Amazon is blocking Google’s FLoC • Hacker News Board

Re: Amazon is blocking Google’s FLoC

#11

Post by EMM_386 » Tue, Jun 15, 2021, 2:30 PM UTC

> There is a caveat regarding FLoC blocking on Whole Foods pages, however. While other Amazon-owned domains mentioned here that block FLoC do so using Google’s recommended approach involving sending a response header from HTML pages, Whole Foods blocking employs a tactic that sends an opt-out header from Amazon analytics requests.

What do they mean here, that the actual page request does not send the "no FLoC" HTTP header but the requests from Analytics do?

What happens in this scenario?

Re: Amazon is blocking Google’s FLoC

#12

Post by gman83 » Tue, Jun 15, 2021, 2:31 PM UTC

I'm curious, with third-party cookies being fased out, and alternatives like FLoC being met with resistance, could this drastically cut the size of Google's revenue's down? If the ads can no longer be accurately targeted, I imagine that would mean the main value of AdWords is no more, and that's the foundation that entire company is built on.

Re: Amazon is blocking Google’s FLoC

#13

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Jun 15, 2021, 2:31 PM UTC

gentleman11 wrote: post #9

If Firefox had larger market share, Chrome wouldn’t have been able to make this opt out for websites rather than opt in because it would have given them a bad public image. I don’t think it’s fair that some company gets to force every website maintainer (most aren’t extremely technical and just use Wordpress or something similar) on earth to muddle through documentation for their particular setups to 1) learn it exis…

[deleted]

Re: Amazon is blocking Google’s FLoC

#14

Post by deskamess » Tue, Jun 15, 2021, 2:31 PM UTC

robin_reala wrote: post #4

We blocked FLoC at my company because we couldn’t see the benefit in allowing it. If, in the future, an obvious value shows itself, then we’ll re-evaluate. But at the moment there’s only a business and reputational cost to allowing Google to harvest our users’ data.

How do you block it?

Re: Amazon is blocking Google’s FLoC

#15

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Jun 15, 2021, 2:35 PM UTC

deskamess wrote: post #14

robin_reala wrote: post #4

We blocked FLoC at my company because we couldn’t see the benefit in allowing it. If, in the future, an obvious value shows itself, then we’ll re-evaluate. But at the moment there’s only a business and reputational cost to allowing Google to harvest our users’ data.

How do you block it?

[deleted]

Re: Amazon is blocking Google’s FLoC

#16

Post by Brendinooo » Tue, Jun 15, 2021, 2:35 PM UTC

deskamess wrote: post #14

robin_reala wrote: post #4

We blocked FLoC at my company because we couldn’t see the benefit in allowing it. If, in the future, an obvious value shows itself, then we’ll re-evaluate. But at the moment there’s only a business and reputational cost to allowing Google to harvest our users’ data.

How do you block it?

Was also curious, found this on a search:

https://paramdeo.com/blog/opting-your-website-out-of-googles...

Re: Amazon is blocking Google’s FLoC

#17

Post by roody15 » Tue, Jun 15, 2021, 2:36 PM UTC

deskamess wrote: post #14

robin_reala wrote: post #4

We blocked FLoC at my company because we couldn’t see the benefit in allowing it. If, in the future, an obvious value shows itself, then we’ll re-evaluate. But at the moment there’s only a business and reputational cost to allowing Google to harvest our users’ data.

How do you block it?

curious as well? How to block Floc?

Re: Amazon is blocking Google’s FLoC

#18

Post by xaduha » Tue, Jun 15, 2021, 2:36 PM UTC

It's all pointless, it will win out eventually because it makes sense and Google isn't about to stop tracking you regardless of FLoC. All it does is disincentivizes smaller players from doing their own tracking which you'll have no control over anyway.

Personally I don't see depersonalized targeting as a bad thing. Better than advertising dish washers to people who just bought a dish washer or some such nonsense.

Re: Amazon is blocking Google’s FLoC

#19

Post by c0nfused » Tue, Jun 15, 2021, 2:37 PM UTC

deskamess wrote: post #14

robin_reala wrote: post #4

We blocked FLoC at my company because we couldn’t see the benefit in allowing it. If, in the future, an obvious value shows itself, then we’ll re-evaluate. But at the moment there’s only a business and reputational cost to allowing Google to harvest our users’ data.

How do you block it?

Blocking FLoC is as easy as adding this header to the HTTP response:

Permissions-Policy: interest-cohort=()

Source: https://www.drupal.org/project/drupal/issues/3209628

Re: Amazon is blocking Google’s FLoC

#20

Post by potatolicious » Tue, Jun 15, 2021, 2:38 PM UTC

gman83 wrote: post #12

I'm curious, with third-party cookies being fased out, and alternatives like FLoC being met with resistance, could this drastically cut the size of Google's revenue's down? If the ads can no longer be accurately targeted, I imagine that would mean the main value of AdWords is no more, and that's the foundation that entire company is built on.

It depends on what kind of ads - IMO the sunset of third-party tracking cookies gives an advantage to companies like Google.

Products that target based on actual user intent benefit from cookie blocks, as that cannot be meaningfully blocked ever. (i.e., when you search for "brunch" ads relating to brunch show up)

Products that target based on behavior away from the product will suffer - but morally I'm ok with that.

Google happens to own one of the most intentful products out there - you directly tell the product what you want to see! The main pain for them will be loss of targeting ability in their network ads displayed on 3rd party sites - but their first-party products I suspect will see a boost in the new world.