Interesting if for nothing else then because voat rarely makes the front page here?
Reddit quietly updates 16 day old post: you are now tracked even if logged out
21–30 of 44 posts
Re: Reddit quietly updates 16 day old post: you are now tracked even if logged out
#22Reddit reminds me of the Google, Don't be evil bullshit mantra with shenanigans like this almost every week. I understand the fucking "monetize, grow, and get bought out" mentality that every web business adopts, but it is pathetic when it comes to places founded by guys like Swartz.
Re: Reddit quietly updates 16 day old post: you are now tracked even if logged out
#23Before anyone gets wound up about this, they posted an explanation on voat : https://voat.co/v/MeanwhileOnReddit/comments/1083516/5406839 Assuming that gets deleted, basically it says "we just keep editing that post as we add more A/B tests so we can point people at that post if they have questions". This post on HN is really just trying to fan the flames I think, there's nothing nefarious going on here -- they've be…
The full comment if people don't feel like clicking or it does get deleted:
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Jumping into the lions' den here, but I thought I'd drop in and offer a bit of clarification:
That post is mostly to help make sure we have something to point users at as an explanation when they post in /r/help or message in. Users blocking cookies or running script blockers are excluded from the test as a matter of rule. I didn't mean the edit to seem unhanded, it's just a matter of convenience to keep the A/B test log together.
The recent_srs cookie has been around for a really long time. When people buy self-serve headlines (those sponsored headline things at the top of your frontpage), they have to choose one or more subreddits to target. We use the recent subreddit cookie to give ads to logged-out users who end up browsing deep into the site (since they don't actually have subscriptions, like logged-in users)
I don't think cookies like that are exactly nefarious — they essentially say "in this session, the user saw these pages". That being said, if you want to prevent this behavior, you should block the recent_srs cookie.
I'd love to hear a bit of feedback on the testing process. Would it be best to have a "current A/B tests" page? Individual posts for each? A global opt-out option? If you have any ideas on the most ethical and privacy-conscious ways to go about A/B testing, I'd love to hear them.
Also, apparently there's already a drunken_economist on voat. I guess that's what I get for not reserving my username
Re: Reddit quietly updates 16 day old post: you are now tracked even if logged out
#24Interesting if for nothing else then because voat rarely makes the front page here?
Neither does the Drudge report, and there may be a reason for it.
Re: Reddit quietly updates 16 day old post: you are now tracked even if logged out
#25Seriously? A post from Voat on HN? This is what you get when you search for voat on Google http://i.imgur.com/RnjbJTu.png
Re: Reddit quietly updates 16 day old post: you are now tracked even if logged out
#26That's not via us (we don't have keyword targeting or anything right now), and we definitely don't have amazon cookies on our site. Could be via chrome? Tbh, I don't know exactly hoe much Google collects through their browser.
You say "us", who are you representing?
Re: Reddit quietly updates 16 day old post: you are now tracked even if logged out
#27We are slowly starting to see the influence of the 50 million in VC funding. Let's see if we can get any blood by squeezing the stone.
Great point. I'm getting really tired of escaping from these tracking predators. Chasing me down to serve me more corporate propaganda. Fuck 'em.
You do not believe that tailoring someone's view of a site, when they don't want it to be changed, as a bad thing in terms of a user experience? It's pretty obvious it's a monetization strategy but they shouldn't ruin the experience in doing so.
Re: Reddit quietly updates 16 day old post: you are now tracked even if logged out
#28We are slowly starting to see the influence of the 50 million in VC funding. Let's see if we can get any blood by squeezing the stone.
Great point. I'm getting really tired of escaping from these tracking predators. Chasing me down to serve me more corporate propaganda. Fuck 'em.
There has to be a term for this kind of pseudo-intellectual, anti-establishment contrarian paranoia that crops up every now and then...
Re: Reddit quietly updates 16 day old post: you are now tracked even if logged out
#29Before anyone gets wound up about this, they posted an explanation on voat : https://voat.co/v/MeanwhileOnReddit/comments/1083516/5406839 Assuming that gets deleted, basically it says "we just keep editing that post as we add more A/B tests so we can point people at that post if they have questions". This post on HN is really just trying to fan the flames I think, there's nothing nefarious going on here -- they've be…
"Assuming that gets deleted"
Are you saying that HackerNews deletes links related to Voat? I am genuinely not sure what you mean by this.
Re: Reddit quietly updates 16 day old post: you are now tracked even if logged out
#30Seriously? A post from Voat on HN? This is what you get when you search for voat on Google http://i.imgur.com/RnjbJTu.png
Indeed. Voat seems to exist for people primarily for people who don't think Reddit is toxic enough.