Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Meta projected 10% of 2024 revenue came from scams

sherwood.news

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

141–150 of 549 posts

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

#141

Post by noir_lord »

9rx wrote: post #137
noir_lord wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the most HN of HN takes. Saying it's your (the consumers) fault because you didn't read the crystal ball for what was coming in the future. The price a product is offered at is the price for the product at that time , you don't get to say well I sold it for $10 but it's worth $20 so I'll just sell your data until I recoup that $10 I "lost".

> the price for the product at that time Exactly. The necessary hardware to enable the tracking was installed at the time of purchase. It is not like 10 years later someone dreamed up the idea and decided to stealthy in the night start bolting on new components to every vehicle they could find. It was a feature that was there at the time of purchase and the sale was priced accordingly.

So by your standards, it's totally fine for Lenovo to use the laptop you bought from them to mine crypto a year after you bought it from them because the necessary hardware to enable that (it having a GPU) was installed at the time.

I mean it's a viewpoint, it's a certifiably bonkers one but of all the viewpoints it definitely is one.

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

#142

Post by jasonlotito »

infecto wrote: post #20
jasonlotito wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For what it's worth, I see no crypto videos. YouTube recommends stuff I find enjoyable (lots of sketch comedy, TTRPG videos, interesting documentary style stuff, BTS on video game development, etc). I really have to wonder if your tastes align with crypto currency scams. That being said, I am paying for Premium, so I wonder if you are, and if you are blocking ads.

We are talking about ads and promoted videos. Nothing to do with what it is recommending unless I am entirely conflating the root of this subject. If that is true, then of course you would never have seen these as a premium user. Scam videos are the chum box ads of the video world. Usually the lowest cost ads and so if you block tracking or are viewing a video in a private session you will have the highest chance of…

> We are talking about ads and promoted videos.

Ad and "promoted" videos are different in this context. And the OP was mentioning promoted videos, not ads.

> At least 50% of the YouTube promoted videos

I've never seen a "promoted video" (whatever that is specfically) that deals with crypto. Note: Premium users can still see promoted videos. I imagine these are more targetted to people who would want to watch these sorts of videos.

> Nothing to do with what it is recommending unless I am entirely conflating the root of this subject.

I was referring to recommended not in a strictly technical sense, but in a way any normal person would use the term. e.g. Recommended videos meaning: All the videos youtube shows me that it thinks I might want to watch. Whether these are officially "Recommended" or "Subscribed" or "Promoted" or whatever, I don't know.

What I do know is that I don't see any crypto scam videos or ads.

> If that is true, then of course you would never have seen these as a premium user.

Apparently, that's not the case.

tl;dr: We are talking about videos like normal people. You are wrong.

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

#143

Post by 9rx »

noir_lord wrote: post #141
9rx wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the price for the product at that time Exactly. The necessary hardware to enable the tracking was installed at the time of purchase. It is not like 10 years later someone dreamed up the idea and decided to stealthy in the night start bolting on new components to every vehicle they could find. It was a feature that was there at the time of purchase and the sale was priced accordingly.

So by your standards, it's totally fine for Lenovo to use the laptop you bought from them to mine crypto a year after you bought it from them because the necessary hardware to enable that (it having a GPU) was installed at the time. I mean it's a viewpoint, it's a certifiably bonkers one but of all the viewpoints it definitely is one.

Much like the F-150, if the license agreement between you and Lenovo allow Lenovo to do so, yes. I mean, if you didn't want that, you wouldn't have agreed to it, right? You are allowed to say no.

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

#144

Post by Workaccount2 »

chrischen wrote: post #7
mrweasel wrote: post #4

That probably depends on your definition of a scam, but it seems fairly low. Many products and services advertised online just skirts the border of being scams or fraud.

Agreed. At best most of the stuff I ended up buying from an Instagram ad turned out to be oversold or overpromised and underdelivered. While not a scam outright, it's sort of training me to avoid buying anything from ads...

There is an entire network of "get rick quick just by my pdf" intagramers, who peddle a pdf teaching you how to find a chinese product, make a website, and then drop ship that chinese product for 3x the cost to unsuspecting buyers.

Probably 75% of products you see on instagram ads, you can go find on temu for their actual cost, usually at 80% discount.

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

#145

Post by jasonlotito »

infecto wrote: post #124
mavhc wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only see ads when watching youtube via chromecast, but they're all from real brands, holiday companies, cars, google pixel, etc

And? YouTube web absolutely has ads and if they have not built a model on your user you will absolutely get the chum ads like scams. I am not sure what you’re trying to tell us.

> I am not sure what you’re trying to tell us

Gotcha. So you are ignorant of why people are commenting.

The OP was talking about seeing 50% scam crypto ads. Our responses were to provide a comparison. Not to say that it doesn't happen, but that 50% scam crypto ads are not the norm for everyone. It's helpful to have that comparison when providing anecdotal information.

No one is saying those ads don't happen, only that it's probably not normal.

Next time, instead of being unnecessarily antagonistic, admit to being ignorant and ask.

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

#146

Post by jcranmer »

2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: post #12

Scam ads and the sale of banned goods. They don't do anything about it because they aren't liable. Repeal section 230 If you place these ads you should be held accountable. Meta has a duty to know who they're taking money from.

> Repeal section 230

§230 protects Meta from liability for user-generated content. Ads are not user-generated content. So repealing it would do absolutely nothing in this case.

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

#147

Post by noir_lord »

9rx wrote: post #143
noir_lord wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So by your standards, it's totally fine for Lenovo to use the laptop you bought from them to mine crypto a year after you bought it from them because the necessary hardware to enable that (it having a GPU) was installed at the time. I mean it's a viewpoint, it's a certifiably bonkers one but of all the viewpoints it definitely is one.

Much like the F-150, if the license agreement between you and Lenovo allow Lenovo to do so, yes. I mean, if you didn't want that, you wouldn't have agreed to it, right? You are allowed to say no.

Ah... so we find ourselves at

> “But look, you found the notice, didn’t you?”

>“Yes,” said Arthur, “yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the Leopard.”

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

#148

Post by dspillett »

deaux wrote: post #53
cj wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My guess is the already-existing trend towards walled gardens will simply continue. When a public space is dangerous, people retreat into "safe" enclosed spaces. - "Never download anything unless it's from the Apple App Store" - "Never buy anything unless you're on amazon.com" - "Dont use the internet outside of ChatGPT"

A little ironic when Amazon is filled to the brim with scams.

Amazon has the advantage over some company I don't have experience with, of that I know returns are pretty easy and generally not questioned at all (at least for me, long-standing account in the UK, with infrequent returns, it might vary for new accounts, those who return more than they keep, or those in countries with worse consumer rights at the legally enforced level).

My two most recent examples: a couple of rolls of 3D printer filament that looked nothing like as advertised (bad sales images there I think, rather than a comingled-with-a-cheap-scammy-alternative issue) which was taken back unquestioned for same-day full refund despite one of them being opened, and a couple of years ago a replacement drive for my media RAID array that, while the right drive and not, as far as I could tell, counterfeit, certainly wasn't new/unused which is what I ordered, which again was taken back with no quibble or cost (other than my time of course).

There are problems dealing with Amazon sellers, but those can mostly be avoided with care and a healthy dose of cynicism (to avoid ordering crap in the first place). I'd never buy some things from there though: safety equipment, for instance.

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

#149

Post by whatamidoingyo »

I've been seeing legitimate pornography on Facebook while scrolling through reels. I thought it was "just my algorithm", but co-workers brought it up during lunch. Quite a few of them are seeing the exact same ads.

I've reported them a few times, but surprisingly (or maybe not), Facebook responds back with "we didn't find anything that goes against our community standards".

These ads usually link to a website where you can download an application (a chat app, or some AI generation). Of course, they're not in the play store. It's frustrating when I think of the times I was flat out rejected for my legitimate ads related to programming, or a job board, or real estate, but they approve PORNOGRAPHY. What in the world do those posters of pornography know that I don't? How could they get that approved? There has to be some cleverness going on.

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

#150

Post by 9rx »

noir_lord wrote: post #147
9rx wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Much like the F-150, if the license agreement between you and Lenovo allow Lenovo to do so, yes. I mean, if you didn't want that, you wouldn't have agreed to it, right? You are allowed to say no.

Ah... so we find ourselves at > “But look, you found the notice, didn’t you?” >“Yes,” said Arthur, “yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the Leopard.”

If a contractual party is not acting in good faith, there is a legal system to address that.

But I know you will say that the legal system doesn't act in good faith, so... I guess you're screwed. Such is the pitfall of living under a dictatorship.

Post reply on HN