6 ms·

A much more significant performance issue with web tracking is usually the absurd amount of JS loaded. It's almost impressive how they manage to load so much c

A much more significant performance issue with web tracking is usually the absurd amount of JS loaded. It's almost impressive how they manage to load so much crap. Just visit a site like mediaite.com, the list of trackers is damn long.

ogre_codes 6y ago
Yup. The really frustrating thing about this bit is that because it disables optimizations, it potentially impacts sites where they don't actually use tracking.
- sanxiyn 6y ago
  Note that this particular change does not apply to non-third-party resources. That's why performance impact is minimal.
Jestar342 6y ago
For more than a decade I've been campaigning (to any of my employers that utilise adverts on their platform) to drop adverts with the primary factor being that of performance for page load. The last time I looked, adverts were adding an additional ~35% load time to the page. Anywhere from 5% to _60%_ (!!) of vistors were navigating away before page load completed (Varied depending on company/product of course) and a staggering 80+% of those vistors would have had a full page load if the adverts were not there.
- yummypaint 6y ago
  I often wonder incredulously whether developers responsible for particular sites really comprehend how bad performance has gotten. Browsing threads like this on HN makes it clear that they are probably well aware, but have no choice in the matter. In a way that's even more depressing because only a tiny minority of people are happy with the arrangement.
  - hinkley 6y ago
    I walked away from one project. 3rd party scripts were not the only problem but were the last straw. I have a community site I want to build. If it stays small I can probably run it for $20 a month all in and not pester anyone. But I’m still keeping my eye on some of the saner ad networks that use subject matter instead of user tracking to target ads. That might be an option. Linus tech tips has a video where he gives us a peek into their finances. Among other things the merchandizing arm makes them about a third of their revenue, and no one advertiser is allowed to pay more than that, so they can maintain a degree of objectivity. I think a lot of us don’t want to approach sponsors so we feel sort of stuck with ad networks. And I’m not much of a materialist but I’m a tool nerd (you possibly don’t need it, but if you’re gonna buy it, get a really good one) so I’m not sure how I’d do merchandizing, since I’m more likely to recommend a brand than have something made for us. That leaves what? Amazon’s “influencer” BS, which is more money for Amazon? Discount codes, which are untargeted consumerism?
  - Jestar342 6y ago
    > I often wonder incredulously whether developers responsible for particular sites really comprehend how bad performance has gotten. For every site I've developed and have been tasked with adding adverts, and every colleague that I have worked with that has done the same: - Yes, we are aware. - Yes, we doth protest. - No, we were not successful.
- executesorder66 6y ago
  What was their rationale for not doing as you suggested?
  - Jestar342 6y ago
    Sunk cost is/was my conclusion. At one firm in ~2013, advertising was bringing in $600k revenue per annum - we estimated a loss of potentially triple that (!) - but the response was apathetic. There was very much a reluctance to accept that the "advert management team" (yep, they had a team dedicated to managing the adverts, who had the duty of "managing" Google Ads) would need terminating, too.
WrtCdEvrydy 6y ago
It's the chain of analytics. You load one ad and they want their own analytics or they try to stuff multiple ads into the same slot so you get multiple analytics. We clocked one ad at 800Mb loaded once.
hinkley 6y ago
I worked a contract where we slaved to get our load time down to some respectable number, and then they launched the site and load time was multiplied by just the analytics software (it was a company website, they weren’t running 3rd party ads). How demotivating. It was time to start thinking about moving on anyway, but I basically stopped trying to pursue contract renewal at that point. All that work (and uncomfortable meetings) so Google could triple our load time.

ogre_codes 6y ago

Yup. The really frustrating thing about this bit is that because it disables optimizations, it potentially impacts sites where they don't actually use tracking.

sanxiyn 6y ago
Note that this particular change does not apply to non-third-party resources. That's why performance impact is minimal.

Jestar342 6y ago

For more than a decade I've been campaigning (to any of my employers that utilise adverts on their platform) to drop adverts with the primary factor being that of performance for page load. The last time I looked, adverts were adding an additional ~35% load time to the page. Anywhere from 5% to _60%_ (!!) of vistors were navigating away before page load completed (Varied depending on company/product of course) and a staggering 80+% of those vistors would have had a full page load if the adverts were not there.

yummypaint 6y ago
I often wonder incredulously whether developers responsible for particular sites really comprehend how bad performance has gotten. Browsing threads like this on HN makes it clear that they are probably well aware, but have no choice in the matter. In a way that's even more depressing because only a tiny minority of people are happy with the arrangement.
- hinkley 6y ago
  I walked away from one project. 3rd party scripts were not the only problem but were the last straw. I have a community site I want to build. If it stays small I can probably run it for $20 a month all in and not pester anyone. But I’m still keeping my eye on some of the saner ad networks that use subject matter instead of user tracking to target ads. That might be an option. Linus tech tips has a video where he gives us a peek into their finances. Among other things the merchandizing arm makes them about a third of their revenue, and no one advertiser is allowed to pay more than that, so they can maintain a degree of objectivity. I think a lot of us don’t want to approach sponsors so we feel sort of stuck with ad networks. And I’m not much of a materialist but I’m a tool nerd (you possibly don’t need it, but if you’re gonna buy it, get a really good one) so I’m not sure how I’d do merchandizing, since I’m more likely to recommend a brand than have something made for us. That leaves what? Amazon’s “influencer” BS, which is more money for Amazon? Discount codes, which are untargeted consumerism?
- Jestar342 6y ago
  > I often wonder incredulously whether developers responsible for particular sites really comprehend how bad performance has gotten. For every site I've developed and have been tasked with adding adverts, and every colleague that I have worked with that has done the same: - Yes, we are aware. - Yes, we doth protest. - No, we were not successful.
executesorder66 6y ago
What was their rationale for not doing as you suggested?
- Jestar342 6y ago
  Sunk cost is/was my conclusion. At one firm in ~2013, advertising was bringing in $600k revenue per annum - we estimated a loss of potentially triple that (!) - but the response was apathetic. There was very much a reluctance to accept that the "advert management team" (yep, they had a team dedicated to managing the adverts, who had the duty of "managing" Google Ads) would need terminating, too.

WrtCdEvrydy 6y ago

It's the chain of analytics. You load one ad and they want their own analytics or they try to stuff multiple ads into the same slot so you get multiple analytics. We clocked one ad at 800Mb loaded once.

hinkley 6y ago

I worked a contract where we slaved to get our load time down to some respectable number, and then they launched the site and load time was multiplied by just the analytics software (it was a company website, they weren’t running 3rd party ads). How demotivating. It was time to start thinking about moving on anyway, but I basically stopped trying to pursue contract renewal at that point. All that work (and uncomfortable meetings) so Google could triple our load time.