4 ms·

It's much easier to change your search engine than your ISP.

rjf72 8y ago
Indeed but when you change your ISP you are generally completely disconnected from them. Changing your search engine is just the first in a lengthy series of steps required to separate yourself from Google's data harvesting capabilities. This is why it's reasonable to declare them a monopoly. Taking just Google Analytics as an example. A quick search [1] indicated that, as of 2015, around 6,950 of the top 10,000 sites by traffic use it, with 546,000 of the top million using it. I'd expect those numbers have only increased. And their analytics service is just one branch of their extremely long reach outside of their search engine. You can get away from Google search, but getting away from Google is an entirely different issue. [1] - https://marketingland.com/as-google-analytics-turns-10-we-ask-how-many-websites-use-it-151892 https://marketingland.com/as-google-analytics-turns-10-we-as...
- cosmie 8y ago
  And those are just the ones that make it explicit. It's also pretty easy to mask usage of GA via a reverse proxy[1], or indirectly use GA via services such as Segment[2]. While both do create a degree of separation between your device and Google's servers, it still underscores your point of getting away from Google entirely being far more difficult than just avoiding Search. [1] https://medium.freecodecamp.org/save-your-analytics-from-content-blockers-7ee08c6ec7ee https://medium.freecodecamp.org/save-your-analytics-from-con... [2] https://segment.com/ https://segment.com/
mtgx 8y ago
It's easier to change your ISP - even in the US - than it is for your data not to land in Google's or Facebook possession somehow whether it's through web site tracking, its own services, or partnerships with hardware manufacturers and other data companies.
- paulie_a 8y ago
  It is not that easy to change ISPs in the US because in a lot of cases you don't have options. But you can do one thing. Randomly click an ad and destroy their prescious data and metrics. while reading an article that has thirty fucking ads, I'll click one or two. it has gotten interesting what pops up now. The ads sucked before. Ad tech has not improved in 20+ years. It's delusional of sv to think it has. There is nearly a generation of people working on it, and the end result is low quality ads as if it was 1999.
  - oraclesun 8y ago
    There's a great extension, AdNauseam, that automatically clicks every ad in the background for you. Google shut them down from Chrome, of course: https://www.fastcompany.com/3068920/google-adnauseam-ad-blocking-war https://www.fastcompany.com/3068920/google-adnauseam-ad-bloc...

Indeed but when you change your ISP you are generally completely disconnected from them. Changing your search engine is just the first in a lengthy series of steps required to separate yourself from Google's data harvesting capabilities. This is why it's reasonable to declare them a monopoly. Taking just Google Analytics as an example. A quick search [1] indicated that, as of 2015, around 6,950 of the top 10,000 sites by traffic use it, with 546,000 of the top million using it. I'd expect those numbers have only increased. And their analytics service is just one branch of their extremely long reach outside of their search engine. You can get away from Google search, but getting away from Google is an entirely different issue. [1] - https://marketingland.com/as-google-analytics-turns-10-we-ask-how-many-websites-use-it-151892 https://marketingland.com/as-google-analytics-turns-10-we-as...

cosmie 8y ago
And those are just the ones that make it explicit. It's also pretty easy to mask usage of GA via a reverse proxy[1], or indirectly use GA via services such as Segment[2]. While both do create a degree of separation between your device and Google's servers, it still underscores your point of getting away from Google entirely being far more difficult than just avoiding Search. [1] https://medium.freecodecamp.org/save-your-analytics-from-content-blockers-7ee08c6ec7ee https://medium.freecodecamp.org/save-your-analytics-from-con... [2] https://segment.com/ https://segment.com/

mtgx 8y ago

It's easier to change your ISP - even in the US - than it is for your data not to land in Google's or Facebook possession somehow whether it's through web site tracking, its own services, or partnerships with hardware manufacturers and other data companies.

paulie_a 8y ago
It is not that easy to change ISPs in the US because in a lot of cases you don't have options. But you can do one thing. Randomly click an ad and destroy their prescious data and metrics. while reading an article that has thirty fucking ads, I'll click one or two. it has gotten interesting what pops up now. The ads sucked before. Ad tech has not improved in 20+ years. It's delusional of sv to think it has. There is nearly a generation of people working on it, and the end result is low quality ads as if it was 1999.
- oraclesun 8y ago
  There's a great extension, AdNauseam, that automatically clicks every ad in the background for you. Google shut them down from Chrome, of course: https://www.fastcompany.com/3068920/google-adnauseam-ad-blocking-war https://www.fastcompany.com/3068920/google-adnauseam-ad-bloc...