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Props for the heads-up to "headline-only readers". > a largely bureaucratic way to extract extra money from Google/Meta/Amazon in the EU This can not be overs
by stareatgoats 4y ago
Props for the heads-up to "headline-only readers".
> a largely bureaucratic way to extract extra money from Google/Meta/Amazon in the EU
This can not be overstated. The EU should concentrate on creating things of value of their own, like privacy first services, not constantly prioritizing leeching off innovation and progress in other countries.
Speaking as a concerned European here, with plenty of criticism of the way the potential for liberating human knowledge and interaction using the fantastic technology at our disposal has largely been corrupted by FAANG et al and ad tech.
- jfk13 4y agoJust curious: do you regard the Google/Meta/Amazon advertising machines as "innovation and progress"? Or in any sense "things of value"?
- stareatgoats 4y agoThe issue is not dichotomic. There is value in enabling advertisements for products and services, the problem is in the unfettered overreach: the grotesque amassing of personal information and the near unchecked marketing of products that are (or close to) scams. Case in point: the cryptocurrency scams that littered Facebook as late as a few months ago (I don't think they have ceased but I was kicked out then, maybe because I habitually reported these scams to no effect - except being bombarded with even more of them ...).
- Spooky23 4y agoSure. They know their value. The problem is that’s hard for everyone downstream. I used to sell stuff on Amazon and EBay from surplus auctions as a side hustle. Initially you could run a sustainable business with 20-30% gross margins. When I got out, you needed 60-70% margins. So you really need to be selling a lifetime customer with value beyond the first sale, sell some bullshit story, or junk/scam/stolen product high margins. That’s why drugstores get looted… people sell toothpaste on Amazon.