After Facebook scrutiny, is Google next? • Hacker News Board

Re: After Facebook scrutiny, is Google next?

#41

Post by prolikewhoa » Sun, Apr 22, 2018, 5:45 PM UTC

notacoward wrote: post #37

prolikewhoa wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That CNN article they quote is nothing more than CNN disliking that Youtube is challenging them in viewers and ad money. CNN isn't exactly the bastion of legitimacy and journalistic standards either. They're also trying to take down true left wing media like Jimmy Dore, painting him as a 'conspiracy theorist' for not being certain about the Syrian gas attacks before the OPCW was even there , as real journalists shoul…

> nothing more than CNN disliking that Youtube is challenging them in viewers and ad money Which is also what's behind journalists, bloggers, etc. all hating on Facebook too, but nobody ever wants to hear that.

That doesn't really make sense. Facebook is a large advertising platform for journalists and media that have existed for a very long time. It's not exactly a space for creators like Youtube.

Re: After Facebook scrutiny, is Google next?

#42

Post by samfisher83 » Sun, Apr 22, 2018, 5:47 PM UTC

The fact that google assistant won't even work without enabling web&app activity really pisses me off. Most of time I use the voice controls to set timer or notes. Why does it need my web history to do that?

Re: After Facebook scrutiny, is Google next?

#43

Post by oflannabhra » Sun, Apr 22, 2018, 5:47 PM UTC

oflannabhra wrote: post #24

The spark that triggered the current firestorm Facebook is facing has nothing to do with Facebook’s practices—those have been apparent and obvious since before Facebook is as even a company. The spark was the confluence of divisive political headwinds and an outrage-driven news cycle. I’m thankful that spark has resulted in sustained scrutiny of Facebook, but without a similar environment and controversy, I doubt Goo…

I’ll add a thought:

The great irony in Facebook’s situation is that it is purely the result of hubris. In 2010, Zuckerberg saw FB as the next great platform. The API was released to much acclaim. But the API essentially gave away the keys to the kingdom!

Facebook either 1) didn’t realize that they weren’t a platform and the social graph was the most valuable information they possessed, and were blinded by ignorance, or 2) didn’t want to be “just” an advertisement business, and was blinded by hubris.

Maybe it was a bit of both, but given how engineering driven FB is, I’d guess there was a healthy dose of #2, and probably still is.

Re: After Facebook scrutiny, is Google next?

#44

Post by AJ007 » Sun, Apr 22, 2018, 5:47 PM UTC

justinzollars wrote: post #35

Concerned that google has so much info ( https://myactivity.google.com/myactivity ) I visited https://myaccount.google.com/activitycontrols to turn off Web & App Activity, but left Voice & Audio Activity on. This breaks my google home. I do not want Google to save 20 years of search history so I can use a stupid google home. For the first time I'm considering Apple's device. This is a dark pattern Google

I’m waiting for an answer to this: will the least invasive platforms end up the least intelligent?

Re: After Facebook scrutiny, is Google next?

#45

Post by UncleMeat » Sun, Apr 22, 2018, 5:48 PM UTC

amelius wrote: post #2

Congress should take action, and install a watchdog that continuously monitors these companies; e.g. by verifying that data placed online cannot be bought through different channels.

Why would google ever sell data? Surely it is their greatest asset?

Re: After Facebook scrutiny, is Google next?

#46

Post by freehunter » Sun, Apr 22, 2018, 5:48 PM UTC

justinzollars wrote: post #35

Concerned that google has so much info ( https://myactivity.google.com/myactivity ) I visited https://myaccount.google.com/activitycontrols to turn off Web & App Activity, but left Voice & Audio Activity on. This breaks my google home. I do not want Google to save 20 years of search history so I can use a stupid google home. For the first time I'm considering Apple's device. This is a dark pattern Google

This has been my stance for about five years now. I don’t want to give all this info to companies I don’t trust. Apple devices might cost more, but Apple only makes money from you when you give them money. Google and Facebook make money when you give them money and then make money when you give them information too. There’s a perverse incentive, they want you to use it more and give them more information because they make more money from selling you rather than selling to you.

If you want that to change, you have to be willing to offset that price difference from your own wallet.

Re: After Facebook scrutiny, is Google next?

#47

Post by thathappened » Sun, Apr 22, 2018, 5:48 PM UTC

We're learning that good is relative so do no evil can't mean anything good for us, long-term, unless we're Google.

Re: After Facebook scrutiny, is Google next?

#48

Post by AJ007 » Sun, Apr 22, 2018, 5:48 PM UTC

mudil wrote: post #13

amelius wrote: post #2

Congress should take action, and install a watchdog that continuously monitors these companies; e.g. by verifying that data placed online cannot be bought through different channels.

That is wrong way to approach the issue. These companies should not be gathering personal information worse than NSA. Personal information is personal, and free people in a free society should not be followed by multinational corporations.

At least the targeting is advertising and not drone strikes.

Re: After Facebook scrutiny, is Google next?

#49

Post by icebraining » Sun, Apr 22, 2018, 5:51 PM UTC

wybiral wrote: post #39

dijit wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have similar anecdotes regarding youtube. My feed often randomly recommends "SJW owned compilation" and "feminism fails". I may have watched one or two videos from prominent feminists and their supposed opposition in 2011 but google is really waiting for me to get back to that particular political fight for some reason. How long do I have to ignore something before it goes away? It reminds me of how in the UK the t…

> My feed often randomly recommends "SJW owned compilation" and "feminism fails". I had the same videos queue up in mine and nothing I watch seems even remotely related to that. My YouTube usage is pretty "family friendly" so it struck me as particularly odd to see such blatantly divisive hate videos. I've even seen weird ads about deep state conspiracy stuff on there too. Their algorithms seem totally broken because…

Where do these appear? If it's in the Recommendations, you can delete them, then a link appears called "Tell Us Why", and in that dialog you can see which video in your history influenced that recommendation (and tell it to stop recommending stuff based on it).

It's always worked quite well for me. I have zero crap in my recommendations.

Re: After Facebook scrutiny, is Google next?

#50

Post by berg01 » Sun, Apr 22, 2018, 5:52 PM UTC

matchagaucho wrote: post #20

Google knows far more about me than Facebook. But their product is not premised on my genuine identity, or the sharing of my social graph with apps. Google has been pretty good at preserving the illusion of "anonymous browsing".

After the Damore ousting I've been doing all semi-risky searches on Bing. I treat Google as the safe-for-work search engine. I guess I had this epiphany - before Damore I trusted them with everything. Post Damore, I saw that Google was run by a new kind of explicitly political people. That's scary.

(That is to say: I now only trust Google with pedestrian queries.)