Google Chrome pushes browser history-based ad targeting • Hacker News Board

Re: Google Chrome pushes browser history-based ad targeting

#141

Post by chomp » Wed, Sep 06, 2023, 1:50 PM UTC

pyrale wrote: post #128

dindobre wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mozilla focused on the wrong things for a few years

It doesn't really matter what Mozilla did. They never had the budget to compete with Google on browser advertising anyway. If you look at the market share progression of the old opera and mozilla vs. internet explorer, and you compare it to the stellar rise of Chrome when it came out, it's really obvious that Chrome's success is due mostly to advertising.

Blows my mind that people think that there’s some magical way that Firefox could have competed. Chrome had ads on google.com, like the home page. No one except Google gets those ads. 90-second prime time tv spots. And they also scattered nudges throughout their entire website. Google ran a relentless ad campaign to get people to switch, and no browser on Earth was able to compete with that.

Re: Google Chrome pushes browser history-based ad targeting

#142

Post by deathlight » Wed, Sep 06, 2023, 2:21 PM UTC

mangecoeur wrote: post #87

weikju wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why am I even using this browser anymore? Yeah, stop putting up with all these anti-features! Firefox, Brave etc are not perfect but at least they're not THAT. No matter how many hoops you jump through, still using Chrome means it is being endorsed. Wish more people would reconsider it like you and jump ship!

I have been using Firefox since version 2.x and I never understood what downsides people find with it. I've used chrome and the only difference i saw was annoying pushes from google to log in so that i could be tracked all the time. Otherwise, it shows web pages, what more do you want?

[dead]

Re: Google Chrome pushes browser history-based ad targeting

#143

Post by deathlight » Wed, Sep 06, 2023, 2:39 PM UTC

scopeh wrote: post #17

Its 2023, how have we come so far with this nonsense. I would have thought Firefox would be king of the browsers by now. But nope, people love their data being sucked up and used by the big G.

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Re: Google Chrome pushes browser history-based ad targeting

#144

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Sep 06, 2023, 2:47 PM UTC

Alifatisk wrote: post #138

talonx wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or, stick to Firefox. In the long run I want a browser that has a solid community or base behind it, with a mostly-good record (no point chasing perfection here) of privacy and security. The Mozilla Foundation has done a good but not stellar job (remember 1.1.1.1?). I also don't want to change browsers because someday Vivaldi - hypothetically - gets acquired by Evil Corp, or has some vulnerability that remains unpatc…

What’s wrong with 1.1.1.1?

[deleted]

Re: Google Chrome pushes browser history-based ad targeting

#145

Post by vandox » Wed, Sep 06, 2023, 2:52 PM UTC

Zetobal wrote: post #20

It's getting to the point were I am really questioning the characters of people that still work at Google. I mean some of the people implementing and designing this shit must be right here. Is it really just the money?

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Re: Google Chrome pushes browser history-based ad targeting

#146

Post by bmicraft » Wed, Sep 06, 2023, 3:37 PM UTC

laserdancepony wrote: post #97

mangecoeur wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have been using Firefox since version 2.x and I never understood what downsides people find with it. I've used chrome and the only difference i saw was annoying pushes from google to log in so that i could be tracked all the time. Otherwise, it shows web pages, what more do you want?

I quite dislike all the crap they try to tack on like Sync or Pocket, sometimes cluttering the UI after an update. But still everything can be disabled, so not too much of an annoyance.

I wouldn't use Firefox if it cloudn't sync history and bookmarks between computers and my phone. Sending tabs is also a nice bonus.

Re: Google Chrome pushes browser history-based ad targeting

#147

Post by bmicraft » Wed, Sep 06, 2023, 3:42 PM UTC

akyuu wrote: post #135

maleldil wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> there is a de-Googled one called Chromium There's Chromium and there's Ungoogled Chromium[1]. If you're looking for (some) independence from Google, you want the latter. Or just avoid it altogether and use other browsers. I wouldn't recommend Blink-based browsers (Brave, Vivaldi, Opera, etc.) You're still indirectly giving Google power over the web by using their engine. [1] https://github.com/ungoogled-software/un…

IMO the browser is far too important to use third-party builds containing patches that don't receive serious audit. For example, the Chromium packages provided by the vast majority of Linux distros disable security features like CFI (check your favorite distro's x86_64 Chromium package build log and look for the "is_cfi" argument). I think Arch is the only exception. ungoogled-chromium has similar problems https://qu…

> Linux distros disable security features like CFI

Why would they even do that?

Re: Google Chrome pushes browser history-based ad targeting

#148

Post by Gud » Wed, Sep 06, 2023, 4:50 PM UTC

Stop using Chrome and other Google products - They are hostile towards the open web. Use Firefox instead of Chrome, DDG or Kagi for search, Apple Maps instead of Google Maps, and a privacy respecting e-mail provider.

They will only stop this bullshit once they go bankrupt - the Google we all loved died a long time, only through branding do they still appear nice.

Re: Google Chrome pushes browser history-based ad targeting

#149

Post by tomjen3 » Wed, Sep 06, 2023, 5:06 PM UTC

jeroenhd wrote: post #52

Zetobal wrote: post #20

It's getting to the point were I am really questioning the characters of people that still work at Google. I mean some of the people implementing and designing this shit must be right here. Is it really just the money?

I can see the point here. Ad companies will track your browsing history. Google doesn't want to rely on cookies and fingerprints and probably wants to nuke tracking capabilities as well, but doing so in their browser while they still sell ads would be regulatory suicide. Providing an open API for advertisers that doesn't require endless digital stalking is the only way Google will ever be able to enforce stricter ant…

You know, they could ask people to select some of their interests to serve ads against. Would totally remove the privacy issue and the ads might finally be targeted towards something good.

Could even have a "suggest automatically" button.

Re: Google Chrome pushes browser history-based ad targeting

#150

Post by webworker » Wed, Sep 06, 2023, 5:10 PM UTC

I'm going to get roasted, but it looks like they're abstracting your history into topics and not wantonly sharing it. Dropping 3rd party cookies is a cool thing. They could maybe take that a step further and just ask you what you'd like to see ads for.

That said, even though I "know better" I actively choose to use Safari as a daily driver to avoid things like this. I'm a lot less worried about Apple's intentions, especially since Safari is backed up by all the profits they rake in from iPhone sales.

Writing good luck wishe from Safari to all you all chrome users out there! :-P