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How to turn off Google's "privacy sandbox" ad tracking, and why you should

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Re: How to turn off Google's "privacy sandbox" ad tracking, and why you should

#181

Post by g-b-r »

insanitybit wrote: post #158
g-b-r wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was NOT inaccessible Look up geocities maybe, most providers gave you some free space anyhow

Geocities had a tiny fraction of the users that forums attract these days and was not free for a major portion of its lifetime. All of that, and worth noting still that Geocities was extremely unique in what it offered when it offered it. It's not a very compelling model for the entire internet, at best it was an experiment that ultimately failed.

I think forums these days attract three or four people

It arguably failed because of Yahoo, and it was just one hosting service, not a model

Re: How to turn off Google's "privacy sandbox" ad tracking, and why you should

#182

Post by jorvi »

phatskat wrote: post #167
jorvi wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And why not use Firefox (or Safari/WebKit) already? Mozilla these days seems more happy at pumping out tech-woke messages rather than being privacy first. Hell, they’ve refused to add an adblocker to their iOS browser for years now. 3rd party WebKit browsers are more rare, thus less well-developed. I’ve settled on using Brave.

What are “tech-woke” messages?

https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/discussions/mozilla-now-only-...

Re: How to turn off Google's "privacy sandbox" ad tracking, and why you should

#183

Post by JKCalhoun »

insanitybit wrote: post #156
JKCalhoun wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We didn't blog. We posted on USENET — for free.

OK so are proposing that we shift the internet to a completely decentralized system somehow? And we'll just kill ads in the meantime while the entire world switches off of the current infra?

If you're asking me, I don't have a problem with that at all. I know full well it will never happen though since big money is now involved.

Re: How to turn off Google's "privacy sandbox" ad tracking, and why you should

#184

Post by g-b-r »

insanitybit wrote: post #39
throwawa14223 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The internet existed without ads and big centralized sites. People ran their own sites, link rings, email and other services. The big guys have taken away so much of the ability to effectively self-host, but fundamentally we do not need them and we do not need ads.

You're talking about the internet when it was tiny and inaccessible, and you're acting like that was good. That's a position to take, but I don't think it's a good one - again, I would not have been able to write my blog for free, the sites we take for granted today would not exist. The only way to actually publish would be to have technical skills and money, which I don't think is good.

It was good, and you probably would have been to write your blog for free.

Yes a lot of crappy sites would not exist; very expensive ones such as (ads-filled) YouTube probably wouldn't either, but YouTube was the beginning of the downfall; we'd definitely have been better off without it.

Re: How to turn off Google's "privacy sandbox" ad tracking, and why you should

#185

Post by ndriscoll »

insanitybit wrote: post #151
ndriscoll wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I was a teenager, I found and installed Apache. WordPress apparently had existed for a year or two, but I didn't hear about it for several years after. I memorized my IP address and would link people to that, and never bought a hostname or anything. If you just want to host a blog and maybe dabble in PHP, Apache works great. These days as an adult who programs professionally, my personal site is just a directory…

Can we agree that "must be able to install apache" is not a good requirement for adding content to the web?

It's not a requirement; it's a $0 option. You could also pay someone a few dollars or befriend a local computer nerd. My memory is fading now, but I think ISPs used to offer web hosting and email as part of your Internet package, so they could always bring that back (I think they still give you email). Once upon a time, Windows came with a web server. You could imagine that sharing a folder on the web could be as easy as it is (was?) to share a folder through SMB (just open folder properties, click "Share", and give it a name).

You asked what a free internet would look like without ads, but you need to keep in mind that ads have distorted the market that we have today. Even today, it's easy for a curious teenager to set up a web site for free on their computer, and it could be made even easier if the demand weren't being satisfied by people dumping onto markets.

Re: How to turn off Google's "privacy sandbox" ad tracking, and why you should

#186

Post by tictacttoe »

My two cents is that while browser tracking matters, people should also be conscious of not giving away their email and cell number when signing up for accounts or making purchases. Every time you do this, the company sells the data to Google and Meta and it gets joined together on those primary keys, creating a comprehensive profile of your interests. Use Apple’s “Hide my email” and I also like the company “my pseudo” which creates throw away e-mails and cell numbers. It’s silly to be all up tight about browser tracking, but then register everywhere with your real personal information.

Re: How to turn off Google's "privacy sandbox" ad tracking, and why you should

#187

Post by dangus »

kccqzy wrote: post #129
dangus wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Getting rid of third party cookies is basically the status quo. IIRC if you use Safari or Firefox with default settings, third-party cookies are turned off. This feature compared to that status quo is worse for privacy. I think this might be the first time I’ve seen something that promises enhanced privacy instead doing directly the opposite, outside of the realm of malware and scam apps. Imagine if there was a “save…

Google's dominant position in the online advertising business makes them legally impossible* to do what Firefox and Safari do. It's better for privacy compared to older versions of Chrome; though certainly as good as Firefox or Safari. The enhanced privacy claim is honest and true; the benchmark is older versions of chrome. *: See the UK CMA https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/62052c52e90e0...

I’d say they can just spin Chrome off into a separate company. Problem solved.

Of course, we all know why that can’t happen.

Re: How to turn off Google's "privacy sandbox" ad tracking, and why you should

#189

Post by GuB-42 »

g-b-r wrote: post #179
GuB-42 wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Geocities had ads for most of its life. It also ended up dead because it wasn't profitable anyways. Not the best example. Providers didn't offer free space, you paid for it with your subscription, and you would lose if you changed provider.

I think that it died because of the dotcom bubble, the purchase by Yahoo and it being overall crappy... Yeah it had ads but without much targeting Providers: you still pay for internet subscriptions; you used to get several services included for a fair price

The problem with provider supplied services like hosting and email is that people understandably don't want to tie cloud services to their home internet connection. What if you move, or find a provider that offers better/cheaper internet service.

As a result, few people use them, and because they stopped being a competitive advantage, providers stopped offering them, and when they do, it is usually not free and a borderline scam. A way to add fees to unsuspecting users for something they won't even use.

Re: How to turn off Google's "privacy sandbox" ad tracking, and why you should

#190

Post by g-b-r »

GuB-42 wrote: post #189
g-b-r wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that it died because of the dotcom bubble, the purchase by Yahoo and it being overall crappy... Yeah it had ads but without much targeting Providers: you still pay for internet subscriptions; you used to get several services included for a fair price

The problem with provider supplied services like hosting and email is that people understandably don't want to tie cloud services to their home internet connection. What if you move, or find a provider that offers better/cheaper internet service. As a result, few people use them, and because they stopped being a competitive advantage, providers stopped offering them, and when they do, it is usually not free and a bor…

I think that they stopped offering them (when they did) mostly because there are so many cheap, or free, good other services now
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