Where Is This Data Going?

Over a year ago, my daughter got married. In the midst of trying to find addresses for a large and expansive family, I searched the Internet on several search engines. I went to a few alumni sites and sent emails asking folks if they were missing relatives.

I did my best, with the information available for free, and felt like I had done a yeoman's job in researching lost cousins. I never did find two of them, they've slipped away and no one in the family knows where to find them.

Now, a year later, I no longer search for these folks. Once the invitations were addressed and in the mail, I was done with the search. If they want to be found--well, we're easy to find--they can find us.

But in my spam folder almost every day, some 'for pay' search site asks me if I'm still looking for them. By name. At what point in time, will their marketing no longer be directed toward this one day's search over a year ago?

I find it fascinating that anyone cares what I look for on the Internet. I can understand how it's used, this search data. I understand how Google delivers ads on the right side of my inbox that have word associations with the text of my email. I get it. I know how it's done. What I had no knowledge of was how long this would persist. How long do marketers think I'll be interested in the same search?

Because I'm not tracking down an adoptive parent or a long lost loved one. I was looking for a good address for a single person. And that need is long over. But the sales emails are still hitting my inbox, if not every day, then nearly so.

Where does this data aggregate? Who's selling such out of date information to spammers? It's amazing to me that anyone would pay for data that is 12 months old. But that is what they are doing, that's what they are buying. I wouldn't have paid for their search help a year ago. I won't pay for it today. But still they nag at me.

--Sandee Wagner