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Facebook will show ads to non-Facebook users on other websites

wsj.com

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Re: Facebook will show ads to non-Facebook users on other websites

#61

Post by weinzierl »

> Users with a Facebook account can opt-out of the ad scheme by adjusting their settings, while non-Facebook members can opt-out through the Digital Advertising Alliance in the US, the Digital Advertising Alliance in Canada, and the European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance in Europe.

...or by using a wide-spectrum blocker like uBlock Origin, and for the cookie warning problem there is a solution too: "EU: Prebake - Filter Obtrusive Cookie Notices"[1]

[1] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/liamja/Prebake/master/obtr...

Re: Facebook will show ads to non-Facebook users on other websites

#62

Post by dang »

lucb1e wrote: post #14

They have been doing this since forever and if I remember correctly, the EU told them to stop. I don't remember if they really did stop (at least, I'm not sure if they say they did, nobody knows what they really did of course). /me opens article Oh, it's about showing ads to non-users, not about tracking. The article doesn't even claim they didn't track non-users before. Clickbait?

> Oh, it's about showing ads to non-users, not about tracking. The article doesn't even claim they didn't track non-users before. Clickbait?

Yes, and it's largely copied from another article (note the long quote followed by "tells the Journal"), so we changed the URL to that one instead. (Submitted URL was http://www.theverge.com/2016/5/27/11795248/facebook-ad-netwo...).

Submitters: HN prefers original sources. If a blog post reports on another article, please submit that article instead. This is in the site guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html.

Re: Facebook will show ads to non-Facebook users on other websites

#63

Post by unlinker »

andy_ppp wrote: post #43

I'm seeing this now: "To help personalize content, tailor and measure ads, and provide a safer experience, we use cookies. By clicking or navigating the site, you agree to allow our collection of information on and off Facebook through cookies. Learn more, including about available controls: Cookies Policy." Am I signing a contract with Facebook by clicking on their website. Is that legal?

That's the cookies warning that must be shown according to the law to all European users on all websites that use cookies.

Re: Facebook will show ads to non-Facebook users on other websites

#64

Post by ptaipale »

andy_ppp wrote: post #43

I'm seeing this now: "To help personalize content, tailor and measure ads, and provide a safer experience, we use cookies. By clicking or navigating the site, you agree to allow our collection of information on and off Facebook through cookies. Learn more, including about available controls: Cookies Policy." Am I signing a contract with Facebook by clicking on their website. Is that legal?

That actually reads very much like the "contract" that is enforced by EU on sites that use cookies to track users. It's quite irritating, IMO. (I mean the EU requirement. It doesn't add value, it just forces me to click a specific place in order to see a website.)

Re: Facebook will show ads to non-Facebook users on other websites

#65

Post by Jyaif »

a3n wrote: post #47
eknkc wrote: post #3

Surprised they weren't doing that already. Facebook has javascript injected on a lot of sites, always assumed that they'd collect a shit ton of data whether you are a user or not. Also, all ad blockers block google analytics like tracking services but social plugins are generally opt in. I guess they should be blocked by default too.

I assume they've been tracking through Like buttons (clicked or not) for a few years, and now they've collected enough data to know how best to monetize it.

You are assuming they broke the european legislation for "a few years"? It's more likely they had lower hanging fruits to work on before starting this kind of tracking.

Re: Facebook will show ads to non-Facebook users on other websites

#66

Post by vthallam »

kasey_junk wrote: post #51
deprave wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course this comment was downvoted. I really want to know what's the opposing view to this statement. Who's going to step forward and say why they think this is wrong? At the very least, make an argument like "the AI needed to trick a teenager into spending half their awake time on Facebook can also be used to solve actual problems."

- spam free, virtually limitless storage free email - free video delivery channel, that has created its own industry - communication tool that has changed news delivery & how people organize protests - free chat communication (with e2e encryption) for nearly everyone in the world (including some of the poorest) - on demand data center infrastructure at ridiculously low cost - instantly freely searchable data set of m…

This! It's a great example of what users get as a trade off for having to see relevant advt on the Internet.

Re: Facebook will show ads to non-Facebook users on other websites

#67

Post by vthallam »

This is really a big thing since it directly affects the Google cash cow(Adwords/Doubleclick). Facebook has all the data in the world about a user(location, personal details, current mood) which google lacks and so they can target users on the rest of the internet in a better way.

Re: Facebook will show ads to non-Facebook users on other websites

#68

Post by vonklaus »

Jyaif wrote: post #65
a3n wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I assume they've been tracking through Like buttons (clicked or not) for a few years, and now they've collected enough data to know how best to monetize it.

You are assuming they broke the european legislation for "a few years"? It's more likely they had lower hanging fruits to work on before starting this kind of tracking.

> You are assuming they broke the european legislation for "a few years"?

Not parent. I am not particularly famiiar with that legislation, but if it says that allowing websites to use your API and embed links to your site and profiting from the data in some way is illegal.

I am saying that.

Re: Facebook will show ads to non-Facebook users on other websites

#69

Post by ape4 »

sdoering wrote: post #8
userbinator wrote: post #5

while non-Facebook members can opt-out through the Digital Advertising Alliance in the US, the Digital Advertising Alliance in Canada, and the European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance in Europe. Or you can just block all requests to their domains. I have *.facebook.com and a few others blocked.

wc -l /etc/hosts == 11846 About 90% are blocked sites. The rest is local (privat and business) dev configuration.

Does /etc/hosts support *.facebook.com ?

Re: Facebook will show ads to non-Facebook users on other websites

#70

Post by ethanbond »

astazangasta wrote: post #17

Again, I deplore the colossal waste of human effort and talent that is going into building a sophisticated panopticon for the noble purpose of better targeted advertising . For fuck's sake, what a waste of the best minds of our generation.

Well no, they're "building a more connected world."

I interned at Facebook on their off-FB ad network and it was really disillusioning. The cognitive dissonance involved with it is intense, and each person's individual justification for their work makes the organization as a whole immune to criticism. There's a lot of social pressure to become comfortable with your work, I felt. Even today, people look at me like I'm an actual crazy person if I say that I didn't enjoy my time at Facebook. A small part of that was due to real problems in the organization, but the sneaking discontentedness was caused by precisely the opposite: the lack of questions raised.

There are lots of really great people there – so great that I can't help myself from thinking about what else they could be building.

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