Last week I bought a $26 golf mat on Amazon.com so I could practice chipping in my back yard. Apparently my data has been farmed out because ever since then, I’ve been getting inundated with online ads on various websites–sometimes two on the same web page–for golf mats! The mats advertised range anywhere from $30 to $350. ($350 for a golf mat? Does it come with a set of irons?)

They are too late. I only need one golf mat, and you would think there would be an “only one needed” box checked next to “golf mat” in a database somewhere. But apparently not. Perhaps someone has done research showing that those who buy low-end golf mats often end up buying high-end golf mats. But spending TEN times as much? It won’t happen with me; my low-end mat is working fine, thank you very much.

Another possibility is that my act of merely shopping for golf mats set off these ads. I did view several options on different websites before buying from Amazon. Maybe the advertisers don’t realize I’ve already bought the product they’re advertising to me. Still, that’s a shortcoming that needs to be fixed because those ad dollars are being wasted.

I’m starting to think about golf NETS now, so I can use my mat for irons and driving, not just chipping. Why haven’t I been seeing any ads for nets? I should be seeing ads for RELATED products–not the SAME product I just bought.

Online ads, at least in this case, are still learning to crawl.