New iOS privacy feature may end an era of personalized ads • Hacker News Board

Re: New iOS privacy feature may end an era of personalized ads

#101

Post by blaser-waffle » Fri, Jul 17, 2020, 2:02 PM UTC

kohtatsu wrote: post #56

t0mas88 wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I agree that the ad industry has taken it too far, I also disagree with your statement. Because users pay for free apps with their data, Apple isn't asking them "do you want to pay $ 0.99 or accept ad tracking?" Apple asks "Do you want to use this app without ad tracking" of course the user will choose to disable ad tracking because there is no downside to them. But if all users do that it will be the end of a…

The downside is not having personalized ads. They will still see ads. I'm vehemently against invasive tracking for personalized ads, but more than happy to see clearly marked, clean context-based ads.

I will gladly take random, or geo-located ads over a system that listens to me and then makes creepy, preternatural recommendations based on something I just said.

Hell, most of the context based ads were terrible. "Oh you just ordered a $THING? How about we spam you with recommendations for things you don't need since you already ordered $THING." Or how youtube now thinks I'm an arch-conservative because I listed to 5 minutes of a Jordan Peterson video.

Re: New iOS privacy feature may end an era of personalized ads

#102

Post by blaser-waffle » Fri, Jul 17, 2020, 2:05 PM UTC

harpratap wrote: post #48

SllX wrote: post #20

If an entire industry dies because users were given an explicit upfront choice, because of one popup like the article says, then it wasn’t a productive industry. We’ll see what really happens.

What will really happen is ads get more sinister and hidden. Product placements in movies will seem childish in comparison. Astro-turfing is already huge on Reddit, it will spread to all parts of media now, blurring the lines between genuine opinions and forced narrative. Ads, marketing and branding are integral part of capitalism, it's never going to go away from consumption focused societies.

This is already happening, man.

Like you said, it's already huge on reddit, and is almost certainty happening on HN, too.

HN is a niche demographic, but one that has an inordinate amount of wealth and technical sway. And since it's part of a startup incubator, there is no pretense of neutrality -- part of HN is openly flogging your brand.

Re: New iOS privacy feature may end an era of personalized ads

#103

Post by rasz » Fri, Jul 17, 2020, 2:07 PM UTC

wayneftw wrote: post #99

rasz wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Microsoft already tried, very hard even. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scroogled Problem is nobody likes Microsoft, its not sexy. Just look at all the dislikes under those videos. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iI1ominSL_c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63u-RG-31B0

Hardly anybody outside of the tech bubble saw those videos. What happened there is a brigade of haters came along and down voted them. Probably a lot of Mozilla/Google supporters. There are plenty of Microsoft videos with mostly upvotes. Try a video about the Xbox.

This was a TV/print ad campaign with >$10mil budget, not some random YT videos.

Re: New iOS privacy feature may end an era of personalized ads

#104

Post by gruez » Fri, Jul 17, 2020, 2:23 PM UTC

occamschainsaw wrote: post #36

omnifischer wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At the end of the day, 1. Apple users are the ones that cannot browse without adblocker. Safari is not as good as ublock-origin 2. Most Apple users use google maps. > Not a fan of Apple, but they seem to be serious about privacy If they are honest then they can remove the default search engine from Google to DDG or whatever. They get billions from Google for default search engine. https://www.theverge.com/2020/7/1/21…

I have been using adblockers[1,2] on mobile as well as desktop safari for quite some time now. 1. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/wipr/id1030595027 2. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/quiet-content-blocker/id144152...

He's sort of right about the adblocker situation. The content blocker framework is definitely weaker than what ublock has access to on chrome/firefox. It's much closer to the much derided chrome manifest v3.

Re: New iOS privacy feature may end an era of personalized ads

#105

Post by RKearney » Fri, Jul 17, 2020, 2:26 PM UTC

t0mas88 wrote: post #58

d--b wrote: post #2

At long last! And now I'll know why I pay more for an iPhone.

That's not a reason to pay more for an iPhone. Android allows you to install any browser you want (as opposed to Apple still not allowing real third party browsers), including Firefox with uBlock, which is much much better at privacy than Safari on Apple and as a bonus makes the internet 3x faster by blocking ads.

Yes, we should all flock to an operating system developed by an advertising company in an effort to escape advertisements.

Re: New iOS privacy feature may end an era of personalized ads

#106

Post by mark_l_watson » Fri, Jul 17, 2020, 2:27 PM UTC

Off topic, I have been enjoying the iOS and iPadOS version 14 betas.

This privacy feature is pro-consumer and I am all for it! I pay money to Google (GCP, Play entertainment stuff) and FaceBook (Oculus VR addict, here!), but I don't want them using any of my data to enrich themselves or other companies.

Everyone should read "The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power." It was printed about 15 months ago, but is still highly relevant to both convince people that there is a serious problem and also advice on fighting back.

Re: New iOS privacy feature may end an era of personalized ads

#107

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Jul 17, 2020, 2:30 PM UTC

Yetanfou wrote: post #53

raxxorrax wrote: post #9

Maybe the open source promise of Android was indeed a lie. To me this industry has no value to society at all. Not a fan of Apple, but they seem to be serious about privacy showing other companies how it is done. Microsoft could have really established itself as an alternative to Google on the same front, but they utterly failed by mirroring the worst aspects of the disastrous landscape we see on mobile devices. I ho…

In what way is open source Android a lie? I never used any other version, I do not have a Google account, nor do I have any Google-proprietary software on my devices yet they still run all software - including the Swedish "BankID" electronic ID app which is needed for just about any interaction with anything official nowadays. That "BankID" is, together with Firefox Preview, the only software which I got from the pla…

[deleted]

Re: New iOS privacy feature may end an era of personalized ads

#108

Post by prox » Fri, Jul 17, 2020, 2:31 PM UTC

Joe8Bit wrote: post #73

In a previous life I worked in ad-tech, and I don't think it's as black and white as the OP makes it out to be. I think that's actually a Bad Thing™️ as this industry needs to profoundly change or die. This isn't a new, unexpected thing for sell or demand side ad-tech platforms, they've seen the death of IDFA coming for a few years. The reality is that this will likely stop more 'above board' players (a good thing) b…

I also don’t believe in Ad-tech doom and gloom. Yes, ad companies won’t be hoarding as much data, but advertisement worked fine before it started to do it.

Back to basics it is, treat me well as a customer, deliver as promised and use ads responsibly (aka no more hyper targetting)

Re: New iOS privacy feature may end an era of personalized ads

#109

Post by AdrianB1 » Fri, Jul 17, 2020, 2:35 PM UTC

omnifischer wrote: post #68

AdrianB1 wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even the cheapest Mercedes Benz car cannot be afforded by > 80% of the world. The cheapest Rolex cannot be afforded by > 99% of the world. They do care about the world population, but they don't have to serve them, even if they have needs. Having needs satisfied is not someone else's obligation.

Smartphone is a necessity. For example, without covid app you cannot go out in many countries. Yes, most people do not need Mercedes- agree. You can live without mercedes but not without smartphone. Paying for services; employer; calling people; if you swap 3 jobs then you are informed by your boss through WhatsApp or fb (at least in parts of 3rd world - I went through that in the last years). Of course, there is no…

You are making 3 arguments, all not proven:

1. People cannot live without smartphones. I wonder how the past 10,000 were: how people made phone calls 100 years without smartphones, how they paid with card or cash, how to live without Facebook or WhatsApp. It must be terrible to be so entitled.

2. When people need smartphones, they should afford iPhones. Why a $100 Huawei is not enough?

3. When people have needs, someone is obligated to satisfy it. Oh, that sex maniac across the street ...

Re: New iOS privacy feature may end an era of personalized ads

#110

Post by nsl73 » Fri, Jul 17, 2020, 2:43 PM UTC

rasz wrote: post #103

wayneftw wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hardly anybody outside of the tech bubble saw those videos. What happened there is a brigade of haters came along and down voted them. Probably a lot of Mozilla/Google supporters. There are plenty of Microsoft videos with mostly upvotes. Try a video about the Xbox.

This was a TV/print ad campaign with >$10mil budget, not some random YT videos.

They bought Nokia, and had a presence in every Att/Verizon/Sprint/T-Mobile store.

Microsoft tried hard, and kept trying long after it was clear to most of the market that they didn’t have traction. The owners of Windows phones were some of the most vocal champions at the time too. They legitimately made good but unpopular products at the time.