If you include speculation and gambling I'd bet 10% of all economic activity is heavily dependent on either outright scams or scam-adjacent behavior.
Meta projected 10% of 2024 revenue came from scams
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Re: Meta projected 10% of 2024 revenue came from scams
#252Earlier 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.
The "you can just not agree to it" argument is so bogus. You can only buy good/services that are for sale, and when they all have the same crappy terms, you have to agree to somebody's to live in the modern world. That's like the people who claim only idiots live in HOAs but neglect the fact that, in some markets, nearly all real estate worth living in is covered by an HOA of some sort so your alternative isn't "buy…
> You can only buy good/services that are for sale
The world is full of custom car builders. Buying a something like the F-150, but without the undesirable computing components, is quite practical and very possible.
It'll be expensive, which I expect is what you were really trying to say when you pretend there is no such thing for sale, but you're just returning us to the heart of discussion: The F-150 is cheap, comparatively, because it has already priced in the tracking subsidy. You're accepting of those undesirable terms because the lower price makes it compelling enough to do so.
Re: Meta projected 10% of 2024 revenue came from scams
#253Once I got an Instagram ad for buying ketamine that just linked to a telegram channel. They didn't even bother being coy or using mispelling or slang. A simple keyword search to flag for more review would have caught it. I can't even wrap my head around what internal controls exist when something like that makes it out to users.
Zuck and Meta are playing the role of Robinhood. They take the money from scammers and advance their philanthrophy. https://x.com/a16z/status/1986486508355002584 Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg on Curing All Disease We sat down with Dr. Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg, co-founders of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, to discuss their ambitious plan to cure, prevent, and manage all disease by the end of the centur…
I’m assuming this is satire but in case it’s not-
He’s PROVIDING A SERVICE for the scammers. Not stealing from them lol
Re: Meta projected 10% of 2024 revenue came from scams
#254Earlier quoted context omitted.
The "you can just not agree to it" argument is so bogus. You can only buy good/services that are for sale, and when they all have the same crappy terms, you have to agree to somebody's to live in the modern world. That's like the people who claim only idiots live in HOAs but neglect the fact that, in some markets, nearly all real estate worth living in is covered by an HOA of some sort so your alternative isn't "buy…
> You can only buy good/services that are for sale The world is full of custom car builders. Buying a something like the F-150, but without the undesirable computing components, is quite practical and very possible. It'll be expensive , which I expect is what you were really trying to say when you pretend there is no such thing for sale, but you're just returning us to the heart of discussion: The F-150 is cheap, com…
Is it really "accepting a concession" if the "alternative" is so expensive as to not be an option anyway?
This is like telling someone who doesn't like that they have to wait in traffic they should just take a helicopter to work everyday. Yes, it's technically an option for some people, but for the vast majority it's not.
Re: Meta projected 10% of 2024 revenue came from scams
#255Earlier quoted context omitted.
This would create a two tiered social commons however. Someone like me, homeless and on disability, what could I afford? Where would my word be heard? It could also create "free" platforms, funded by billionaires, to control the speech on the platform. The answer is a communal, government owned social media platform, that mimics the rules of the town square. in the US, this includes the same 1st amendment rights. Thi…
> Where would my word be heard? You do realize that we are on a platform without ads where your word is heard, so it still is possible. And before "social media" there were plenty of free forums (each with a certain main topic, but in which people were discussing occasionally more than that), so it was not that bad. And in fact that continues today (ex: this one), with more relevant discussions in my opinion than wha…
FYI, HN is a giant advertisement.
It's a place with bait for software engineers (lots of tech stories and discussion), and YC then gets lots of eyes on job postings for their companies. This is explicitly why it exists.
HN is not ad free, it is an ad.
Re: Meta projected 10% of 2024 revenue came from scams
#256Alongside 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…
I have my view history turned off on Youtube. It appears that means I get a lot of low quality ads. Questionable health products, really questionable health products, "5G blocking beanies that prevent brain fuzzing", gross out advertisements about poop, and so on.
It really lowers my perception of Youtube as a product as just any old site with content, but also scams / creepy stuff. Youtube don't care I suspect, it's money for them, and it re-enforces my desire to not give them money... so yeah they take money form who they can.
Re: Meta projected 10% of 2024 revenue came from scams
#257As a former Meta employee (also dealt with Shopping and Ads), I am quite shocked at the percentage of "commerce" scams in my Instagram feed now. Easily 9 out of 10 promoted "buy" posts use AI videos of non-existent products leading to scammy sites. Any current employees willing to chime in?
Re: Meta projected 10% of 2024 revenue came from scams
#258At least 50% of the YouTube promoted videos I get are crypto currency scams where some paid actor walks you though deploying an eth contract that empties your wallet. I report every one and nothing changes :(
protip, install uBlock Origin - no more ads in Youtube
Re: Meta projected 10% of 2024 revenue came from scams
#259Meta 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…
I was thinking that for the last 7 years and every year they grow revenue massively. I don’t get it.
Re: Meta projected 10% of 2024 revenue came from scams
#260Seems low, they need to pump those numbers up if they want to compete with the trp administration, russia or twittee.
Scams seem like the norm in 2020s. Crypto, Quantum Computing startups, "AI" (LLMs), Amazon delivering fakes, electric vehicles (what happened to all electric by 2030?). Yesterday I saw that the Playstation Store started doing "personalised discounts" where they will now discount the same game at different rates for different people within the same country without explicitly telling people.
Someone recently even tried to attempt scamming me when buying a burger by telling me if I want certain toppings without telling me it will cost more. Apparently now have to play mind games when buying a burger.