Similar spooky things happen to me with online adverts. I happened to mention to a friend that I want to adopt a dog. Lo and behold, for the next 5 days, all I see is dog adoption/dog food adverts. It's happened twice to me, and both times, the ads have been so out of the ordinary from my usual ads, that I actually took time to notice them!
I'm fairly certain Google is listening in to conversations for ad targeting. I think your case is serendipity!
I hear this kind of thing all the time. "Your case is serendipity, but they were listening to me!"
Do you know why you thought about adopting a dog randomly? Are you confusing cause and effect? Perhaps you were really being shown dog ads for six (or sixty) days and only noticed it for five.
I say this not to dismiss the fear of recording, but to raise that recording is kind of a lazy rationalization that tech companies probably favor over the other, more realistic explanation.
The idea that the ads have changed your behavior without you realizing is far more creepy. They don't have to listen to what you say because they influenced you to say it.
Yes, I do know why I thought about adopting a dog. It's because I love dogs, and have wanted one since I was a kid, and a really cool dog happened to walk past my window at the time while I was at talking to my friend.
I never Google dog photos or anything dog related really. I have no real reason to. Also, all the ads are see are usually either finance related or tech related. The huge influx of dog adoption adverts was most certainly an anomaly. I dismissed it the first time, but the second time, it was harder to put it down to chance.
I could be wrong, and maybe they aren't listening in, however at this point, I can't say with certainty that they're not. My suspicion is officially raised!
So you adopted a dog. How did you go about buying all the things you need when you suddenly have a dog? Stores? Online? Amazon? Did you use a credit card? Did you research dog food? Post on Facebook or Twitter about how you were getting a dog?
I'm fairly certain Google is listening in to conversations for ad targeting. I think your case is serendipity!