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For those that aren't aware, he's referring to the strategy known as "Embrace, Extend, and Extinguish", likely coined at Microsoft in the early-90s. First Chro

by fouc 6y ago

For those that aren't aware, he's referring to the strategy known as "Embrace, Extend, and Extinguish", likely coined at Microsoft in the early-90s. First Chrome started out as a technically amazing, open source, standards compliant browser. Developers everywhere adopted it and promoted it to their friends and family. Rapid adoption ensued. Development tools became amazing, further spurring on developers to build websites for Chrome primarily. Creating a vicious cycle, now others need Chrome to enjoy these websites. Then gradually Chrome starts stripping away user freedom in the name of security and privacy. Google added auto-update to force Chrome browser upgrades on every user. This pushes the web into a monoculture where Google can further centralize and establish control.

echelon 6y ago
You're right! This is why the DOJ needs to strip Chrome away from Google. They can't control the dominant web browser, the dominant search engine, and the dominant ad tech. It all feeds into the same funnel. They know that, and they're making the tractor beam stronger. The quality of search results and user customization of Chrome are going down as more properties on the search results (AMP, AdSense in the top results) lead to Google monetization flows. The web doesn't even need information any more - just clicks. The DOJ needs to pry Google apart like a clam.
- tracker1 6y ago
  The issue/problem is that you have to actually pay the developers/managers/staff working in/on/around Chrome the browser and OS somehow. Any monetization strategy will lead to conflicts of interest and poor decisions along the way. For example, adspace is the biggest offender in terms of cripling browser resource overload. If they implemented, say a 500kb cap for JS in IFRAME, and disabled JS entirely for IFrames more than two layers in HTML>IFRAME>IFRAME get JS, another layer doesn't... that would be a massive boost to actual performance, especially in low-resource devices. Unfortunately, such limitations will NEVER be implemented by Google, and Firefox getting most of their funding from Google as well won't do it. MS might, but I don't see them making those kinds of changes in their fork. Even as a separate entity, Chrome would have to get funding from somewhere. Also, where would ChromeOS fall, or Android? What would stop Google from forking and starting all over again?

by fouc 6y ago

echelon 6y ago

You're right! This is why the DOJ needs to strip Chrome away from Google. They can't control the dominant web browser, the dominant search engine, and the dominant ad tech. It all feeds into the same funnel. They know that, and they're making the tractor beam stronger. The quality of search results and user customization of Chrome are going down as more properties on the search results (AMP, AdSense in the top results) lead to Google monetization flows. The web doesn't even need information any more - just clicks. The DOJ needs to pry Google apart like a clam.

tracker1 6y ago
The issue/problem is that you have to actually pay the developers/managers/staff working in/on/around Chrome the browser and OS somehow. Any monetization strategy will lead to conflicts of interest and poor decisions along the way. For example, adspace is the biggest offender in terms of cripling browser resource overload. If they implemented, say a 500kb cap for JS in IFRAME, and disabled JS entirely for IFrames more than two layers in HTML>IFRAME>IFRAME get JS, another layer doesn't... that would be a massive boost to actual performance, especially in low-resource devices. Unfortunately, such limitations will NEVER be implemented by Google, and Firefox getting most of their funding from Google as well won't do it. MS might, but I don't see them making those kinds of changes in their fork. Even as a separate entity, Chrome would have to get funding from somewhere. Also, where would ChromeOS fall, or Android? What would stop Google from forking and starting all over again?