What if blockers did not allow any js loaded form any cname except the currently loaded one? This would surely break a lot of website that load their js from something like static.example.com but at least would help against server side tracking, perhaps it could be an optional feature that is off by default. Setting up a proxy for the same cname as the current page is loaded on is several times more difficult so I think Google wouldn't consider that as an alternative anytime soon.
Google Tag Manager, the new anti-adblock weapon (2020)
781–790 of 902 posts
Re: Google Tag Manager, the new anti-adblock weapon (2020)
#782This kind of data collection abuse is why I think we need more addons like AdNauseam [1]. Unlike uBlock Origin, it's not available from the Chrome web store anymore, which is a good sign that Google hates these types of addons more than they hate simple blockers. Blocking A/AAAA domains with custom URLs to prevent tracking is almost impossible, so instead let's flood the trackers with useless, incorrect data that's n…
Interesting idea, installed the addon.
I’m using MS Edge BTW, Microsoft doesn’t care about Google’s advertisement revenue, the addon is available in their marketplace.
Re: Google Tag Manager, the new anti-adblock weapon (2020)
#783This kind of data collection abuse is why I think we need more addons like AdNauseam [1]. Unlike uBlock Origin, it's not available from the Chrome web store anymore, which is a good sign that Google hates these types of addons more than they hate simple blockers. Blocking A/AAAA domains with custom URLs to prevent tracking is almost impossible, so instead let's flood the trackers with useless, incorrect data that's n…
I feel like the reason you initially used a strong word like abuse is to distract from the same behavior the blockers you mention engage in. Spamming Google event services and "flooding" them with garbage is surely considered to be in the abuse category at least if you're not an avid anti-ad proponent.
Re: Google Tag Manager, the new anti-adblock weapon (2020)
#784Earlier quoted context omitted.
Any tips for high quality content sites? It truly is hard to find these days
The thing with WWW is links, the web. So https://news.ycombinator.com is a good starter. From there, yes, you could end up on twitter.com for example but it would be worthwhile.
“…you could end up on twitter.com for example but it would be worthwhile.”
Unpopular opinion: I never click on twitter links anymore. It’s almost never worth it.
IMHO, 140/280/N character limits are a way to cheapen discourse. I think there is something to be said for the “density” of text: text that offers very little to think about (less dense) is vacuous but encouraged by a character limit; yet, text that is compressed into a character limit either packs too much info into a short space that requires more discourse to properly get a thought across or elides too much from the text, making it less accurate/meaningful/important. Or worse: people chain posts into long 1/907, 2/907, 3/907… trains that should be blog posts rather than requiring some other application to string the thread together.
Of course the other reason (more central to this discussion) never to click on a twitter link is that JS and an account login is required now to read the posts past a certain point. If that makes me an old man yelling at a cloud, so be it, but aren’t there better ways to handle online public discourse without sacrificing people’s privacy and security?
Re: Google Tag Manager, the new anti-adblock weapon (2020)
#785Earlier quoted context omitted.
> and also most of the ads just simply disappear if JS is not running. since we are talking about the future I'd like to point out that they can always serve ads from the origin domain without javascript. I mean the anti-adblock battle will evolve until each page we visit is a single image file that we have to OCR to remove ads. then we will need AI, and they will have captchas that will ask which breakfast cereal is…
"...they can always serve ads from the origin domain without JavaScript." But most of them don't. Yes, they can change their model and in time they likely will. As it stands now, one doesn't have to watch ads on the internet if one doesn't want to - all it takes is a little perseverance and they're gone. If one can't rise to the occasion then one has a high tolerance for ads. Even YouTube can be viewed without ads wi…
> What I want is a PVR/STB that figures out the ads and bypasses them. Say I want to watch TV from 7 to 11pm (4 hours) and there's a total of one hour of ads and other breaks in that time that I don't want to watch then I want my AI-aware PVR/STB to suggest that I start watching at 8pm instead of 7 as this will allow it to progressively remove ads on-the-fly across the evening.
I wonder if something like sponsorblock for youtube (which is a must have) could be done for TV? it's a crowsourced effort and works flawlessly for popular channels.
Re: Google Tag Manager, the new anti-adblock weapon (2020)
#786Earlier quoted context omitted.
You should also note that across much of Eastern Europe, the "ex"-"communist" and "neomarxist" parties were always either nationalistic and populist (e.g. the PDSR/PSD in Romania) or subservient to Russia. This means that there was a very easy pivot from "communist" parties to far-right ultranationalism, usually with a good dash of oligarchy, authoritarianism, and/or kleptocracy which also characterized the old regim…
Yes, communist never had troubles with nationalism. And communism is by definition a populist ideology. The legendary elusive communist who shapeshift the moment one points a finger at one (no true communism), is more of an idea of western leftists. Unfortunately the communist ideals are very much alive and well, especially in those countries where communism arose from within, without an external force.
Well, "communism" in the Eastern Bloc is more appropriately called State Capitalism, it has nothing really to do with the left, socialism or communism.
Re: Google Tag Manager, the new anti-adblock weapon (2020)
#787Earlier quoted context omitted.
> When you say "telling each other" what do you mean exactly? I don't think we need to discuss the meaning of words that are in the top 5000 commonly used dictionary words here. > Do you think businesses just magically get talked about with zero investment in marketing dollars? Yes. It's called word-of-mouth and it is how it has always been done.
> I don't think we need to discuss the meaning of words that are in the top 5000 commonly used dictionary words here. Good. We're on the same page then. Snarky response not required but okay. > Yes. It's called word-of-mouth and it is how it has always been done. I don't know where to start with how to respond, but I'll bite: Let's magically go back to the gold rush in the US. You're traveling from New York and arriv…
> Do you think businesses just magically get talked about with zero investment in marketing dollars?
Yes. It's hardly magic. If some business or service provides a great value or "a better way of being" people naturally get excited and tell their friends. I'm not a domain expert but my understanding is that these organic word-of-mouth referrals and recommendations are waaaaaay more effective than any other form of marketing. The other organic thing that happens is when people realize they have a need and ask their friends for referrals and recommendations. It works great if your product is great.
If you can't develop and sustain word-of-mouth organically then you have to use other less efficient and more coercive means. Deliberate marketing is commercial propaganda. Someone wants to put their hand in my wallet and is deliberately using professionally-design artificial media to trick me into letting them.
Your example of the barker with the megaphone is noise pollution and a waste of a human being. But you can go much further back. It was decadent when the Romans did it, and it was decedent when we San Franciscans did it, it's decadent today.
> its inconceivable to think any modern company doesn't spend money on advertising/marketing
You can't conceive it, maybe, but I can. There are worlds without advertising/marketing. There are marketplaces that operate efficiently on word of mouth alone. You might not believe me, but it's true, and from those worlds our modern advertising/marketing mania seems like a madness.
Re: Google Tag Manager, the new anti-adblock weapon (2020)
#788Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Was telling people about trains and cars creating a need where there wasn’t one? That's a great example actually, because the reason you can't get anywhere without a car these days is marketing campaigns by the automobile and oil industry. First by suggesting the newly necessary road safety standards and ridiculing people for being in the street without a car ("jaywalking") to the point that it was criminalized, th…
> because the reason you can't get anywhere without a car these days is marketing campaigns by the automobile and oil industry We aren't all brainless automatons. Not everything is a giant conspiracy. Have you considered that there are people that actually like cars and find them convenient and useful? Cars and the highway system completely changed the course of commerce in this country. Sure, that has lead to some p…
I'm not sure what part of my message lead you to believe I didn't think people enjoyed cars?
The problem is that it wasn't enough for cars to be a useful tool for those that needed it, but that they needed to be a source of endless growth, and marketing played a crucial role in that.
There's no need for mustache twirling here. Car companies rationally maximized their profit by selling to everyone they could, rationally removed barriers to car adoption by removing everyone else from the road and rationally created new markets for their product by encouraging sprawling cities and enormous highways, which also acted as a competitive moat. They then disregarded the consequences, not because they were evil, but because their job was to maximize car sales, not the car's benefit to humanity.
All of this is just things working as intended.
Re: Google Tag Manager, the new anti-adblock weapon (2020)
#789This kind of data collection abuse is why I think we need more addons like AdNauseam [1]. Unlike uBlock Origin, it's not available from the Chrome web store anymore, which is a good sign that Google hates these types of addons more than they hate simple blockers. Blocking A/AAAA domains with custom URLs to prevent tracking is almost impossible, so instead let's flood the trackers with useless, incorrect data that's n…
Yup. I've used NoScript for years, and one of the most frequently appearing sites that remain blocked is googletagmanager. I totally second the sentiment that this is merely minimal defense against hostile 'service providers'. This avalanche of tracking libraries is now almost as toxic as email spam in its worst-controlled days. Much of the internet is literally unusable, as pages take dozens of seconds to minutes to…
This is my go-to: https://github.com/StevenBlack/hosts
It helps a lot.
Re: Google Tag Manager, the new anti-adblock weapon (2020)
#790Earlier quoted context omitted.
That is a bit of a misleading way of putting it. There was indeed a "street car conspiracy" and it even led to criminal convictions. The interpretation that this conspiracy was intended to kill off street cars is harder to justify since street cars were already struggling in the aftermath the great depression andany were bankrupt. I do think that the actions of GM et all did accelerate the decline of the street car b…
Streetcars and public transport in general should never be run on a for profit basis.
> public transport in general should never be run on a for profit basis
Japan seems to do fine [1].