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AT&T confirms it is buying ad platform AppNexus reportedly for between $1.6B-$2B

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Re: AT&T confirms it is buying ad platform AppNexus reportedly for between $1.6B-$2B

#51

Post by scarface74 »

rectang wrote: post #9
tehwebguy wrote: post #4

This is incredibly disturbing, they need not inject a unique ID like Verizon’s, they can now do it all on the backend.

When I went to start streaming the world cup, AT&T took the initiative to "sign me in" to a third party (Fox) without asking for credentials or permission. They know who you are. They know everywhere you go. And they are happy to spread what they know about you around.

Why is this bad? I’m on thier network, they know I’m a customer, why not sign me in.

I bought my dad a Roku TV for his birthday and the idea of having to go to website, login with his cable companies userid and password and then use the one time code displayed on his TV,confuses him to no end.

Re: AT&T confirms it is buying ad platform AppNexus reportedly for between $1.6B-$2B

#52

Post by scarface74 »

Azerb wrote: post #11

So as someone getting AT&T Fiber this week, what VPNs should I look at using?

Getting a VPN just means some other company knows your browsing history. Also, I doubt any VPN service can reliably deliver the native speed of my gigabit internet.

Re: AT&T confirms it is buying ad platform AppNexus reportedly for between $1.6B-$2B

#53

Post by rectang »

scarface74 wrote: post #51
rectang wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I went to start streaming the world cup, AT&T took the initiative to "sign me in" to a third party (Fox) without asking for credentials or permission. They know who you are. They know everywhere you go. And they are happy to spread what they know about you around.

Why is this bad? I’m on thier network, they know I’m a customer, why not sign me in. I bought my dad a Roku TV for his birthday and the idea of having to go to website, login with his cable companies userid and password and then use the one time code displayed on his TV,confuses him to no end.

It would be "convenient" if AT&T's CEO were to appear in my boudoir tomorrow morning to give me a pedicure, comb my beard, spritz me with Axe Body Spray, and tie my bow tie. But before they decide to do that, I'd like a say in the matter.

Re: AT&T confirms it is buying ad platform AppNexus reportedly for between $1.6B-$2B

#54

Post by jdhendrickson »

coastal-fiesta wrote: post #26
asafira wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Extra props for including "old." there.

Why the dislike of the new interface?

How it looks, how it behaves, how it performs. If they implement it, I will finally be able to break the addiction, and will probably sell off my 11 year old account.

Re: AT&T confirms it is buying ad platform AppNexus reportedly for between $1.6B-$2B

#56

Post by corrigible »

jdhendrickson wrote: post #54
coastal-fiesta wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why the dislike of the new interface?

How it looks, how it behaves, how it performs. If they implement it, I will finally be able to break the addiction, and will probably sell off my 11 year old account.

What's the going rate on decade-plus accounts? I've got one with a catchy handle, too.

Re: AT&T confirms it is buying ad platform AppNexus reportedly for between $1.6B-$2B

#57

Post by scarface74 »

rectang wrote: post #53
scarface74 wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is this bad? I’m on thier network, they know I’m a customer, why not sign me in. I bought my dad a Roku TV for his birthday and the idea of having to go to website, login with his cable companies userid and password and then use the one time code displayed on his TV,confuses him to no end.

It would be "convenient" if AT&T's CEO were to appear in my boudoir tomorrow morning to give me a pedicure, comb my beard, spritz me with Axe Body Spray, and tie my bow tie. But before they decide to do that, I'd like a say in the matter.

How is this abt different than every corporate SSO ever?

Re: AT&T confirms it is buying ad platform AppNexus reportedly for between $1.6B-$2B

#58

Post by chadmeister »

le-mark wrote: post #46
phobosdeimos wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Been blocking ads for years pretty thoroughly. Its a trillion $ industry that might as well not exist really. My advice: buy an unlocked Android phone. Throw DNS66 on it to block in app ads. Use browsers that support ublock origin, I advise Fennec which is Firefox for Android stripped of the Mozilla crap. You are not a powerless victim, you have agency.

How is Fennec on the battery life? I tried firefox on android several years ago and uninstalled immediately due to battery consumption. Has that story changed?

I'd recommend giving Firefox another shot. It's leaps and bounds ahead of where it was on mobile more than a year ago.

Re: AT&T confirms it is buying ad platform AppNexus reportedly for between $1.6B-$2B

#59

Post by mathattack »

alfredallan1 wrote: post #47
mathattack wrote: post #23

Wow. Wow. Wow. Part of me is terrified that someone who has all my details just bought a firm that can trad on them. (It’s economic magic though - as if the Federal Reserve bought a hedge fund) But part of me says that when one dinosaur buys another, the end result is rarely Excellence. I suspect that this will wind up a disaster and write-off.

There ought to be some sort of regulation preventing this sort of thing - like the Glass-Steagall Act in banking that mandated separation of investment banking and commercial banking operations.

GS was created so an implosion on the banking side didn’t kill our savings accounts.

In general antitrust is more about preventing Coke from buying Pepsi than Coke buying It’s bottlers or Kroger. The idea was vertical integration isn’t as harmful on consumer prices as horizontal.

I think in this case it’s more about something like GDPR.

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