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I attack if from a different direction. All these companies want to fingerprint your device and track you for really one reason at the very end: showing you a t

I attack if from a different direction. All these companies want to fingerprint your device and track you for really one reason at the very end: showing you a targeted ad. Now what happens if they can't deliver that ad (because you have an adblocker installed), well all that tracking and fingerprinting they just did is moot, because there's nothing actionable they can do with it. That's my rather naive opinion, idk am I just being naive?

caymanjim 5y ago
I care a lot less about whether or not I see an ad than I do about the shadow dossier being compiled about me based on my browsing habits. So no, I don't think all the fingerprinting is moot. I'd rather see untargeted advertising than have my personal profile bought and sold.
- judge2020 5y ago
  Do you have ads blocked on google.com then? Because all ads there are contextual, not personalized.
  - AJ007 5y ago
    That is wrong. Not sure where you got that idea from.
    - judge2020 5y ago
      Search 'hr platform' and you only get ads for HR platforms. At no point will you see totally unrelated ads for stuff you didn't search for, since those will do much worse than contextual ones in the search context.
      - shukantpal 5y ago
        Yeah but if you search for something generic, Google will infer what you are searching for based on your profile.
        ghusbands 5y ago
        But the context/question is whether or not the adverts are different, not whether the search results are different.
        tekknik 5y ago
        As a counter point, google used to (still does?) recruit based off of your search history. the famous “now you’re speaking our language” popups
        judge2020 5y ago
        https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17289580 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17289580
        shukantpal 5y ago
        The adverts will also be different since Google would infer what to show you - both in the results and advertisements.
kevin_thibedeau 5y ago
The problem is all activity gets sold to data brokers who build up a profile on you for future targeting.

caymanjim 5y ago

I care a lot less about whether or not I see an ad than I do about the shadow dossier being compiled about me based on my browsing habits. So no, I don't think all the fingerprinting is moot. I'd rather see untargeted advertising than have my personal profile bought and sold.

judge2020 5y ago
Do you have ads blocked on google.com then? Because all ads there are contextual, not personalized.
- AJ007 5y ago
  That is wrong. Not sure where you got that idea from.
  - judge2020 5y ago
    Search 'hr platform' and you only get ads for HR platforms. At no point will you see totally unrelated ads for stuff you didn't search for, since those will do much worse than contextual ones in the search context.
    - shukantpal 5y ago
      Yeah but if you search for something generic, Google will infer what you are searching for based on your profile.
      - ghusbands 5y ago
        But the context/question is whether or not the adverts are different, not whether the search results are different.
        tekknik 5y ago
        As a counter point, google used to (still does?) recruit based off of your search history. the famous “now you’re speaking our language” popups
        judge2020 5y ago
        https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17289580 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17289580
        shukantpal 5y ago
        The adverts will also be different since Google would infer what to show you - both in the results and advertisements.

kevin_thibedeau 5y ago

The problem is all activity gets sold to data brokers who build up a profile on you for future targeting.