Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't think it's a joke at all. A user clicking on a link usually wants to view a page, not getting sent 100's of tracking scripts (or miners, fishers, or whatever), and it's not clear at all the user has given consent or is even aware. Search engines flagging ad- and script-heavy sites would be cool, too.
Wouldn't it be much easier to pass laws that would prohibit all these tracking scripts (e.g. GDPR) rather than writing custom Javascript for every individual website out there?
> This means that at the time of writing this report, over a year and a half after the complaints were launched, a decision on the complaints is still far off and it is unclear when such a decision could be expected. Meanwhile, Google continues to spy on the comings and goings of millions of European consumers. Moreover, since the complaints were launched, the company has even carried out a (misleading) public PR campaign to portray itself as company that respects privacy and highlight that users are in control of their personal data.
[0]: https://www.beuc.eu/publications/beuc-x-2020-074_two_years_o...