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Google Fonts Analytics

fonts.google.com

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Re: Google Fonts Analytics

#91
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It does not, and they don't sell the data or use it for any tracking.

Their FAQ says that they don't (currently) use cookies, but it also includes the sentence "Google Fonts logs records of the CSS and the font file requests, and access to this data is kept secure", so they could still do some IP-based analytics. More importantly though, it gives Google accurate insight into web traffic (many users block Google Analytics, but almost everyone loads web fonts), and it allows them to craw…

> Google has poured a lot of money into this

Why, though? Not charity, I'd assume. The only other answers I can come up with are pretty damn nefarious.

Re: Google Fonts Analytics

#92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The latter.

Do you think it's still used for the latter rather than the former now?

Heh, that's a better question. I have no reason to believe that Google Fonts are being used to track users, but I don't have hard evidence on this either way. I am deeply concerned about the way the modern Internet is turning into a surveillance machine and its potential for abuse, but if I were evil, I'd probably go after much lower hanging fruit than fonts.

Re: Google Fonts Analytics

#93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The latter.

Do you think it's still used for the latter rather than the former now?

I think Google might have better ways to track people. Fonts are also cached by CDNs and the local browser so I’m not sure if they provide good tracking data (they get loaded only for the first page visit for example and popular fonts like Open Sans are probably already in your cache when you open a page).

If you’re concerned about tracking as a website operator you can simply load the fonts from your own server, most of them can be found on Github and have liberal licenses (I think all fonts on fonts.google.com)

Re: Google Fonts Analytics

#94
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If google embedded the top fonts in the browser this wouldn’t be an issue. I don’t understand why the font selection in browsers is so limited.

Practically there's no difference between a browser that lazily downloads builtin fonts, and a global URL for a font file across websites with an extremely long TTL. And you don't want the browsers to be even more bloated than they already are!

There is a HUGE difference:

- not all sites use CDN, even if using the same font

- not all sites use the same CDN

- users clear the cache (clearing history does that on firefox)

- incognito mode is a thing

- first load matters a lot

- browser have a limit of the disk space they use for cache, and they evict older entries when they reach it. Given sites are now bloated, this fills up fast.

- this repeats for each browser. I have 5 on my laptop, 3 on my mobile, 2 on my tablet.

Re: Google Fonts Analytics

#95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you think it's still used for the latter rather than the former now?

Heh, that's a better question. I have no reason to believe that Google Fonts are being used to track users, but I don't have hard evidence on this either way. I am deeply concerned about the way the modern Internet is turning into a surveillance machine and its potential for abuse, but if I were evil, I'd probably go after much lower hanging fruit than fonts.

Thanks for this honest answer.

Re: Google Fonts Analytics

#96

I was part of the team that founded this, about 10 years ago if memory serves. I'm still loosely involved, though no longer at Google. Inconsolata was one of the 20 fonts for the original launch, and we're now in the process of launching it as a variable font, with both width and weight axes. I'm also getting funding from them for Rust-based font tools. Feel free to AMA, though no guarantees I'll have good answers.

I currently work on it as well, so happy to pitch in.

Can you still be tracked if the fonts are delivered from your server?

Re: Google Fonts Analytics

#97
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Their FAQ says that they don't (currently) use cookies, but it also includes the sentence "Google Fonts logs records of the CSS and the font file requests, and access to this data is kept secure", so they could still do some IP-based analytics. More importantly though, it gives Google accurate insight into web traffic (many users block Google Analytics, but almost everyone loads web fonts), and it allows them to craw…

> Google has poured a lot of money into this Why, though? Not charity, I'd assume. The only other answers I can come up with are pretty damn nefarious.

The parent comment said:

> it allows them to crawl websites more easily – before web fonts, many websites used pre-rendered PNGs to show web-unsafe fonts, which made crawling impossible

Re: Google Fonts Analytics

#98
post #22

Does anyone know whether this service generates any revenue for Google? I can’t see selling fonts data as something desirable by 3rd party companies but maybe that’s just me?

Google doesn't directly sell data in the first place - they leverage the data they have to improve the value of their ad network (in the form of enhanced targeting and attribution capabilities). It's actually in their best interest to _protect_ the data they have on you, as it's a primary competitive advantage they have over other ad networks.

As far as the unsavory interpretation of how they could conceivably use Fonts data to further that end: calls to download their fonts are another touchpoint with the Google ecosystem, and a theoretical vector for further tracking the browsing behavior and device graph of an individual.

That said, traditional font licensing for commercial use is absolutely bonkers[1][2][3]. Even if Google is using the data they collect from serving font files to feed into their user tracking, they've done a service to the web[4].

[1] https://designshack.net/articles/typography/what-is-a-font-l...

[2] Working at a creative agency, I learned that we can't so much as legally use a client-dictated (and licensed) font in a mockup without paying thousands of dollars for a license ourselves.

[3] Webfonts tend to be licensed on a per-pageview basis. One client got hit with a temporary flood of scraping/bot traffic, and the biggest economic impact was the unexpected six-figure font bill that month. We convinced them to put the site behind Cloudflare and used a Worker to strip out the font include for suspected bot traffic and inadvertently lowered their licensing cost by more than our annual retainer.

[4] I can't say how it is everywhere, but working at one of the top three marketing agencies, Google Fonts are the only approved open-source fonts we're allowed to use (since they're primarily free for commercial use, as well). Not every client is able or willing to absorb a 5-6 figure font line item for every engagement, so without Google Fonts we'd (and I presume other major agencies) would be stuck with using system default fonts everywhere.

Re: Google Fonts Analytics

#99

I was part of the team that founded this, about 10 years ago if memory serves. I'm still loosely involved, though no longer at Google. Inconsolata was one of the 20 fonts for the original launch, and we're now in the process of launching it as a variable font, with both width and weight axes. I'm also getting funding from them for Rust-based font tools. Feel free to AMA, though no guarantees I'll have good answers.

I currently work on it as well, so happy to pitch in.

Any estimate when Inter can be expected?

https://github.com/google/fonts/issues/1455#event-2995287982

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