I feel the same way. I no longer have the time, nor inclination to keep on top of rolling my own software. I'll stick with Apple hardware/software until they start to have privacy violations. Then I'll probably start looking into Linux phones and RaspPi devices.
So ads came back for me yesterday. See screen shot.
So I did process of removing ads again. But this time I kept "play services" disabled. It broke youtube, play store, google games, and my weather app. Thats ok I thought. I don't need youtube. And eff google. Ill take no ads over those apps I thought.
Well I restarted system about 3hrs later. The mother effing ads came back. Google play services was still disabled. My apps where still broken. Yet I had creepy Ru Paul back on my home screen.
Google is serious about those ads. I switched to wolf yesterday. So far so good. I'll report back in a week if it's still working fine.
I was in verge of throwing away all my shields.
AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
It's funny how outraged people get by stuff like this. So silly.
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Some of us do not care to be marketed-to and tracked constantly. If you don't mind it, that's fine. But your being comfortable with it does not make those of us who aren't "silly."
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LOL.... "tracked".
What's so "lol" about that 
They do, and it's well-known. At least by most people. Since you're apparently not one of those, here: let me Google that for you 
You're welcome
It's all unidentifiable tracking. Really, you're just not that important for someone to care that much what you're actually watching.
Yeesh.
Considering that Google's number one revenue stream is selling advertising, and commoditizing its users' data, is anyone surprised by this? And if you don't wish to be bombarded with ads, then perhaps choosing a device from an advertising company may not be the best decision.
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Your faith in what Alphbet/Google/Android claims they do or do not do is beside the point. Whether or not you mind what they claim to do or not do it beside the point. Some people simply do not care to be marketed-to incessantly or to be tracked.
That being said...
This ^^^^^
Despite the definitions of what it is, you can be sure Google is making $$$ from it or you could uninstall/disable the crap.
I have 3 Shields and they now remind me of Amazon's Fire interface. I dumped the Fire line for Shields and now back in the same spot.
Perhaps with Windows 11 supporting Android Apps it time to think HTPC again.
I would up vote this comment 10,000 times.
I run a os by a advertising company. It's true. Hehe
The over-the-top outrage is really funny.
Such a far cry from when people used to volunteer to be Nielsen families so they could report what they watched.
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Google is tracking us individually. When I signed up for Google I put in a slightly different version of my last name on a new email address. I did this so Goole could send all the email they wanted and I could ignore it. It has had almost no activity....until now. Now I'm getting emails advertising this show, that movie and on and on. I think it more than coincidence that this started the day after my shield updated.
Nielsen was very different. They weren't trying to influence what you watched.
Nielsen ratings weren't just to see who was watching what. They sold that data back to the networks, where it was used to determine which shows would stay on the air, which to cancel, and inform their decisions about what types of programming to add to future lineups.
This type of data monetization has been going on for decades; Google is just the next iteration of it. There was nothing benign about Nielsen, they're just as guilty. The only upside was that households that opted to install Nielsen's equipment knew what they were getting into; people today are woefully unaware of how much of their personal data they are giving up for "free" or less expensive services, generally speaking.
The same people "outraged" by this sort of thing will be upset when their favorite shows are canceled.
What bothers me is google is reading my texts or at least responding to key words like restaurant
The demographic info also showed them to whom they could best market their advert space.
The other point is Nielsen sells demographic information. Google is delivering personally-targeted adverts. It is unclear just how fine-grained is the info they sell to their advertisers. It's nearly certainly much more finely-grained than what Nielsen collects and provides.
People are woefully unaware of what's being collected and sold. But it cuts both ways. There are those who believe Alphabet/Google/Android is De Debil Incarnate and those who feel what they're doing is utterly benign. I feel the truth lies somewhere between those extremes.
(I do fall into "Debil" camp, but not because of their information gathering, use, and redistribution, alone.)
Regardless of just how invasive AGA (Alphabet/Google/Android) may be: Nobody is obliged to use their stuff. So quitcherbitchin', change platforms, and be done with 'em. Problem solved.
lol. Google sells your info for ad generation, not to inform what shows are popular.
When an app or service is free, you are the product. When you pay for a hardware device, you should have the option to opt out of being the product.
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