For all the people who keep still saying “no, they are definitely doing it because of this one anecdote that wasn’t even properly tested, but trust me bro it’s real.” (Like Linktank@lemmy.today and RumorsOfLove@lemmy.dbzer0.com)

Anyone with even a basic understanding of networking can realize how this could be easily tested and proven, especially by the millions of people with deep comprehension, experience, and tools on hand. There is so much incentive to prove this, particularly if the information was then used to sue these companies. So, why hasn’t anyone done this?

Because what the article says is true. They don’t listen to everyone’s conversations. It’s easier and significantly cheaper to just use the data they have on you to both influence you and predict you.

TLDR: they have so much recent time data on you from various sources that they can make you believe that you are being listened

They are absolutely listening, I had a family member start getting credit card offers for an unborn baby that wasn’t even named officially yet.