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The lesson to companies should be, don't provide a Hobson's choice up front like this. Offer the webpage you meant to offer, and simply don't try to nickel and

The lesson to companies should be, don't provide a Hobson's choice up front like this. Offer the webpage you meant to offer, and simply don't try to nickel and dime all the data out of your visitors.

cm2012 8y ago
It's not like content producing companies are these super profitable behemoths that are just greedy for $1 more. Not using ad trackers would your reduce your revenue by 50% at the minimum - it's how scaled advertisers spend money, if you're not doing it, you're not getting those advertisers. It is indeed a Hobson's choice - do it or stop providing whatever content it is the reader wants.
- Kim_Bruning 8y ago
  Am I the only person who liked the web a lot better before it encountered its own Eternal September? I'm not trying to be snarky! It's just that I'm not actually sure I like the direction the web took, and I'm not sure these "content producing companies" are indeed a net positive. Perhaps forcing a lot of (the more shady) commercial activity off of the web is actually the best thing that could happen. (Though they probably wouldn't leave quietly)
  - cm2012 8y ago
    If you don't like the new direction the web took and don't think any of the content with ads is valuable, then by all means don't use. But don't force me to stop reading the NYT or Twitter.
    - Kim_Bruning 8y ago
      No one is stopping you from reading the NYT or twitter. But let them compete without the distortion of (ab)using quite so much Personally Identifying Information, and see if you'd still be happy to!
Sargos 8y ago
So just kill the free and open internet and bring back the walled garden model of the mid 90s where you paid for website packages like you did for cable TV? That's not a future I want to live in. Europe is playing a dangerous game with the internet right now and I don't think they have enough tech-minded people in power to keep things sane and in check.
- pixl97 8y ago
  Free and open* *conditions apply: everything you say and do is tracked by a multitude of companies and poorly secured.

The lesson to companies should be, don't provide a Hobson's choice up front like this. Offer the webpage you meant to offer, and simply don't try to nickel and dime all the data out of your visitors.

cm2012 8y ago

It's not like content producing companies are these super profitable behemoths that are just greedy for $1 more. Not using ad trackers would your reduce your revenue by 50% at the minimum - it's how scaled advertisers spend money, if you're not doing it, you're not getting those advertisers. It is indeed a Hobson's choice - do it or stop providing whatever content it is the reader wants.

Kim_Bruning 8y ago
Am I the only person who liked the web a lot better before it encountered its own Eternal September? I'm not trying to be snarky! It's just that I'm not actually sure I like the direction the web took, and I'm not sure these "content producing companies" are indeed a net positive. Perhaps forcing a lot of (the more shady) commercial activity off of the web is actually the best thing that could happen. (Though they probably wouldn't leave quietly)
- cm2012 8y ago
  If you don't like the new direction the web took and don't think any of the content with ads is valuable, then by all means don't use. But don't force me to stop reading the NYT or Twitter.
  - Kim_Bruning 8y ago
    No one is stopping you from reading the NYT or twitter. But let them compete without the distortion of (ab)using quite so much Personally Identifying Information, and see if you'd still be happy to!

Sargos 8y ago

So just kill the free and open internet and bring back the walled garden model of the mid 90s where you paid for website packages like you did for cable TV? That's not a future I want to live in. Europe is playing a dangerous game with the internet right now and I don't think they have enough tech-minded people in power to keep things sane and in check.

pixl97 8y ago
Free and open* *conditions apply: everything you say and do is tracked by a multitude of companies and poorly secured.