Tech-savvy audiences block Google Analytics • Hacker News Board

Re: Tech-savvy audiences block Google Analytics

#641

Post by version_five » Tue, Aug 31, 2021, 11:21 PM UTC

jandrese wrote: post #619

ryandrake wrote: post #484

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reminds me of a thread a while ago pointing out that a single show dominates the MTV programming lineup almost every day [1]. It's as if there is some algorithm running without human intervention that feeds on itself by reacting only to current viewing habits: foreach (show s in lineup) if (s.viewers > THRESHOLD) lineup.replace_with_more (s) Obviously resulting in this weird local maxima where no other shows get broa…

I don't have MTV so I had to look up what "Ridiculousness" is. Apparently they play Youtube/Tiktok/etc... clips? Sounds like it must be incredibly cheap to produce. This is what it looks like when you let a race to the bottom continue on indefinitely. And the cable industry can't understand why people keep cutting the cord. Can you imagine shelling out $120/month to have some producers pick out Youtube clips for you?

I went to a big box bar/restaurant a couple years ago, and they had a big screen TV playing basically what you describe. I wonder if that is the audience, subscribers using is as essentially something in the background? It's hard to believe there are enough that want this to make it economically viable...

Re: Tech-savvy audiences block Google Analytics

#642

Post by mgh2 » Tue, Aug 31, 2021, 11:37 PM UTC

Jorengarenar wrote: post #402

mgh2 wrote: post #377

Why is this even at the front page of HN? I give them credit for the brilliant marketing. This is an ad disguised as an article targeting the "tech savvy" by bundling HN and Reddit (a truth + a lie makes the statement more true), a common clickbait tactic > This makes sense especially considering how difficult it is to install an adblocker on Chrome, the most popular browser on mobile devices. Nope, it is really easy…

It says it's difficult to install on mobile

I see where the disconnect was: the article had a subtitle of "68% of laptop and desktop users block Google Analytics"

Yet, their stated cause ("how difficult it is to install an adblocker on Chrome") refers to mobile users

A logic shift there - a bait and switch? Not sure if this is an error, or outright manipulation

This puts the entire article's credibility in question

Proof: in case they modify it like they did in HN's title

1. Title: https://ibb.co/Q87pDPr

2. Subtitle: https://ibb.co/nDshDCT

Re: Tech-savvy audiences block Google Analytics

#643

Post by saltminer » Tue, Aug 31, 2021, 11:43 PM UTC

distances wrote: post #602

zo1 wrote: post #571

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Big game changer that, right-click what is bothering you and choose "Block element", then drag sliders to get it perfect. Done.

Nice, hadn't seen those sliders before. Must be a new feature.

It's been around for some time. Not sure how long, but I don't remember it ever not being there.

Re: Tech-savvy audiences block Google Analytics

#644

Post by Jorengarenar » Wed, Sep 01, 2021, 12:22 AM UTC

mgh2 wrote: post #642

Jorengarenar wrote: post #402

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It says it's difficult to install on mobile

I see where the disconnect was: the article had a subtitle of "68% of laptop and desktop users block Google Analytics" Yet, their stated cause ("how difficult it is to install an adblocker on Chrome") refers to mobile users A logic shift there - a bait and switch? Not sure if this is an error, or outright manipulation This puts the entire article's credibility in question Proof: in case they modify it like they did i…

One sentence says that mobile users block GA less than desktop users. The following sentence states it makes sense since installing add-ons on most popular mobile browser is difficult. Context matters:

>At the device level, laptop and desktop users (68.2%) block Google Analytics more frequently than mobile and tablet users (49.9%).

>This makes sense especially considering how difficult it is to install an adblocker on Chrome, the most popular browser on mobile devices.

Re: Tech-savvy audiences block Google Analytics

#645

Post by mgh2 » Wed, Sep 01, 2021, 12:45 AM UTC

Jorengarenar wrote: post #644

mgh2 wrote: post #642

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see where the disconnect was: the article had a subtitle of "68% of laptop and desktop users block Google Analytics" Yet, their stated cause ("how difficult it is to install an adblocker on Chrome") refers to mobile users A logic shift there - a bait and switch? Not sure if this is an error, or outright manipulation This puts the entire article's credibility in question Proof: in case they modify it like they did i…

One sentence says that mobile users block GA less than desktop users. The following sentence states it makes sense since installing add-ons on most popular mobile browser is difficult. Context matters: >At the device level, laptop and desktop users (68.2%) block Google Analytics more frequently than mobile and tablet users (49.9%). >This makes sense especially considering how difficult it is to install an adblocker o…

Thank you for the explanation.

Re: Tech-savvy audiences block Google Analytics

#646

Post by eru » Wed, Sep 01, 2021, 1:55 AM UTC

eigen wrote: post #507

eru wrote: post #444

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Things like documentaries are mostly watched by already well-off people (mostly middle class and up). In Germany, public TV is paid for by (nearly?) every household. [0] Forcing everyone, including poor people, to subsidize rich people's taste for documentaries seems a bit.. off? Similar arguments apply to public libraries and opera houses, though at least there the financing is done mostly via progressive taxation.…

> Things like documentaries are mostly watched by already well-off people (mostly middle class and up). assuming a normal distribution, wouldn't this then be the majority of people?

This question would benefit from some empirical data.

Arguing from definitions won't help us. (Keep in mind that 'middle class' doesn't mean 'median income' or something statistically simple like that.)

Re: Tech-savvy audiences block Google Analytics

#647

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Sep 01, 2021, 1:56 AM UTC

drdeadringer wrote: post #632

bredren wrote: post #481

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know a CTO with plenty of wealth and space that sits at a kitchen table with a laptop instead of setting up a home work station. I know information workers who have workplaces that would gladly pay for nicer monitors or keyboards but don’t bother to even request them. I know a couple with a brand new house that has a miserably squeaky front door that could be silenced a half dozen ways in under a minute. People of…

One contracting job I had, on my first day one of my tasks was to do some grunt work right in front of the bathrooms. The men's door was squeaky as all hell. "Oh don't worry, it's always done that." I lasted as long as I could but I finally walked over to the shop crew and asked if I could borrow some WD-40. "I'll bring it back in 10 minutes." 10 minutes later it's all "Thanks guys!", "No problem", and "Wow you reall…

[deleted]

Re: Tech-savvy audiences block Google Analytics

#648

Post by hackmiester » Wed, Sep 01, 2021, 1:58 AM UTC

malka wrote: post #504

hackmiester wrote: post #482

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"trans" isn't a gender. But, I am trans, and advertisers are more than prepared to advertise to me. So I'm not sure what the goal would be there.

Irrelevant ads are less likely to work.

Probably, but they are much more annoying.

Re: Tech-savvy audiences block Google Analytics

#649

Post by dredmorbius » Wed, Sep 01, 2021, 1:58 AM UTC

yosito wrote: post #579

gpas wrote: post #530

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The best way is to install uBlock (or your preferred ad blocker), not to disable javascript. Javascript is like a knife. Do I want people who know how to use a knife in my house? Yes of course. Do I want people that stab other people in my house? No. Nowadays there are tools to leave those people outside your door. It's time to end the association between javascript and bad web practices.

I use uMatrix. It allows me to block all third party scripts by default, easily unblock them one by one if I need to, and save my changes for sites I visit often.

And well upwards of 95% of all Web users (and I'm willing to bet closer to 99%) ... will not or can not use such tools.

(I support several. Tuning sites where uMatrix or even uBlock breaks stuff is a constant chore.)

Re: Tech-savvy audiences block Google Analytics

#650

Post by eru » Wed, Sep 01, 2021, 2:06 AM UTC

nitrogen wrote: post #493

eru wrote: post #444

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Things like documentaries are mostly watched by already well-off people (mostly middle class and up). In Germany, public TV is paid for by (nearly?) every household. [0] Forcing everyone, including poor people, to subsidize rich people's taste for documentaries seems a bit.. off? Similar arguments apply to public libraries and opera houses, though at least there the financing is done mostly via progressive taxation.…

Well, when people complain about a growing wealth divide, and those who are doing okay financially say that childhood access to public libraries and documentaries made them who they are, shouldn't those things receive funding?

That's a bit like asking healthy people. You'll get answers ranging from things like exercise to homeopathy.

Answers from people can be used to suggest avenues for investigation, but shouldn't make you fund expensive stuff outright. (Assuming here that homeopathy is obvious nonsense, that people still swear by.)

And, of course, public libraries and documentaries don't have to just produce good effects. In order to justify public funding, you'd need to do a whole cost-benefit analysis and look at opportunity costs.

So look at what you get from public libraries vs libraries financed from private charity _plus_ whatever other good things the public money saved could do (including just outright giving it to poor people).

I deliberately picked public libraries here as a provocative examples. I suspect they might actually pass the cost-benefit test without too much contortion of metrics and data.

I am much less sanguine about the bang-for-buck of publicly financed opera houses, theatres and symphony orchestras, which Germany is quite fond of. And of course, publicly financed radio and TV broadcasters.