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https://www.google.com/contributor/welcome/ https://www.google.com/contributor/welcome/

by ptman 11y ago

felipeerias 11y ago
I see people posting that link over and over, as it it made some kind of valuable point. Do you realize that for this to work, you need to be permanently tracked by Google?
- mike_hearn 11y ago
  Er, yes. What is your proposed alternative? Ads have the advantage of being anonymous and the "tracking" is optional (you can block cookies and see worse ads, if you like). The alternative is to pay for things. On the internet paying for things requires an account and (modulo bitcoin) a credit card, neither of which are anonymous or private. So far we cannot have our cake AND eat it. So you have to pick.
dunkelheit 11y ago
That's kind of a different thing. You do not pay google for their service (search). Instead you pay for content using google. Google sits in their favorite position of the all-tracking middleman and uses gathered information for serving you more and more creepy ads.
castell 11y ago
Ah, isn't Google (among others) one of the "problems"? * The lack of quality control of their ads displays a "download" button next to real download links and trick casual users to download malware. * Ads that follow you around and are so creepy that's certainly the number one reason to block ads. * Pay little money for ad impressions to the website owners. They prefer clicks over impressions, which leads to a lose-lose. They could improve the situation by doing the opposite of what they do at the moment. And Apple with its iAds is not much better, they would profit if more websites would cease to provide a mobile version and provide an iAs funded iOS app in their walled garden app store.
- beobab 11y ago
  I may be in the minority, but I actually like the fact that when I look at cameras on amazon, I see adverts for lenses and tripods and cool flashes. It's nicer (imho) than just seeing "get this weight loss pill and lose pounds!" ads, which I am never going to even be vaguely interested in.
  - soylentcola 11y ago
    Exactly. And in addition, the companies that pay to advertise will pay more when their ads have a better chance of reaching potential customers. This leads to fewer ads needed to generate the same revenue, less wasted ad budget by people who sell the products advertised, and less irrelevant stuff cluttering up your browser window.
    - _up 11y ago
      And with all that tracking, they also can look if poeple price check items and than rise the price if they come back. Because now they know the customer already decided to buy. Happened with collaborating Flight booking sites.

https://www.google.com/contributor/welcome/ https://www.google.com/contributor/welcome/

by ptman 11y ago

https://www.google.com/contributor/welcome/ https://www.google.com/contributor/welcome/

I see people posting that link over and over, as it it made some kind of valuable point. Do you realize that for this to work, you need to be permanently tracked by Google?

mike_hearn 11y ago
Er, yes. What is your proposed alternative? Ads have the advantage of being anonymous and the "tracking" is optional (you can block cookies and see worse ads, if you like). The alternative is to pay for things. On the internet paying for things requires an account and (modulo bitcoin) a credit card, neither of which are anonymous or private. So far we cannot have our cake AND eat it. So you have to pick.

dunkelheit 11y ago

That's kind of a different thing. You do not pay google for their service (search). Instead you pay for content using google. Google sits in their favorite position of the all-tracking middleman and uses gathered information for serving you more and more creepy ads.

castell 11y ago

Ah, isn't Google (among others) one of the "problems"? * The lack of quality control of their ads displays a "download" button next to real download links and trick casual users to download malware. * Ads that follow you around and are so creepy that's certainly the number one reason to block ads. * Pay little money for ad impressions to the website owners. They prefer clicks over impressions, which leads to a lose-lose. They could improve the situation by doing the opposite of what they do at the moment. And Apple with its iAds is not much better, they would profit if more websites would cease to provide a mobile version and provide an iAs funded iOS app in their walled garden app store.

beobab 11y ago
I may be in the minority, but I actually like the fact that when I look at cameras on amazon, I see adverts for lenses and tripods and cool flashes. It's nicer (imho) than just seeing "get this weight loss pill and lose pounds!" ads, which I am never going to even be vaguely interested in.
- soylentcola 11y ago
  Exactly. And in addition, the companies that pay to advertise will pay more when their ads have a better chance of reaching potential customers. This leads to fewer ads needed to generate the same revenue, less wasted ad budget by people who sell the products advertised, and less irrelevant stuff cluttering up your browser window.
  - _up 11y ago
    And with all that tracking, they also can look if poeple price check items and than rise the price if they come back. Because now they know the customer already decided to buy. Happened with collaborating Flight booking sites.