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I left the ad industry because of data tracking

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Re: I left the ad industry because of data tracking

#81

Post by SquareWheel »

nerdponx wrote: post #48
cik2e wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There is no demand for personal data or de-anonymization because that stuff doesn't sell. Say what?? I’ve also worked in the ad industry and deanonymized personal data is shared and sold routinely . You speak of statistics and large segments but every advertiser I’ve interacted with is either doing individual-level targeting or striving towards it.

To wit, A few weeks ago there was a discussion here about a method by which you could figure out how fast a browser/machine could compute an SHA 512 hash, and that this was being used to fingerprint users even who had cookies, images, JavaScript disabled.

Was it just a proof of concept demonstration, or was there evidence that this method is being used in the wild by advertisers?

Re: I left the ad industry because of data tracking

#82

Post by DailyHN »

DougBTX wrote: post #44
jccalhoun wrote: post #40

What are they doing with all this data tracking because it sure isn't giving me relevant ads. In addition to the often noted situation where you buy something online and then get ads for that thing you already bought, I routinely see totally irrelevant ads and recommendations. I've been on Facebook since around 2003. I've had an Amazon account for even longer. Their ads and recommendations for me are terrible. Two re…

I wonder how much of this is a scam on the advertisers too, sure the platform might have great detail for targeting ads, but if someone comes along and outbids on generic terms it isn’t going to do you much good as an advertiser either.

Using Google retargeting ads, less than 5% of desktop traffic goes on to click anywhere on my website. And it's worse for mobile than on desktops.

Source: I setup Google Analytics event tracking to trigger on every page click.

Edit: change 10% to 5%. And it's actually only 2.5% over the past 14 days.

Edit2: and that was from ~200 clicks over 14 days.

Re: I left the ad industry because of data tracking

#83

Post by majewsky »

DailyHN wrote: post #82
DougBTX wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder how much of this is a scam on the advertisers too, sure the platform might have great detail for targeting ads, but if someone comes along and outbids on generic terms it isn’t going to do you much good as an advertiser either.

Using Google retargeting ads, less than 5% of desktop traffic goes on to click anywhere on my website. And it's worse for mobile than on desktops. Source: I setup Google Analytics event tracking to trigger on every page click. Edit: change 10% to 5%. And it's actually only 2.5% over the past 14 days. Edit2: and that was from ~200 clicks over 14 days.

> I setup Google Analytics event tracking to trigger on every page click.

Thank you, I now feel as good as I'll ever feel about using uBO.

Re: I left the ad industry because of data tracking

#84

Post by lotsofpulp »

Aromasin wrote: post #50
pure-awesome wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just making sure you're aware of the discussion around Ghostery that's happened here on HackerNews, so you can make an informed decision: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15969525 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16809625 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13652126 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9617827

F-ing wonderful. Almost reaffirming the inevitability of it all really. Back to uBlock it is. Thanks for the heads up.

Not ublock, you need to use ublock origin.

Re: I left the ad industry because of data tracking

#85

Post by jccalhoun »

mihaifm wrote: post #74
jccalhoun wrote: post #40

What are they doing with all this data tracking because it sure isn't giving me relevant ads. In addition to the often noted situation where you buy something online and then get ads for that thing you already bought, I routinely see totally irrelevant ads and recommendations. I've been on Facebook since around 2003. I've had an Amazon account for even longer. Their ads and recommendations for me are terrible. Two re…

Watched some Youtube yesterday, it kept showing me the same freaking ad for like 20 times in a row. Sometimes I get the same 2-3 ads for weeks at a time. Not sure what's the idea, if you're going to show ads at least make it a barable experience, it's almost as if they're trying to trigger some breaking point.

If I see an add for Good Omens while trying to watch something on twitch on my tv I am going to flip a table.

Re: I left the ad industry because of data tracking

#86

Post by orbat »

2Ccltvcm wrote: post #52

Hedge funds and intelligence agencies are fingerprinting all groups within our society by monitoring the responses of various target audiences to engineered stimuli. This comes in the form of observing the response to selective dissemination of content with a known effect on observers (you). A few years ago we heard about some outrage nobody did anything about when it became clear Facebook was manipulating reader emo…

"strong healthy black man rescues white woman from a bumbling and pathetic white male."

Yeah, that… really doesn't sound as common a theme as you imply

Re: I left the ad industry because of data tracking

#87

Post by somatic »

overthemoon wrote: post #80
2Ccltvcm wrote: post #52

Hedge funds and intelligence agencies are fingerprinting all groups within our society by monitoring the responses of various target audiences to engineered stimuli. This comes in the form of observing the response to selective dissemination of content with a known effect on observers (you). A few years ago we heard about some outrage nobody did anything about when it became clear Facebook was manipulating reader emo…

This is paranoid. I remember the story about Facebook doing emotional manipulation through the feed, but you go from there to hyper rich hedge funds and shadowy intelligence agencies at the reins of public life shaping the course of history through social media black magic. I don't doubt there are bad actors trying to do bad things via advertising and social media, but this is quite the claim. The rich and powerful a…

I don’t know about you, but the Snowden Revelations dramatically shifted my baseline of “paranoid schizo”. Before, I thought the prospect utterly bananas that “the government” was tapping every phone call, strong-arming ISPs, and intercepting mail en route to its destination.

Then I found myself in a rabbit hole of Tuskegee experiments, Operation Northwoodses, MKULTRAs, human-animal hybrids, and so on.

Now, the question I ask is, “is this technologically possible?”

Re: I left the ad industry because of data tracking

#88

Post by cameronbrown »

majewsky wrote: post #83
DailyHN wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Using Google retargeting ads, less than 5% of desktop traffic goes on to click anywhere on my website. And it's worse for mobile than on desktops. Source: I setup Google Analytics event tracking to trigger on every page click. Edit: change 10% to 5%. And it's actually only 2.5% over the past 14 days. Edit2: and that was from ~200 clicks over 14 days.

> I setup Google Analytics event tracking to trigger on every page click. Thank you, I now feel as good as I'll ever feel about using uBO.

I think tracking page clicks is completely different to invasive data profiling. Anything that could theoretically be tracked server-side (like a link click) is fair game. The only reason it's done client side is easy implementation.

Re: I left the ad industry because of data tracking

#89

Post by PaulHoule »

jccalhoun wrote: post #40

What are they doing with all this data tracking because it sure isn't giving me relevant ads. In addition to the often noted situation where you buy something online and then get ads for that thing you already bought, I routinely see totally irrelevant ads and recommendations. I've been on Facebook since around 2003. I've had an Amazon account for even longer. Their ads and recommendations for me are terrible. Two re…

It amazes me that this story doesn't get more press.

The press thinks that Outbrain and Tabooleh are such geniuses, but they show the same ads they've shown for five years that everyone I know has learned not to click on. (e.g. if you do click on one promising to see some kind of images the one image you won't see when you click is what is promised.)

Re: I left the ad industry because of data tracking

#90

Post by jccalhoun »

vmurthy wrote: post #49
jccalhoun wrote: post #40

What are they doing with all this data tracking because it sure isn't giving me relevant ads. In addition to the often noted situation where you buy something online and then get ads for that thing you already bought, I routinely see totally irrelevant ads and recommendations. I've been on Facebook since around 2003. I've had an Amazon account for even longer. Their ads and recommendations for me are terrible. Two re…

I am curious given that I have an Ad-blocker for most websites and am not on FB. How do you even see ads? Have FB et al found a workaround for ad-blockers?

Facebook spends a lot of time making it hard to block ads on their site. I have turned off adblocking for the site because it is often ineffective for me and sometimes breaks things on the site.
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