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The last CMA report[0] concluded[1] that Google's dominant position in search and advertising was partly due to how their extensive tracking enables them to get

The last CMA report[0] concluded[1] that Google's dominant position in search and advertising was partly due to how their extensive tracking enables them to get a higher ROI per user, allowing them to outbid potential competitors for things such as becoming the default search engine on Apple devices, further reinforcing their dominant position. I agree with you, if I type in a search term from location X, advertisers have enough targeting to serve me a relevant ad which I'm totally fine with. [0] https://www.gov.uk/cma-cases/online-platforms-and-digital-advertising-market-study https://www.gov.uk/cma-cases/online-platforms-and-digital-ad... [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cma-lifts-the-lid-on-digital-giants https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cma-lifts-the-lid-on-digi...

tgragnato 6y ago
> which I'm totally fine with If there's an investigation it's because governments are starting to realise they are not totally fine with it. You may be, but it's off topic. The topic is the UK. Abuse of market position, free markets, monopolies, oligopolies, pools, trusts. Impoverishment of one nation's economy in favor of another, tax evasion, unfair business practices. Individuals don't care about these things, but governments do.
- dan-robertson 6y ago
  Seeing your list, it does seem like things the government of the U.K. cares about but it’s debatable whether they want more or less of these things.
Xelbair 6y ago
>I agree with you, if I type in a search term from location X, advertisers have enough targeting to serve me a relevant ad which I'm totally fine with. i am not fine with that, because that's just a step from sellers offering a personalized prices for me, trying to squeeze everything out of me.
- ricardo81 6y ago
  I'm not sure what you mean. I was meaning to differentiate between a vanilla search vs tracking data augmenting the search/ad delivery process. Obviously the search term itself is used, and often location is required for queries such as "taxis near me". It's also essential for advertisers to know if you're in their geographical market. That's just my opinion on what kind of data is OK to share, the point was that no further information is generally needed. The CMA reports highlight the fact that insidious tracking and the subsequent ROI tends to cement the dominant position of those who use it.
  - stiray 6y ago
    > I'm not sure what you mean. He means this on a global scale: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-18595347 https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-18595347 And they were (are) using only User-Agent. Now imagine that google calculates some "wealth" score back to online shops, insurance companies,...
lima 6y ago
Tracking is much less useful than people believe (except for measurement of campaign success and retargeting). Google's search ads work so well because Google has very good and reliable demographic data (i.e. "personalization") and the users literally them what they're looking for. None of that requires tracking.

tgragnato 6y ago

> which I'm totally fine with If there's an investigation it's because governments are starting to realise they are not totally fine with it. You may be, but it's off topic. The topic is the UK. Abuse of market position, free markets, monopolies, oligopolies, pools, trusts. Impoverishment of one nation's economy in favor of another, tax evasion, unfair business practices. Individuals don't care about these things, but governments do.

dan-robertson 6y ago
Seeing your list, it does seem like things the government of the U.K. cares about but it’s debatable whether they want more or less of these things.

Xelbair 6y ago

>I agree with you, if I type in a search term from location X, advertisers have enough targeting to serve me a relevant ad which I'm totally fine with. i am not fine with that, because that's just a step from sellers offering a personalized prices for me, trying to squeeze everything out of me.

ricardo81 6y ago
I'm not sure what you mean. I was meaning to differentiate between a vanilla search vs tracking data augmenting the search/ad delivery process. Obviously the search term itself is used, and often location is required for queries such as "taxis near me". It's also essential for advertisers to know if you're in their geographical market. That's just my opinion on what kind of data is OK to share, the point was that no further information is generally needed. The CMA reports highlight the fact that insidious tracking and the subsequent ROI tends to cement the dominant position of those who use it.
- stiray 6y ago
  > I'm not sure what you mean. He means this on a global scale: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-18595347 https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-18595347 And they were (are) using only User-Agent. Now imagine that google calculates some "wealth" score back to online shops, insurance companies,...

lima 6y ago

Tracking is much less useful than people believe (except for measurement of campaign success and retargeting). Google's search ads work so well because Google has very good and reliable demographic data (i.e. "personalization") and the users literally them what they're looking for. None of that requires tracking.