Earlier quoted context omitted.
At least Android can't stop you from installing ad blockers.
iOS natively supports content blockers and Safari extensions.
Can you play a YouTube video in the background with no ads with that, like Firefox mobile?
Apple is building an ad empire as its iPhone privacy crackdown weakens rivals
61–70 of 174 posts
Re: Apple is building an ad empire as its iPhone privacy crackdown weakens rivals
#62[deleted]
Re: Apple is building an ad empire as its iPhone privacy crackdown weakens rivals
#63We sell you super expensive product, charge everyone 30% tax for anything you buy on it, put health monitoring devices on you (that you pay for), have directly your credit cards in the wallet (including custom one from us) and in the end capture more data that any other ads giant now. And we’ll use that for ads. But it’s fine. It’s locally so it’s fine and you are not a product. All because we convinced people using…
There is no competitor to their super expensive product.
Re: Apple is building an ad empire as its iPhone privacy crackdown weakens rivals
#64Sounds like they're copying google with their desire to get rid of cookies / FLOC etc. Strong privacy stance on privacy for others (and in media)...but very quiet on 1st party inhouse ability to connect the dots. I have a hard time seeing how this doesn't end in anti-trust tears for both of them
The anti-trust is a bit of an odd one. A few possibilities - do Google and Apple wind up controlling the online ad market? Or - does the ad market shrink because Apple exploits it less? (Killing an industry isn’t anti-competitive per se) Another angle is that captive audiences will be steered to other Google or Apple products. But debatably this only becomes anti-trust worthy when Google and Apple will start to buy m…
>Killing an industry isn’t anti-competitive per se
Using your dominance in one market (computers/phones) to muscle into another (ads) is about as anti-competitive as you can get.
Re: Apple is building an ad empire as its iPhone privacy crackdown weakens rivals
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
iOS natively supports content blockers and Safari extensions.
Super misleading. You can block websites manually, but you can’t add an adblocker to Chrome - so if you want an ad free experience, then you’re forced to use safari, a historically subpar browser - but worse, it’s vendor lock in. If this article is true, this is some terrifically anti competitive behavior
I believe that’s Chrome’s decision - like on Android.
I’m using Firefox Focus with its native Content Blocker.
Re: Apple is building an ad empire as its iPhone privacy crackdown weakens rivals
#66Sounds like they're copying google with their desire to get rid of cookies / FLOC etc. Strong privacy stance on privacy for others (and in media)...but very quiet on 1st party inhouse ability to connect the dots. I have a hard time seeing how this doesn't end in anti-trust tears for both of them
> I have a hard time seeing how this doesn't end in anti-trust tears for both of them In Apple’s case, I hope antitrust action comes before they stray too far and whilst their interests are still aligned with mine. I don’t want them to make any money from advertising, because then they have a conflict of interest and their pro-privacy arguments fall flat. (Google is too far down that path for me to trust them in the…
> whereas Apple primarily makes money from selling devices
I wonder if Apple is predicting that this wont be the case for much longer (lack of real innovation (excluding the M1) and market saturation), so they're being proactive to dominate another vertical. They will likely capitalize on their current image of being privacy kings.
Re: Apple is building an ad empire as its iPhone privacy crackdown weakens rivals
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
At least Android can't stop you from installing ad blockers.
I am able to use Firefox Focus to block ads in Safari on iOS. I’ve not had an Android for a while. What additional ad blocking features would I have on Android these days?
> I am able to use Firefox Focus to block ads in Safari on iOS
You think you are able to, but you just got lucky so far.
Focus code is very buggy and work for only a few sites. It's very hard to contribute fixes, so I expect it to stagnate even more. And since the sites we, the tech elite, read are similar to the ones the few maintainers do, those will be well served while all the rest of the internet will not see any improvement. IMO it will probably rot away like reader-mode.
Also, it is trivial for publishers to evade it :( just not a effort anyone even bothers with because of the low traffic.
Real firefox for android allows you to install uBlockOrigin. The only actively maintained adblocker that is being gasslighted everywhere. And that you was never allowed to install on IOS devices thanks to Apple the company.
Re: Apple is building an ad empire as its iPhone privacy crackdown weakens rivals
#68No post body was provided.
Re: Apple is building an ad empire as its iPhone privacy crackdown weakens rivals
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I have a hard time seeing how this doesn't end in anti-trust tears for both of them In Apple’s case, I hope antitrust action comes before they stray too far and whilst their interests are still aligned with mine. I don’t want them to make any money from advertising, because then they have a conflict of interest and their pro-privacy arguments fall flat. (Google is too far down that path for me to trust them in the…
> whereas Apple primarily makes money from selling devices I wonder if Apple is predicting that this wont be the case for much longer (lack of real innovation (excluding the M1) and market saturation), so they're being proactive to dominate another vertical. They will likely capitalize on their current image of being privacy kings.
Just because their primary revenue is from hardware, doesn't mean it isn't attractive to also add extra, uncorrelated revenue sources such as ads and data. Whether they have innovation or not is irrelevant to this.
Re: Apple is building an ad empire as its iPhone privacy crackdown weakens rivals
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
iOS natively supports content blockers and Safari extensions.
Super misleading. You can block websites manually, but you can’t add an adblocker to Chrome - so if you want an ad free experience, then you’re forced to use safari, a historically subpar browser - but worse, it’s vendor lock in. If this article is true, this is some terrifically anti competitive behavior
All browsers on iOS are merely rebranded safari. No such thing as a subpar browser IMO, just subpar websites that require browser features no one should need.