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Meta projected 10% of 2024 revenue came from scams

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Re: Meta projected 10% of 2024 revenue came from scams

#111

Post by Workaccount2 »

swiftcoder wrote: post #99
Workaccount2 wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The answer isn't ad blocking, the answer is paying directly and in full (so no need to subsidize cost with ads) for the service. I cannot wrap my head around how generally intelligent people are completely blind to this. I guess 20 years of ad-block-is-the-norm has left people totally confused about internet monetization. I've never encoutered a problem that has such a clear answer, and that so many intelligent peopl…

> We need to start paying for ad-free services. Wake up. Where are all these ad-free services everyone keeps talking about? Social media companies don't even find it worth it to offer an ad-free plan last I checked...

If people demanded ad-free paid services with the same vigor that they evangelize ad-blocking, we would have it.

Re: Meta projected 10% of 2024 revenue came from scams

#112

Post by scott_w »

simpaticoder wrote: post #102
macNchz wrote: post #16

Alongside a password manager and keeping things up to date, using an ad blocker is truly a foundational security practice these days. The big advertising players simply have all of the wrong incentives to control this problem. They could massively reduce the volume of scams advertised on their networks, but it’d be worse for them on two fronts: they’d have to pay for more moderation, and they’d lose billions in reven…

*>They could massively reduce the volume of scams advertised on their networks I'm not entirely sure that's true. It's equivalent to asking a platform to moderate all "harmful content" off the site. "Scam" is fundamentally subjective, just as "harm" is. The real solution is to reform the justice system such that a citizen feeling they've been defrauded has a quick and easy process to get satisfaction for themselves a…

> "Scam" is fundamentally subjective, just as "harm" is.

From the article:

> Meta projected 10% of 2024 revenue came from scams and banned goods, Reuters reports

I think we can agree that there's no "subjective" situation when a product is banned.

> The ad networks are themselves the natural allies of such a reform

The article (and the person you're replying to) point out that a significant portion of Meta's revenue comes from such scams. I'm really struggling to see how they're "natural allies" and not "antagonists" here. You're going to have to show me some research that backs up your claim because it flies in the face of the available information.

Re: Meta projected 10% of 2024 revenue came from scams

#113

Post by zoeysmithe »

malfist wrote: post #29
macNchz wrote: post #16

Alongside a password manager and keeping things up to date, using an ad blocker is truly a foundational security practice these days. The big advertising players simply have all of the wrong incentives to control this problem. They could massively reduce the volume of scams advertised on their networks, but it’d be worse for them on two fronts: they’d have to pay for more moderation, and they’d lose billions in reven…

This isn't a situation we accept out of other industries. You water provider doesn't get to pipe you sewage every now and again because its too expensive to moderate. We shouldn't accept it for big tech either. And we certainly shouldn't make it the responsibility of the end use to protect themselves

Water, power, etc infrastructure regulations and things like the environmental movement happened when there was more working class solidarity and the working class had more power over the capital owning class. Now the working class have been propagandized to believe "regulations bad" and have been depowered as capitalism decays and the capital owning class further takes and consolidate power. The regulations you want are impossible in this political climate and probably impossible without an extremely radical reform movement or some mass resignation or revolution of government.

I mean, lets face it, no government that makes hard right turns and has intense corruption like the USA just goes back to being a proper liberal democracy. Most likely things will get a lot worse before they even get better and on a timescale thats unpredictable. We may be talking 20+ years before any sort of baby steps towards liberal reforms are even possible on the federal level. The right has the gerrymandering, scotus, the courts, the media machine, etc. Pro-working class regulations are just not going to happen like they did in the 60s and 70s for a very long time if history is any guide.

Its so odd to me people just have a "dont worry we'll got back to normal next election." To get back to what we had during those times of pro-worker regulation will take many, many, years if not decades of work now. At the very least until many in SCOTUS retire or pass away from old age. That just isnt happening anytime soon.

Re: Meta projected 10% of 2024 revenue came from scams

#114

Post by ferguess_k »

jeffbee wrote: post #100
ferguess_k wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just curious what password manager I should use? I'm considering using a password manager instead of the Google ones and gradually switch all passwords to generated ones instead the one I usually use. Searched through HN for the last 6 months but found just too many posts about PM.

The Google one is quite good if you use Chrome anyway.

Thanks, I use Firefox but I did save all of my past passwords in Google password already. So I guess I could keep it. I might switch anyway though as I'm switching to Brave.

Re: Meta projected 10% of 2024 revenue came from scams

#115

Post by 9rx »

malfist wrote: post #98
Workaccount2 wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They aren't double dipping, they are subsidizing the cost with ads.

When ford deployed LexusNexus tracking to my F150, they didn't refund any of my purchase price. Samsung isn't refunding any of their $3k fridges that now have mandatory ads

They didn't need to offer a refund. It was already priced in. You maybe forgot to ask what was coming in future software updates while standing starry-eyed at the impossibly low price it was being offered at, but they knew it was coming. After all, appropriately specced hardware to be able to do it was already onboard.

Re: Meta projected 10% of 2024 revenue came from scams

#116

Post by 1970-01-01 »

samlinnfer wrote: post #57

A new car built by my company leaves somewhere travelling at 60 mph. The rear differential locks up. The car crashes and burns with everyone trapped inside. Now, should we initiate a recall? Take the number of vehicles in the field, A, multiply by the probable rate of failure, B, multiply by the average out-of-court settlement, C. A times B times C equals X. If X is less than the cost of a recall, we don't do one.

I don't think the analogy applies the same way. Meta simply choose to be evil not because it costs less overall but because they're unable to provide/filter actually useful ads to consumers. The rear diff is instead a filthy window but consumers don't sue for better quality because everything else works good enough and those that do crash could have cleaned the windows themselves.

Re: Meta projected 10% of 2024 revenue came from scams

#117

Post by ferguess_k »

542458 wrote: post #96
ferguess_k wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just curious what password manager I should use? I'm considering using a password manager instead of the Google ones and gradually switch all passwords to generated ones instead the one I usually use. Searched through HN for the last 6 months but found just too many posts about PM.

I believe Bitwarden, 1Password, or the stock Apple one are the typically recommended ones. Bitwarden is free (and can be self-hosted), 1Password is paid and has a slightly nicer UX, and the Apple one is good but requires you to be in their ecosystem. I personally use Bitwarden and have had no issues.

Thanks, I heard about the 1Password leak, but just checked online and looks their it's just their Okta system, not client info?

Re: Meta projected 10% of 2024 revenue came from scams

#118

Post by vintermann »

Noaidi wrote: post #84

I wonder if the government and lawmakers would care if 10% of my income came from selling heroin...

That's not the right comparison. The question should rather be, would they care if 10% of their tax revenue came from heroin sales?

And the answer would depend on where the externalities from all that heroin sale happened (e.g. if it was abroad), whether the government would be expected to carry the cost of them (e.g. by having a public healthcare system), and probably also on how actually democratic they are.

Re: Meta projected 10% of 2024 revenue came from scams

#119

Post by pacifika »

Workaccount2 wrote: post #77
the_snooze wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"If you're not paying for the product, you are the product." It's an outdated way of looking at tech. Many classes of paid products (e.g., cars, streaming services, IoT, operating systems) double-dip into tracking and advertisement. Why would a business actually want to do the hard work of serving user needs when they can hedge their bets with ad revenue? Line must go up.

They aren't double dipping, they are subsidizing the cost with ads.

It’s just moving the goal posts though, ars technica was reporting on a 3400 dollars for a Samsung fridge with ads.

Re: Meta projected 10% of 2024 revenue came from scams

#120

Post by laweijfmvo »

Havoc wrote: post #52

Meta is cooked. It's not just scam portion - their entire strategy is in trouble FB - nobody I know actively uses it anymore. Insta - is being overrun with AI slop and given meta's stated goal of adding more AI interactions on their platforms I doubt they'll even try to get a grip on it let alone succeed Whatsapp & FB messenger - some use but has zero moat over other messengers. It's a completely fungible service in…

my aunt/uncle etc., who must certainly still use FB, just discovered Reels. I know this because they now send me 10 a day. and last year was the first time i heard them talking about finding christmas gifts advertised on FB, so i don’t think they are cooked yet.
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