This is the official technology community of Lemmy.ml for all news related to creation and use of technology, and to facilitate civil, meaningful discussion around it.
Ask in DM before posting product reviews or ads. All such posts otherwise are subject to removal.
Rules:
1: All Lemmy rules apply
2: Do not post low effort posts
3: NEVER post naziped*gore stuff
4: Always post article URLs or their archived version URLs as sources, NOT screenshots. Help the blind users.
5: personal rants of Big Tech CEOs like Elon Musk are unwelcome (does not include posts about their companies affecting wide range of people)
6: no advertisement posts unless verified as legitimate and non-exploitative/non-consumerist
7: crypto related posts, unless essential, are disallowed
Got this notification when I opened Chrome when coming back to my desk after lunch.
"We changed our privacy settings to allow us to snoop on what you're looking at and shove you ads accordingly. Feel free to opt out, but we'll probably opt you back in when you aren't paying attention."
I'm always a bit amused when these sites and apps say things like, "If you turn off ad personalization, the ads you see won't be as useful to you."
My dude, I don't think I've ever willingly clicked on an ad in my entire life. "Personalizing" them won't change that.
Ads aren't supposed to make you click through, they're supposed to lodge a brand in your brain.
If you've seen 5 ads for red delicious apples and 0 for pink ladys, the next time you go to buy an apple you're more likely to pick a red delicious even though pink lady's are superior in every single way. That's how they get you.
Used to think otherwise, that I was immune to the phenomenon that you're describing. But then the other day I realised my shoes were hurting my feet. I was seriously considering buying shoe inserts (if that's their English name), even had the brand in mind, until I realised what was happening.
I've seen ads for this brand on tv like a decade ago. Before that, I honestly had no clue such things existed, I'd seen them in a store like, twice. Never seen anything related to them ever since. Literally forgot about them until I felt the slightest urge to buy them. I was really taken aback when I realised what had happened in my "advertising-immune" mind
I see an ad and I zone out or ignore it.
I used to click on ads back in the day when you'd get paid for it (I was a poor school student, don't judge. :p).
"new privacy feature" and then "sites you visit can determine what you like"
translated: "this new privacy feature reduces the amount privacy you have!!! what a great thing you like!!!"
Idk why the heck you just got downvoted into oblivion for pointing out the irony in google calling this a "privacy feature." Good old reddit moment it seems.
lol it's no worries. actually I have the privilege of being bot-downvoted by CCP sympathizers because of comments on this post https://lemmy.world/post/2338419, there is also the possibility that I’m just an asshole.
It's funny how small incremental changes over the years felt like nothing big was happening and then at some point we all woke up to a world where the largest advertising firm in the world basically is the internet for the vast majority of people. Everyone uses chrome and rarely types in a web address, they just type the name of the thing into Google and trust mommy to show them what's appropriate. They've back doored the entire population into basically what AOL was trying to be 20 years ago.
"we are going to help protect your privacy" from WHO Google? Is it from you? Because it seems like we need protection from you most of all. Constantly being gaslit by mega-corporations is the new American dream. It's okay because they love us, deep down, and we know that even though they don't show it.
small incremental changes over the years felt like nothing big was happening and then at some point we all woke up
I (and many others I presume) has been saying Chrome is shit since the beginning. It didn't feel like nothing was happening, it felt like we were slowly getting to the old days of IE and Netscape.
There are always a few that see this stuff coming, but they usually get looked at like a crazy person shouting about the sky falling.
It also feels like they really push a lot of the terrible on mobile first, get people used to concepts with the "that's just how mobile is, it's a different world" and then when most are accustomed to it they move to regular pc enshitification.
They gotta their digital peasantry, I mean users, from other feudal lords, I mean corporations, to maximize their power over them and ability to exploit them, I mean ... No wait that's right.
This is why I use Linux at home, along with TOR and a VPN. I'm not doing anything other than looking up woodworking and camping stuff, but fuck all ya'll for being nosy.
I'm already seeing all the ads I want to see.
Fucking. None.
From where comes the idea that personalised ads are good? I hate this timeline.
Google is a large company, they need to pay their employees and server. It's pretty entitled of you to expect them to work for free. /s
I read this everywhere these days. Shilling has become culture.
No I understand why websites show ads. I don't understand why whenever I disable personal ads, I get a message saying "Are you really sure? If you disable this you won't see your favourite ads anymore and only see ads for things you probably don't want to buy. That'd be awful wouldn't it?" and expect me to change my mind because that's definitely not why I wanted to disable it in the first place.
They act as if people like to see ads because then they can buy stuff they think they want/need. And I'm getting afraid that's actually true for a lot of people too.
I dunno how other people operate but I never once bought something off an ad.
Frightening, isn't it?
As Netflix and producers of toilet paper know well, people in the end are happy to pay for things they like or need. But Google and its like have discovered that instead of selling stuff to me, it's much more profitable to sell me to others.
No thanks.
more choices over ads you see
Who in their right mind want to see ads
I've never, not once in my life, saw an ad which managed to make me buy something.
It doesn't matter what it's selling. The fact that it's disrupting whatever I'm doing or making my experience worst makes me refuse to buy whatever it's selling, and it doesn't matter how personalized it'll get. I will never be influenced to buy something just because I saw it on an ad.
This feature will literally do nothing for me. I'll still block ads, or if they are unblockable for any reason, I'll just ignore them until they're done.
Many friends of mine are like saying why would i care i'd rather see ads that are relevant than ones that arent. Like dude i dont want ads at all and i dont want my data to be used to influence my buying behavior.
I don't care if I have to see unobtrusive ads (not overlays, not popups, not unskippable videos) ads help keep many web services free, sometimes I even find it helpful when ads are relevant to my recent searches or the page I am looking at. But having companies build up profiles about me and then share that between themselves is bullshit, that kind of behavior would be treated as stalking if done by an individual, why is it ok for a business?
"More useful ads" Well the best ads is no ads.
Ah the privacy sandbox that was overwhelming disagreed with, but that Google forced onto the web because they're a monopoly.
It really is unfortunate that almost all their users are asleep at the wheel and don't care.
Question: if personalized ads are so great, why can't I just go into my google account's settings and put there all the info about me? My income, my interests, ages of my children, my favorite food... Since personalized ads are so good every google users will just fill it in to get the best ads possible, right? Why not give people this option instead of implementing all this trackers?
I love how targeting yourself with ads relevant to your interests is presented as something advantageous for us. Sorry, I don't desire to be constantly prodded to take interest in new gadgets and cat foods.
The only time I see ads is when I look into someone else's screen
This is why I decided to migrate to Firefox a few days ago
I'm poor and I hate stupid bullshit. The only way to personalize ads for me is to make them go away.
Who the duck thinks ad personalization is a good thing. I'm glad YouTube shows me ads for seniors on Medicare. It keeps me disaffected and hating ads.
Serious question: Why do you use Chrome, a browser made by the world's largest advertising and spying company, when you give the slightest f* about privacy?
At least use Ungoogled Chromium if you're not gonna switch to something actually privacy-focused. Basically the same functionality, but without Google's spyware.
Personally, I use Chrome because it and Edge are the only browsers installed on my work PC.
At home, it’s either Safari on my Mac or TOR on my Linux box with a VPN.
You will use the internet and I will creep on your every move because you are a pleb.
Ain't creepy at all imho
i'd like to smack them on the nose with my government
Soo enhanced privacy means "Give as more data"? I'm so happy I moved to firefox. It was pain, but worth it.
I think wanting stuff for free and not wanting ads don't go together. Either we pay or we watch ads or use open source.