Just doesn’t feel good
marco.org
Just doesn’t feel good
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Re: Just doesn’t feel good
#2Although I have no direct knowledge, it feels like there is something going on behind the scenes forcing this reaction. If I had to guess, I would point the finger at Ghostery causing this. Lifehacker wrote¹ that Ghostery sells some data to marketers, so perhaps the approach taken with the app interferes with Ghostery's model and they were not willing to continue allowing access to their rule list. Alternatively Ghostery saw the success of the app and now wants to launch their own and shut off access to the data.
*edit- He just said he is handing the app over to Ghostery on twitter. Very interesting.
¹ http://lifehacker.com/ad-blocking-extension-ghostery-actuall...
Re: Just doesn’t feel good
#3Although I have no direct knowledge, it feels like there is something going on behind the scenes forcing this reaction. If I had to guess, I would point the finger at Ghostery causing this. Lifehacker wrote¹ that Ghostery sells some data to marketers, so perhaps the approach taken with the app interferes with Ghostery's model and they were not willing to continue allowing access to their rule list. Alternatively Ghos…
> If I had to guess, I would point the finger at Ghostery causing this. Lifehacker wrote that Ghostery sells some data to marketers, so perhaps the approach taken with the app interferes with Ghosterys model
Doubtful that's the case. If you read his post, he recommends Ghostery several times. It just sounds like he ultimately didn't feel comfortable about making money off something that takes money out of other people's pockets:
"I still believe that ad blockers are necessary today, and I still think Ghostery is the best one, but I’ve learned over the last few crazy days that I don’t feel good making one and being the arbiter of what’s blocked...I suggest you use Ghostery on the desktop"
Re: Just doesn’t feel good
#4I wonder why he made this decision after launching. The consequences and economics of ad-blocking are nothing new or surprising, and I'm sure he knew this while developing the app. Sounds like he was threatened or blackmailed.
Re: Just doesn’t feel good
#5Is it me or does it seem like he'll back pedal the moment the backlash gets too big? It's the 'Apple software is buggy' back pedal all over again.
Re: Just doesn’t feel good
#6[deleted]
Re: Just doesn’t feel good
#7I wonder why he made this decision after launching. The consequences and economics of ad-blocking are nothing new or surprising, and I'm sure he knew this while developing the app. Sounds like he was threatened or blackmailed.
Meh, who knows, but tossing the word "blackmailed" in there is unnecessarily sensationalist, imo. All sorts of things can be "known" in the abstract, and still feel far more intense when experienced in reality.
Re: Just doesn’t feel good
#8Although I have no direct knowledge, it feels like there is something going on behind the scenes forcing this reaction. If I had to guess, I would point the finger at Ghostery causing this. Lifehacker wrote¹ that Ghostery sells some data to marketers, so perhaps the approach taken with the app interferes with Ghostery's model and they were not willing to continue allowing access to their rule list. Alternatively Ghos…
> If I had to guess, I would point the finger at Ghostery causing this. Lifehacker wrote that Ghostery sells some data to marketers, so perhaps the approach taken with the app interferes with Ghosterys model Doubtful that's the case. If you read his post, he recommends Ghostery several times. It just sounds like he ultimately didn't feel comfortable about making money off something that takes money out of other peopl…
Recommending them means nothing at all. That is practically the status quo when breaking up with another business, employee or whatever when it is done publicly. (and this obviously had to be public)
Re: Just doesn’t feel good
#9[deleted]
Re: Just doesn’t feel good
#10Although I have no direct knowledge, it feels like there is something going on behind the scenes forcing this reaction. If I had to guess, I would point the finger at Ghostery causing this. Lifehacker wrote¹ that Ghostery sells some data to marketers, so perhaps the approach taken with the app interferes with Ghostery's model and they were not willing to continue allowing access to their rule list. Alternatively Ghos…
Alternatively: I am seeing a lot of angry articles by journalists who see adblockers as an existential threat to them, and Marco also developed Instapaper. He's almost certainly already getting hate mail from content sites who don't like the way that Instapaper renders their content readable without allowing annoying intrusions. Releasing Peace on top of Instapaper set him up as a high-profile target -- even higher with that #1 app store ranking -- and that's no fun at all to live with unless you've got a very thick skin.
To those who think the pro-ad folks are right: I'd urge you to meditate on just what the #1 ranking of an ad-blocker in the app store implies about the public's appetite for advertising.