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I find it disturbing that the biggest ad company controls the biggest browser. I can see how privacy friendly specifications do not get implemented
by hoppla 6y ago
I find it disturbing that the biggest ad company controls the biggest browser. I can see how privacy friendly specifications do not get implemented
- mcv 6y agoYeah, it's very important to remember this point. Google is an ad company first and foremost. Everything else they do just drives ads or user information to show ads more effectively.
- shadowgovt 6y agoMeh, that's reductionist. Takeout doesn't drive ads. Neither does ngram search. Or G Suite. Google's primary revenue model is ads, and yes; that implies a lot of products they make hook up through that revenue model. But the incentive structure isn't as simple as "ALL FOR ADS." Google still styles itself a search company (but search doesn't pay for itself) and, increasingly, a cloud service company.
- mcv 6y agoStill, when push comes to shove, Google will always do whatever works best for their ad system. Their browser is good, but it will never natively support the kind of anti-ad, anti-cookie measures that Firefox or Safari might.
- tripzilch 6y ago> But the incentive structure isn't as simple as "ALL FOR ADS." It is when adding "... whenever a service gets really big and used a lot". If Ngram search was super popular, you bet they'd put book ads there, or something.
- shadowgovt 6y agoGSuite and Takeout don't have ads.
- shadowgovt 6y agoIronically, Google actually puts a huge amount of engineering effort into thinking through privacy concerns because they're a huge target and they stand to lose a lot if they lose consumer goodwill. ... but their thought process does generally include "Google and their data stores are a trusted repository."
- nerdponx 6y agoAnd because privacy chokes out their advertising competition.
- DangerousPie 6y agoThat's why I try to use Firefox whenever I can.