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Show HN: Simple script to cripple personalized targeting from Facebook

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Re: Show HN: Simple script to cripple personalized targeting from Facebook

#111

What browser is this intended for? The below error comes up on Brave on MacOS. Both most up to date version. VM172:14 Uncaught TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'click') at :14:71 (anonymous) @ VM172:14

Ah, that's not a browser delay. That's an internet speed issue. I'll have to add more resilience to account for that. Thanks!

2.5Gbps on AT&T Fiber not enough? :)

bqmjjx0kac's edits worked great

Re: Show HN: Simple script to cripple personalized targeting from Facebook

#115

This got a little stuck on a few of the `.click()` calls for me. Here's my version: const wait = () => new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, 1000)); const getElementsByAriaLabel = (label) => document.querySelectorAll(`[aria-label="${label}"]`); const getElementsByRoleAndWidth = (role, width) => Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(`[role="${role}"]`)).filter(el => el.clientWidth === width); const getElementsByTe…

Lol, I got hit with this: "You're Temporarily Blocked: It looks like you were misusing this feature by going too fast. You’ve been temporarily blocked from using it." Anyone using this may want to s/1000/2000/ on the first line.

Math.floor(Math.random() * 1000) + 2000

Re: Show HN: Simple script to cripple personalized targeting from Facebook

#117
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would a person who objects to Facebook tracking them via their actual profile not object to Facebook tracking them via inferences?

I'll answer but I don't think you want one/it... They're different. That's why. Simple. One you're giving them information/ still seeing ads The other, they're guessing and you're free from the mind rot. Distance surely hurts their accuracy. Can't stop them guessing but you can stop being their authoritative source. You've heard the whole, "we're in charge of our response, not the problem", right?

That's a great answer, thank you! Yeah, "someone non-consensually has low-accuracy information on me" is experientially different than "someone is using (more-accurate) information on me to serve me ads". The former's still not _great_ (they can still pass that information to other people which could lead to bad experiences), but it's still much better than the latter. Thanks for the clarification!

Re: Show HN: Simple script to cripple personalized targeting from Facebook

#118
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Neither the URL in the gist or this one load for me. The one in the gist seems to freeze at trying to load some modal, on fully updated Chrome.

Can you post screenshots of your network tab so I can calculate the intervention actors?

Well I don't even get a chance to run the script.

Re: Show HN: Simple script to cripple personalized targeting from Facebook

#119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yea they can track my shadow profile all they want and I don’t care. I don’t visit them so they aren’t showing me ads.

They lease your behavior to other advertisers, insurance companies, loan guarantors…

Source? It's always been my understanding that while smaller players do this, the major ad players - Meta, Google, etc - never do this: Data on everyone is their greatest competitive advantage, and they don't want to give it away!

Re: Show HN: Simple script to cripple personalized targeting from Facebook

#120
post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Untargeted ads are presumably less profitable and thus the preference for untargeted ads is also a preference for fewer ads.

It's the opposite. If untargeted ads generate less revenue per impression, they'll need to show you more ads to make the same amount of revenue.

That doesn’t really make sense. Publishers will already show you an ad every time doing so is profitable. They won’t show you an ad when it isn’t profitable.

Whatever opportunity you’re imagining where a publisher would a new ad once ads become less profitable, why wouldn’t they be showing a (more profitable) ad right now?

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