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Google Chrome just rolled out a new way to track you and serve ads

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Re: Google Chrome just rolled out a new way to track you and serve ads

#251

Post by acdha »

jklinger410 wrote: post #218
bjackman wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use Chrome at work and Firefox on personal devices (including my Android phone). As a heavy user of both browsers, as far as I can see there is really no downside to Firefox. In fact, even though presumably there are way more engineers working on Chrome than on Firefox, I guess most of Chrome's engineering effort goes towards benefitting advertisers, not users. While Chrome seems entirely stagnant since I adopted i…

> as far as I can see there is really no downside to Firefox. Profiles suck. Performance (specifically around video) has been ass for years. Many useful Chrome extensions don't have FF versions. Just off the top of my head.

Performance has been even or better than Chrome for roughly half a decade every time I’ve tested, especially if you consider much lower memory and energy usage.

Extensions are complicated because they’re also one of the top sources of compatibility and performance problems. Every time in the last decade or so that I’ve known someone to complain that their browser was broken or slow / using too much memory, uninstalling extensions fixed it. It annoys me because I like the concept but I’m not sure it’s really something developers can be trusted with.

Re: Google Chrome just rolled out a new way to track you and serve ads

#252

Post by boringuser2 »

alexvitkov wrote: post #24

> Tracking technology can arguably benefit us as well. For example, it could be helpful if an online store reminds you every three months you need a new toothbrush, or that this time last year you bought a birthday card for your mum. fuck off

That seems like the kind of trite positivity that ChatGPT writes.

Re: Google Chrome just rolled out a new way to track you and serve ads

#253

Post by inetknght »

wolverine876 wrote: post #243
jurynulifcation wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which insightful questions did you see in this article? In which ways did they provoke your thoughts?

They raised the issue, which I hardly every see raised, that disabling the feature may not disable data collection. The gave compelling examples of both sides, rather than dismissing one or being inflammatory - the dental hygine example was great, a little personal. They clearly and efficiently spelled out the different modes. They brought up Firefox and the much more obscure Brave, and even more privacy-oriented bro…

> the dental hygine example was great, a little personal.

It can be better solved with a calendar notification. No privacy violated and you can add your own information to your notification: you liked this toothbrush, your dentist recommended that toothbrush, you didn't like this store, blah blah.

Is there value in that? Sure. Does that mean that value must be extracted by a business? No.

Re: Google Chrome just rolled out a new way to track you and serve ads

#254

Post by StevePerkins »

matwood wrote: post #49
oldnet wrote: post #26

I uninstalled chrome & switched to Brave (I know about core) when I couldn't disable chrome auto update. I have firefox too.

I used Brave for awhile, but it got too crypto which made it feel scammy.

I just don't understand this take. In every Chrome gripefest thread, there will be a comment about switching to Firefox that's at or near the top, and then a comment about Brave closer to the bottom. With half the replies to that comment being about crypto, or even smaller niche players like Vivaldi that are closed-source and don't even have an iOS version.

Look, I'm not into crypto. But it takes me about two clicks to turn off everything crypto-related in Brave (the main stuff that people complain about is opt-in and turned off by default anyway). The same amount of effort that it takes me to change Google as the default search engine in Firefox.

In both cases, those default settings are there because both browsers need SOME source of revenue. But in Brave's case, at least they are diversifying into different sources, such as a search engine and a Zoom-like video conferencing product. Whereas Firefox's entire existence is dependent on the Google dependency.

Nothing against Firefox. But I get far fewer (if any) website compatibility issues with Brave, the extension ecosystem is far better, and the ad-blocking is far superior (with Firefox I see YouTube ads on my phone with every ad-blocking extension I've tried, whereas with Brave I see no ads with the built-in blocker).

It just blows my mind that Brave gets dismissed by the HN crowd, on the basis of "crypto associations give me bad vibes", while Firefox's association with Google is completely hand-waved away. When my goal is to avoid Google, I get more bad vibes from Google. But that's just me.

Re: Google Chrome just rolled out a new way to track you and serve ads

#255

Post by tantalor »

josho wrote: post #250
esteth wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I totally appreciate the desire not to want an advertising profile build for you at all! I think that in practice, interest-based-advertising is going to happen, and I think if chrome can provide a way for it to be done without involving so many sketchy third-parties then I'm for that. I don't know a huge amount about the wider ecosystem here, but I can imagine that if chrome were to disable third-party cookies witho…

What is lost in this discussion is that now my browser, software on my machine, using my resources is the agent that is acting against my own interests.

Your browser has been serving ad banners since 1994, nothing new here.

Re: Google Chrome just rolled out a new way to track you and serve ads

#256

Post by lyvxh »

sh4rks wrote: post #143

Unrelated, but the other day, I searched something on DDGo on Firefox mobile in private mode, and a few hours later, I see a targeted ad related to that search. Whats the deal with that? The only extension I have installed is Ublock mobile.

Well, it might be a coincidence, but it also wouldn't surprise me if it wasn't. Your identity was probably linked using fingerprinting. Private browsing mode offers almost zero protection against this. Even Tor isn't protected unless you enable the Safest security level (= completely disable JavaScript). This might even be done through multiple levels of indirection (mobile browser fingerprint -> Google account -> desktop browser fingerprint).

Re: Google Chrome just rolled out a new way to track you and serve ads

#257

Post by qaq »

kjkjadksj wrote: post #161
smarkov wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't get this Firefox hate. Just because I'm criticizing something doesn't mean I hate it. I want it to be better, and that's something Firefox needs if it wants to get out of the bottom in terms of usage.

Firefox being at the bottom has nothing to do with what mozilla does. Its because they are going against google that pesters you to download chrome. The network effects of everyone downloading chrome for 15 years. The idea that google is one of the largest companies on earth and mozilla is a rag tag team. Firefox is better. You objectively have a worse experience on chrome or edge or safari. Most users otoh just don’…

Alternatively if instead of spending most of resources on management vanity projects Mozilla focused on Firefox instead maybe things could be better.

Re: Google Chrome just rolled out a new way to track you and serve ads

#258

Post by AnimalMuppet »

mulmen wrote: post #229
Kamq wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The “following” part is especially creepy. I think that was the point. It's an analogy for what the article is talking about. The behavior of Chrome is legitimately creepy.

But it’s targeted at the author of this article and not the people doing the tracking.

I think that the point is to make the author understand exactly why it's creepy, so that next time they write something like this, they actually see the problem.

I'm not advocating this approach. But it's not entirely off base.

Re: Google Chrome just rolled out a new way to track you and serve ads

#259

Post by omginternets »

eduction wrote: post #139
alexvitkov wrote: post #24

> Tracking technology can arguably benefit us as well. For example, it could be helpful if an online store reminds you every three months you need a new toothbrush, or that this time last year you bought a birthday card for your mum. fuck off

[flagged]

[flagged]

Re: Google Chrome just rolled out a new way to track you and serve ads

#260

Post by jurynulifcation »

mulmen wrote: post #224
jurynulifcation wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But it's so obviously ideologically bent against privacy that it reads more like manufacturing consent than it does "giving the reader options to make their own choice."

Did we read the same article? It came across as very pro-privacy and anti-tracking to me. It’s well written in the sense that it explains the issue to a general audience without resorting to breathless scare mongering.

"We need to revolutionize how we think about our data and what value it holds" (last sentence)

reads like so much sleeper propaganda for The Selfish Ledger style abuses.

I don't think any discussion of the trade-offs between privacy and tracking is complete unless the horrifying abuses of tracking are also discussed, like government contractors spying on people without cause.

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