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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

#421

Post by fouc »

latexr wrote: post #414
fouc wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Super curious what you're doing with AppleScript + the browser. I definitely prefer Safari over Firefox. Haven't tried Orion yet but I'm super stoked there's another webkit browser.

One example is a script to quickly grab the URL of the current tab and send it to mpv¹ for playing or yt-dlp² for downloading. Or send some JavaScript to that same tab. Or grab the URLs and titles of all tabs in all windows that match a specific domain, close them, and then reopen them together in a brand new window (or save it to clipboard to send someone). Alfred³ has a ton of automations that allow you to do that…

> Or grab the URLs and titles of all tabs in all windows that match a specific domain, close them, and then reopen them together in a brand new window

That sounds pretty useful! any chance that script is on gist.github.com or elsewhere?

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

#422

Post by NayamAmarshe »

noirscape wrote: post #287
NayamAmarshe wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Vivaldi is closed source, even worse than Chrome in privacy features: https://privacytests.org Brave is objectively the best mainstream privacy browser.

That site is ran by a Brave employee[0]. The author claims that there's no COI, but one ought to be suspicious if Brave passes almost every single test barring the ones that no browser can pass. [0]: https://github.com/privacytests/privacytests.org/issues/166

His employment status does not change anything. The tests and the page were the same before he joined Brave.

The tests are open source, objectively verifiable.

Author's employment status is being just used as an excuse to refute objective information imo.

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

#424

Post by makeitdouble »

scarface_74 wrote: post #214
makeitdouble wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another way is to make it problematic for a commercial entity to provide high value services for free. Basically an anti-dumping law, but for digital goods.

Yes, and raise prices for everyone?

There might be ways around the price issue. But if it really came down to that, I'd argue "there's no free lunch" should apply.

We already pay a price to have regulatory watchdogs intervene when companies cheat the market and or distort the rules and impact society as a whole, so it wouldn't be unprecedented either.

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

#425

Post by mavhc »

mrcarruthers wrote: post #104
mavhc wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't their business model mostly: Having the most popular search engine?

That doesn't make money. Have the most popular search engine so they can sell more ads is more like it.

Right, being able to sell the most ads because you have the most page views about something people are specifically interested in

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

#426

Post by jwr »

cesarb wrote: post #238
jwr wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If enough people switch these settings off, Google will just re-enable them "accidentally" during the next auto-update. Or hide them altogether. This is their business model. They didn't create Chrome out of the goodness of their hearts: it was created to impose their rules on the internet. And since their business model relies on tracking people, that is what they will do. Refusing by deleting Chrome is the only way…

> They didn't create Chrome out of the goodness of their hearts: it was created to impose their rules on the internet. IIRC, it's the opposite: Chrome was created to prevent other browser manufacturers (in particular, Microsoft) from imposing their rules on the Internet in a way which affected Google websites.

It's the same thing. Google needs to track users, and anything that prevents them from tracking users is a problem. Their rules (that they want to impose) are that user information is advertising material, to be tracked, profiled, processed and sold.

They've done a very successful job of masquerading as a cool hip tech company, even coining the totally ridiculous (given the context) "don't be evil" saying.

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

#427

Post by bjackman »

nologic01 wrote: post #246
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…

> there is really no downside to Firefox The Dutch national TV (NPO) videos do not play on Firefox for Android [1]. They do play on Chrome for Android and they do play on the Linux desktop firefox. Not sure if its some hidden setting that I need to find or something for the firefox team to look into. Everybody and their dog want you to download "apps" - I wonder why? Firefox on android is one of the few defence mecha…

Actually yeah this is something I'd forgotten about, that is indeed a downside to Firefox.

I had this problem with the British Film Institute's streaming service. I emailed them about it, they replied "please try with Chrome on Windows PC" and I replied "no thanks, please send a refund, I will pirate the film instead".

The other case where I ran into videos not playing was Twitter dot com. I tend not to click links into that site any more though.

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

#428

Post by latexr »

fouc wrote: post #421
latexr wrote: post #414

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One example is a script to quickly grab the URL of the current tab and send it to mpv¹ for playing or yt-dlp² for downloading. Or send some JavaScript to that same tab. Or grab the URLs and titles of all tabs in all windows that match a specific domain, close them, and then reopen them together in a brand new window (or save it to clipboard to send someone). Alfred³ has a ton of automations that allow you to do that…

> Or grab the URLs and titles of all tabs in all windows that match a specific domain, close them, and then reopen them together in a brand new window That sounds pretty useful! any chance that script is on gist.github.com or elsewhere?

It’s all done with Alfred’s Automation Tasks.

https://www.alfredapp.com/help/workflows/automations/automat...

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

#429

Post by mulmen »

Kamq wrote: post #417
mulmen wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

I believe the logic goes something like this: - The author is defending analogous behavior - Therefore the author is ok with this behavior - Therefore the behavior is ok to use on the author It's not actually ok, but nobody actually did it either. They just made a snarky comment on the internet to make a point, which has a much lower bar than actually doing the thing.

But the author isn’t defending analogous behavior. The author isn’t defending Google.

There are better ways to make a point than sharing a fantasy about having someone stalked. It’s a joke until it isn’t.

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

#430

Post by Kamq »

mulmen wrote: post #429
Kamq wrote: post #417

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe the logic goes something like this: - The author is defending analogous behavior - Therefore the author is ok with this behavior - Therefore the behavior is ok to use on the author It's not actually ok, but nobody actually did it either. They just made a snarky comment on the internet to make a point, which has a much lower bar than actually doing the thing.

But the author isn’t defending analogous behavior. The author isn’t defending Google. There are better ways to make a point than sharing a fantasy about having someone stalked. It’s a joke until it isn’t.

> The author isn’t defending Google.

My reading of the thread is that this is the fundamental presumption of the thread.

I think your differences with the OP go deeper.

> It’s a joke until it isn’t.

My reading wasn't that it was necessarily a joke, but making a point.

Sort of like threatening to put a camera in the bathroom of someone who says they have "nothing to hide" when discussing the patriot act.

It makes the point in a more visceral way than a simple argument ever could, and gets the point across quite well.

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