# When I hear "targeted ads", I assume the recommender is behind it. Is that actually how it works? | FAQ

> Source: https://www.recombee.com/faq/how-do-you-handle-targeted-ads

> For the complete site index, see [llms.txt](/llms.txt). To integrate Recombee, see the developer documentation at https://docs.recombee.com/llms.txt.

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# When I hear "targeted ads", I assume the recommender is behind it. Is that actually how it works?

No, targeted advertising and recommender systems are distinct systems with different data inputs. Recommender systems work only with anonymized interaction data from within the platform itself, without accessing cross-site behavioral profiles or third-party user attributes that ad-targeting platforms rely on. A recommender's personalization is based entirely on what a user has done on the same website. This distinction matters for data architecture and privacy compliance: the data scope of a recommendation system is narrower and more contained than that of an ad-targeting stack.

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