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Tech-savvy audiences block Google Analytics

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Re: Tech-savvy audiences block Google Analytics

#251

Post by whimsicalism »

nonameiguess wrote: post #241
dgudkov wrote: post #110

It amazes me that over the last 10-20 years an astonishing amount of money and intellectual capital have been invested in adtech and crypto but nothing in micropayments. Ads are evil, but it will remain a moot point until we have working micropayments. We have (and will have) ads with all their downsides exactly because we don't have micropayments, because ads basically work as a substitute to micropayments.

I feel like most on the producer side are coming at this from a totally wrong angle. A better web isn't a web in which content is monetized in a different way. Consumers don't want to pay because most content on the web is not worth paying for. Not with ads, not with micropayments, not with anything. There's the saying about five web sites consisting of screenshots of the other four, but even with news, the vast bulk…

> If content producers are willing to put in the hard work of developing a reputation for quality output slowly, disseminated through trusted sources, surely augmented by some form of paid marketing but not by just spamming the web with links in the hopes that they can get clicks and then use dark patterns to keep people on the site long enough to monetize 20 seconds of their eyeball time, then maybe they can get people to willingly pay them.

What do you think traditional print media organizations were trying to do for decades before they gave up and embraced the new normal with layoffs and consolidation? Substack is an extremely, small, extremely premium part of what used to be the whole.

> Consumers don't want to pay because most content on the web is not worth paying for.

Maybe much content on the web is not worth paying for, but the vast majority consumers don't want to pay regardless of the quality, not because of it. It has literally been impossible for most news organizations to survive because people would rather read the advertising-funded "22 year-old" than a quality outlet where they have to pay any amount of money.

Re: Tech-savvy audiences block Google Analytics

#252

Post by matzab »

belter wrote: post #151
turbinerneiter wrote: post #15

There is a German movie about the system that is used to gather TV ratings. It's a special box that some users get which reports what they are watching. Small sample size goes into a big statistic (not sure how accurate the portrayal of the system in the movie is). These boxes are given to the people who pay the German public TV fee, which excludes i.e. students (they don't have to pay) and some other groups. This gr…

Is this the fee you have to pay even if you are blind or deaf, or do not have a Radio or TV? Gives you the most boring TV News in the world, plus 600 movies per year nobody wants to watch, because they are horrible? But they collected the tax and they have to spend it, as the German actors guild is worst than a cartel? :-) https://www.german-way.com/germanys-tv-tax-the-debate-over-t...

Deutschlandfunk alone is worth it imho

Re: Tech-savvy audiences block Google Analytics

#254

Post by johannes1234321 »

zibzab wrote: post #211
commoner wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're referring to Firefox using Google Analytics for the Firefox Add-ons frontend, as of July 2017, Mozilla has disabled Google Analytics for any browser that has Do Not Track enabled. https://github.com/mozilla/addons-frontend/issues/2785#issue... This change was made in response to pressure from HN readers, so thanks to everyone for that.

It's odd a company of that size cannot roll their own solution.

It's odd a company of the size of GM cannot roll their own gas station and toad construction network.

What's the purpose of the Mozilla organisation? Is it in creating a analytics platform? Mind that value of GA comes from all the info they have and thus can estimate age, gender, social things, ... of users etc. Building an comparable service is a notable effort with little synergies to what Mozilla does. (Whereas Google can combine with information from other businesses)

Re: Tech-savvy audiences block Google Analytics

#255

Post by whimsicalism »

jsymolon wrote: post #171
sofixa wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but nothing in micropayments That's not true. Web Monetization is built on top of the Interledger and does precisely that - micropayments for web content. When i wrote about it[0] and posted on HN[1] the overwhelming response here was negative, presupposing greed and lack of privacy of everyone ( as in the website would still track and run ads to earn more money, etc.). The solutions exist, people just don't want t…

> overwhelming response here was negative, presupposing greed and lack of privacy of everyone Because the history of other platforms which have done this, shows that ads didn't go away. Cable TV, full of ads. Satellite Radio, not too bad but still has ads.

> Because the history of other platforms which have done this, shows that ads didn't go away.

This is classic negativity bias, I can think of plenty of platforms that transitioned to paid models without ads

Re: Tech-savvy audiences block Google Analytics

#256

Post by whimsicalism »

sodality2 wrote: post #190
qualudeheart wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m still surprised more apps don’t have inbuilt marketplaces and then take a cut of payments. Reddit could do this. Users sell to each other through an Etsy like interface. Reddit takes 5% of each transaction. This solves Reddits existing inability to monetize through ads as successfully as their major competitors.

What would be sold on a Reddit market?

Like craigslist 2.0? They could capitalize on the fact that there are existing sub-communities around various niches.

Re: Tech-savvy audiences block Google Analytics

#258

Post by perryizgr8 »

dgan wrote: post #221
tmslnz wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I found NextDNS to be relatively convenient and easy to set up even for a lay audience. Definitely easier than a PiHole or a custom `dnsmasq` setup, and it offers mobile configuration client apps. What I do not know is if it will work also when apps begin using DNS over HTTPS… I suppose not?

I have been using NextDNS for couple of days, but since I don't have a static IP, it's obviously not so convenient, I have to reset my IP every time it changes But otherwise, absolutely great, awesome statistics about blocked/requested domains, countries, etc...

They have ways to automatically detect your IP so you don't have to update it manually.

Re: Tech-savvy audiences block Google Analytics

#259

Post by ponytech »

timdaub wrote: post #83
ponytech wrote: post #22

This article clearly suggests that you should use their own solution, Plausible Analytics. They are also JavaScript based, so how long before ad-blockers start blocking them too? Isn't it time to come back to server side analytics?

They are blocked a whole lot too, see my comment in the thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28365505

I don't get your comment, sorry.

By server side analytics I meant using a tool like AWStas or Webalizer which parse web server logs to tell you how much visitors you had on your site.

I can't see how it can be blocked.

Re: Tech-savvy audiences block Google Analytics

#260

Post by prox »

Mindwipe wrote: post #106
deergomoo wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Explains why Reddit promotes it so much It must be very disheartening to work on reddit's mobile site. Not only is it deliberately made a miserable experience by forcing you through AMP via Google and insisting you "continue in browser" every time, but then you're greeted with a banner that outright says "this page is better in the app".

> It must be very disheartening to work on reddit's mobile site. You can probably cross "mobile" out of this entirely. Reddit have spent three years now building sites that are worse in every way than the decade old junker it's trying to replace.

Reddit’s mobile site looks like it was made by a group of 15 year olds and doing a my first website tutorial, falling into all the traps there are.

The amount of times it crashes on mobile platforms is insane.

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