Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Google engineers want to make ad-blocking (near) impossible

stackdiary.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

261–270 of 486 posts

Re: Google engineers want to make ad-blocking (near) impossible

#261

Post by kibwen »

nikanj wrote: post #176
liendolucas wrote: post #116

Do you know what puzzles me most? How can software engineers work on something like this? Don't those paid engineers or involved ones have the balls or dignity to walk away? I'm just wondering how they would feel about this (if they feel anything at all). I mean, if I'd be in such a position and asked to push something like this I'd have walked away on the spot, no matter what you offer me. No one at Google is standi…

Tell me you don't have a mortgage and kids without telling me

It's possible to provide for one's children without turning the world into a ruinous corporate dystopia. What a world to subject your children to.

No, "I have kids" is not an excuse. You do see how that makes this even worse, yes? To pretend to give a shit about future generations while gleefully destroying the liberties of those future generations?

Re: Google engineers want to make ad-blocking (near) impossible

#262

Post by BLKNSLVR »

This is such a good idea for the next stage of the surveillancification of the Internet that it could possibly get Google, if they go ahead with attempting to implement this, in the very-good-books with the increasingly paranoid, control-freakish western governments.

It will voluntarily segregate the happy conformists into their safe, normalised, walled-garden whilst the, likely technically proficient types that can wrangle hardware and software and therefore the single most dangerous group of individuals on the planet, non-conformists are easily identified by their continued participation in the wild-west-web of yore, eschewing, or at least not exclusively joining, the new utopia.

Maybe we'll get back the web we keep saying we miss, with Eternal September nicely walled-off, but maybe it'll be a case of be careful what you wish for, because now it'll put us on watch lists, not because law enforcement understand the technology any better, but because they've got their own tools to build what they think is a better mousetrap. And law enforcement love their own tools.

Re: Google engineers want to make ad-blocking (near) impossible

#263

Post by award_ »

kafrofrite wrote: post #65
zb3 wrote: post #50

The latest, tone-deaf response from a Google engineer: https://github.com/RupertBenWiser/Web-Environment-Integrity/...

In the above he's mentioning that Privacy features like user-agent reduction, IP reduction, preventing cross- site storage, and fingerprint randomization make it more difficult to distinguish or reidentify individual clients, which is great for privacy, but makes fighting fraud more difficult. This matters to users because making the web more private without providing new APIs to developers could lead to websites add…

This was my take away as well. I see a lot of imaginary, proposed future problems and no concrete issues that this is currently trying to solve. It gives the impression that it's just being put out there to muddy the waters and give some credence to an otherwise awful barrier to entry for the web.

Re: Google engineers want to make ad-blocking (near) impossible

#264

Post by Bluecobra »

liendolucas wrote: post #116

Do you know what puzzles me most? How can software engineers work on something like this? Don't those paid engineers or involved ones have the balls or dignity to walk away? I'm just wondering how they would feel about this (if they feel anything at all). I mean, if I'd be in such a position and asked to push something like this I'd have walked away on the spot, no matter what you offer me. No one at Google is standi…

Maybe there is still some who will fight the good fight and make the software purposely bad. How good is Google QA?

Re: Google engineers want to make ad-blocking (near) impossible

#265

Post by laurentlb »

Zambyte wrote: post #251
laurentlb wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> if Google stops funding Mozilla, will it still exist? If Google stops funding Mozilla, would they manage to get another deal, e.g. with Bing? If so, the power of Google would be limited.

Why do you think Microsoft wouldn't just let Mozilla fold and Firefox fail?

I have no idea. I just pointed out that the control of Google depends on whether Firefox could find alternative founding or not.

Re: Google engineers want to make ad-blocking (near) impossible

#266

Post by pmlnr »

systems_glitch wrote: post #225
liendolucas wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But my point is that you do have plenty options in the industry! For sure if you're in charge of something like this you can have a pretty decent job elsewhere. You sound as if those people have nowhere else to continue their careers... Am I wrong?

Yeah, you're kind of a little wrong. Sure, there are options. They don't pay like FAANG, like order of magnitude difference.

Yeah. But those often don't take your soul.

Re: Google engineers want to make ad-blocking (near) impossible

#267

Post by mozball »

cft wrote: post #112
nfriedly wrote: post #57

I hate to say it, but if you used Chrome to read this, then you're part of the problem. Awful stuff like this wouldn't stand a chance if Google didn't have such a near-monopoly position. For the sake of the open internet, please switch to a different browser. IMO, Firefox is best*, but even something chromium based is probably fine. Just not Google Chrome. * On desktop - Firefox is a bit weaker on Android, with an ex…

I use Edge. I think Edge is a realistically viable competitor, especially with Bing chat sidebar. It's also faster than Safari on MacOS

Microsoft is exactly the kind of company that would throw its full backing behind this google proposal, seeing how they have spent the last 20 years working towards the same goal. See Windows 11, Trusted Platform Module, Pluton, Palladium, SecureBoot.

Re: Google engineers want to make ad-blocking (near) impossible

#268

Post by wizzwizz4 »

awesomeMilou wrote: post #256
fallingknife wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There won't be an anti-trust suit. The implicit deal will be we will prevent "misinformation" (favor news sources you support and censor anything you request with our algorithm) and you will allow us to monopolize the internet.

That's far fetched. Mozilla still breathes and they have enough cash to start an anti-trust lawsuit in Europe.

Cash that comes from Google. The EFF might start an anti-trust lawsuit, but I don't see Mozilla doing anything of the sort.

Re: Google engineers want to make ad-blocking (near) impossible

#269

Post by nulbyte »

capableweb wrote: post #94
d--b wrote: post #34

I think they are signing the end of chrome dominance. People are going to flee to Firefox.

Well, considering most people using a browser don't even know of the existence of ad-blockers, I'd wager that no, most people will continue to use whatever is already installed to continue browsing Facebook as usual.

I think you'd be surprised what normies do when it comes to technology. They are more intelligent than you give credit.

https://increditools.com/ad-blockers/

I think survey results showing 40% using ad-blockers is sufficient to question your assertion that most people don't know about ad-blockers. Folks may not all be using them, but I think a majority certainly are aware. And outside the U.S., even a majority use them in some countries.

Ordinary folks on the Internet have friends and family that are technically inclined and often seek advice from them. But most of the time, ordinary folks figure things out just fine in their own.

Re: Google engineers want to make ad-blocking (near) impossible

#270

Post by detourdog »

concordDance wrote: post #252
detourdog wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's important to remember they are only commercial efforts. If you can value something other than money it doesn't matter what the corporate web is doing compared to human ingenuity and the internet. Let them waste their time and money write their specs.

Unfortunately, the corporate Web has managed to monopolise how we communicate and learn about things (Facebook, reddit, twitter, YouTube, news sites, etc).

This is a mistaken view. The closest thing I have to social media is HN. I did get a twitter account in the beginning and I was waiting for the right moment to tweet but it seems to have passed.

The above is true only to the extent that you believe it. I don't believe it at all so I'm not part of the "you" I'm an "other".

The "News" is a whole other problem closer to truth. So not technical entirely. Individuals started newspapers and individual will deliver the news.

A big issue corporations currently face is that everything has become so cheap that their scale of effort is a hindrance.

If a corporation is not acting ruthlessly efficient the economy of scale breaks down quickly. The crux of this will cause the success of many smaller scale efforts that don't hold the overhead of a corporation.

The original promise of the public internet was the idea that broadcasting was dead and narrowcasting was the wave of the future. This was true up until ads became legal/common on the internet.

Take away the commercial interest and you are left with passionate publishers and audiences.

Post reply on HN