31–40 of 216 posts
> Such adverts may be seen as a way to make money but can be used to influence user behaviour and control people in large numbers FLoC & ad-tracking sucks but can we dial back the hysteria?
There is zero incentive for Chromium forks, let alone any other browser vendor, to implement/leave-in this technology. For other browser vendors, it is zero-effort to not support it.
For Chromium forks, implementing it is zero effort but also comes with the same negative gain it would have for other vendors (that end-users are blind to). Unless you consider "more relevant advertisements" a win for users.
Although Chrome/Edgium have enough market share to make advertisers happy with this change, I see this entire concept as something that could further erode that given enough negative publicity. Which is fine by me.
Brave disables Chromium FLoC features - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26765084 - April 2021 (335 comments)
Am I FLoCed? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26755313 - April 2021 (33 comments)
Google’s FLoC Is a Terrible Idea - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26344013 - March 2021 (348 comments)
I know there have been others - if anyone finds them, I'll add to the above list.
> The FLoC component in Chrome needs to call Google’s servers to check if it can function since Google is only enabling it in parts of the world that are not covered by Europe’s GDPR This is all you should need to know about it.
Man GDPR is such a pain to implement and UX-wise, but it seems to actually have improved personal data protection.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
So if you create something interesting enough, the government shouldn't let you keep it? What kind of incentive is that to create interesting things?
People, sovereign, elected congress which passed antitrust law. You are not allowed to keep it because law passed by duly elected representatives of sovereign people says so. To fix incentive problems, convince people.
> The FLoC component in Chrome needs to call Google’s servers to check if it can function since Google is only enabling it in parts of the world that are not covered by Europe’s GDPR This is all you should need to know about it.
Man GDPR is such a pain to implement and UX-wise, but it seems to actually have improved personal data protection.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Isn't efficient advertising, the stated goal of FLoC, precisely the practice of influencing and controlling behavior on a large scale?
Efficient advertising is the goal of markets. Are we trying to dismantle basic economics here?
The difference between efficient price discovery and advertising is roughly equivalent to the difference between efficient sexual reproduction and rape.
I’m sure there has to be a better way to introduce the audience to FLoC. I’m over five paragraphs in and the article hasn’t properly articulated what is FLoC and _why_ it is bad. Just that it is bad.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Man GDPR is such a pain to implement and UX-wise, but it seems to actually have improved personal data protection.
I don't see what you mean. It's very easy to be GDPR compliant, just don't track your users. In fact, it's more work to be non-compliant than to be compliant.
I’m sure there has to be a better way to introduce the audience to FLoC. I’m over five paragraphs in and the article hasn’t properly articulated what is FLoC and _why_ it is bad. Just that it is bad.