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Temptations of an open-source Chrome extension developer (2021)

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Re: Temptations of an open-source Chrome extension developer (2021)

#61

Post by GeekyBear »

Things have gotten bad enough that I've stopped using extensions that haven't been through a code vetting process.

> Recommended extensions differ from other extensions that are regularly reviewed by Firefox staff in that they are curated extensions that meet the highest standards of security, functionality, and user experience. Firefox staff thoroughly evaluate each extension before it receives Recommended status.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/recommended-extensions-...

If your browser doesn't have a code vetting process for extensions, I'm not interested in your browser.

Re: Temptations of an open-source Chrome extension developer (2021)

#62

Post by gregschlom »

uhtred wrote: post #36
ericd wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The most galling offer we saw on the mobile app side was something that would turn on the user's microphone, and listen for ads on tvs around them to track what they'd been exposed to offline. Adtech is such a thoroughly gross field.

so this really does happen then? Because I used to be convinced it wasn't a coincidence when I saw ads online for some niche uncommon topic I had recently talked out loud about.

This matches the audio signature of the TV ad - basically, it's like Shazam, but for TV ads.

It's currently not economically possible to listen to user's conversations, transcribe them to text, and serve ads based on that. It would cost orders of magnitude more in processing power than you could get from the extra sales.

This might change in the future, of course

Re: Temptations of an open-source Chrome extension developer (2021)

#64

Post by ConorSheehan1 »

kotaKat wrote: post #18

I have an extension I wrote that is literally for a single regional website to do some extra blocking to get around a paywall. There are under 10 installs total. For some reason, the most recent monetization email I got thought it was 10,000. > I'm reaching out to discuss a unique monetization opportunity for your extension, , through our exclusive Premium Bing Hosted Product. > I'm thrilled to let you know that this…

I got this too! For an extension that doesn't even work anymore after manifest v3

Re: Temptations of an open-source Chrome extension developer (2021)

#65

Post by Raed667 »

ericd wrote: post #23
mfrisbie wrote: post #14

ChatGPT for Google was #1 on HN earlier this year. Check out the GitHub repo now: that person sold the extension. I had a small side project extension, ~25,000 installs & free to use. I got enough inbound interest trying to "help me monetize" that I thought it would be worth cataloguing all the different unsavory avenues: https://mattfrisbie.substack.com/p/the-ugly-business-of-mone...

The most galling offer we saw on the mobile app side was something that would turn on the user's microphone, and listen for ads on tvs around them to track what they'd been exposed to offline. Adtech is such a thoroughly gross field.

So your app already had microphone/audio permission granted for legitimate reasons or were they going to do the pop-up after the update?

Re: Temptations of an open-source Chrome extension developer (2021)

#67

Post by vkou »

jstanley wrote: post #53
ericd wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The most galling offer we saw on the mobile app side was something that would turn on the user's microphone, and listen for ads on tvs around them to track what they'd been exposed to offline. Adtech is such a thoroughly gross field.

But every time this comes up the threads are flooded with people saying it doesn't actually happen and the ad companies just work out what you're interested in by what you're browsing.

Fly-by-night ad networks might engage in this. Ad networks that are in the sights of regulators, and can be slapped with $X billion fines, that may well exceed the marginal revenue produced by improved tracking[1] are going to be a bit antsier around doing that sort of thing.

[1] How much more money will a $100B ad business make if they improved tracking accuracy by %1? It's some positive number, but significantly less than $1B.

Re: Temptations of an open-source Chrome extension developer (2021)

#68

Post by yukIttEft »

collaborative wrote: post #56

I don't know what the solution to this is, but I know a few trusted/legitimate companies that sell their user data for around £20/year even after having monetized their users with actual money I will never do this because violating privacy goes against the core of my beliefs, but there is a conflict I can't seem to work out. On the one hand, I KNOW that the vast majority of users prefer to sell their privacy than pay…

Name the companies!

Re: Temptations of an open-source Chrome extension developer (2021)

#70

Post by thwarted »

collaborative wrote: post #56

I don't know what the solution to this is, but I know a few trusted/legitimate companies that sell their user data for around £20/year even after having monetized their users with actual money I will never do this because violating privacy goes against the core of my beliefs, but there is a conflict I can't seem to work out. On the one hand, I KNOW that the vast majority of users prefer to sell their privacy than pay…

The Internet has no easy to use fully-anonymous cash equivalent. If you pay for something, you're giving away your identity information anyway. The value exchange is definitely lopsided, but if I have to share my identity AND pay to get X, I'm out money AND shared my identity info. If I share my identity info and get X for free, at least I'm not out the money.
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