most unlikely places on the web”.

Unlikely??

Likely - as you are seeing them. Even very likely - as you are intensely tempted by them.

Targeted advertising. You are the target.

I’ve not seen one of them.

Now getting texts. They sure are laying it on thick.

Rifis,

Maybe I appeared to GRF to be an easy sell. Hence the heavy marketing. If GRF only knew how tough I am on making a purchase, black spot resistance like a Knock Out being the game breaker, they would have black listed me for sure. No longer does the description of a rose stating, 'excellent disease resistance,' mean much to me. It being thrown around like a, 'runs like its brand new,' statement on a clunker, ready for the compressor is what I liken it to.

Do this, go to GRF and just window shop a bit. See what happens thereafter as you surf the web. I'll wager you are followed around almost as closely as your shadow. After a while, you will be put on their back burner. That's where I am now in GRF scheme of things.

Moses

Rifis,

Glad you were able to access the Roses Forum again. Stop by frequently, please. Your wit and wisdom are uplifting. Hope your new year brings unexpected joys to you.

Moses

Thank you Moses.

What is your understanding of how GRF "follows you around"?

I ask because I know how they do it.

But if (IF) you want to put a stop to it - once you say what you know, there are plenty of forum members here who can guide you much better than I can. Some have already commented here. Be sure to mention what browser(s) you use.

Rifis,

After going to GRF's web site, just to see what offerings they had I started seeing GRF roses in the margins of a totally unrelated to roses sites. Weather Underground, were I go to for my weather reports, was plastered with GRF offerings in the heading and right hand margins of pages I went to after my visit to GRF. They stopped appearing in short time.

Moses

Moses,

Maybe try installing an ad-blocker. Could be a game changer.

https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/our-favorite-ad-blockers-and-browser-extensions-to-protect-privacy/

Moses: What browser do you use?

Does private browsing help ?

I think you need to delete any cookies you have and start over -- then do some privacy settings on your internet browsing -- or use Duck Duck Go instead of Google. I was shopping for a new bra at a department store online, and the next day I had a male student in my office for some help, when I opened my web browser I was inundated with ads for bras in my size. I was mortified. But that's when I got serious about cookies and tracking and private browsing!

If you are using google, you can open your window with the Incognito Tab which is supposed to prevent cookies/ad tracking. I agree with clearing your history/cache/cookies.

All these ads following people around do feel like a type of Cyber Stalking lol. Maybe some smart attorney group can take it on from that approach lol. They can prob make a bunch of money if they won.

Moses:

Do you now have an effective program in place to eliminate tracking?

No.

Moses

I call on someone here to please help Moses, step by step. windowsill gardener has already given instructions for Chrome. Moses may need assistance in determining what browser he his using. I am not the best person to do all of this.

I recall reading that Madonna once explained the reason she preferred dating younger men was ” …because they’re good with phones.”

Now, if Madonna learned anything she could date Moses and fix his tech issues.

Hi Moses -- I use a Mac (not a PC), and I use Firefox as my browser to surf the web. But whatever you use, if you do a search of "help" and ask it to clear your cookies and your "cache" you could get rid of all the tracking things that have been downloaded and/or activated. But this won't protect you from new ones. Just clears out the old ones. But that's useful, too. Be warned, however, that if you rely on being able to just open up your computer and go right to all your favorite places and already be logged in -- clearing your cookies and your cache will also re-set all of those, too. You can manually delete some cookies, but not all, but it's tedious and time consuming and you miss some. You might want to ask someone near to you (relative or friend) to help you put some security in place. Or you can just live with being tracked. Welcome to the brave, new world! :-(

Moses I just saw this.

One quick way to eliminate tracking is to use a browser that doesn't track.

It sounds like you are using Chrome. I've had Chrome actually track where I am in a store and feed me ads!

Try downloading Brave or DuckDuckGo.

Carla in Sac