thinking about this some more and trying to come up with a number for how much #privacy tools are costing content creators...what's the highest value I can realistically get?
If I install privacy tools to protect myself from surveillance ads, should I spend an extra $20/month on content to make up for it?
Yes, at some point it would make sense to have a conversation about whether users should turn off their ad blockers.
But it makes sense to have the conversation about how advertisers are evading sanctions on Russia and sponsoring copyright-infringing content first.
#AdReform is about more than just user #privacy and #security. It's about what kind of ad-supported businesses we really want to have.
Today's web ads are too dishonest for a lot of people to participate in.
"What has been different is that the dominant advertising platforms are interested in displaying editorial content with their ads, but not pay for its creation — and imperiling many news outlets in the process."
https://nationalpost.com/opinion/np-view-deal-with-google-a-big-step-forward-for-the-news-industry
(to be fair, news sites would not be in this situation in the first place if they hadn't under-invested in software in the 1990s and allowed VLOPs to emerge. But now that there is such a thing as VLOPs, Canada's approach makes sense)
fan theory: there would be far less annoying and deceptive stuff on the Internet if houses were affordable on an honest IT salary
reporter emails are an underrated web privacy tool
"An ACT spokesperson declined to comment, but a few days after The Markup reached out for comment, we tested the ACT account page for the pixel again, and found that it was no longer sending personal data to Facebook."
https://themarkup.org/pixel-hunt/2023/11/22/facebook-watches-teens-online-as-they-prep-for-college
yes, the most important reading assignment to understand online advertising is this one on "scam culture"
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/10/opinion/scams-trust-institutions.html
There has always been some respect for trickster figures, including founders building after they sell—but historically "fake it til you make it" has been what you do to break into respectable business, and then you go legit
Now, deception is tolerated even by large co.s that could afford to operate in accordance with business norms
@failedLyndonLaRouchite Surveillance advertisers are trying to "convert" you, so you have to convert them right back
https://blog.zgp.org/marketer-journey/
#privacy #surveillanceAdvertising #surveillanceCapitalism #adReform
I'm not an Apple Safari power user and still trying to find a good #trackingProtection extension to recommend (I think I'm good on recommendations for Firefox, Google Chrome, and MSFT Edge)
Is Magic Lasso the best option? (They say they deal with the YouTube ads which IMHO is a high priority, and they don't block ads like the ones on daringfireball.net which are legit)
https://daringfireball.net/linked/2020/04/12/magic-lasso-adblock
"While the risks continued to grow (e.g., a rising youth mental health crisis, widespread collection and sharing of sensitive health and location data in a post-Dobbs landscape), there had been no meaningful change in the [advertising] industry."
the price of a mixture of 95% chocolates and 5% turds is less than 95% of the price of just chocolates
(and once you understand that, you're halfway to understanding web #adReform)
#adReform is not just a #privacy thing—also about other areas
algorithmic discrimination vs equal opportunity
competition policy
copyright (cross-context ads pay for a lot of infringing sites)
disinformation
fraud/#scamCulture
mindful consumption
national security
personal/family/organizational security
signaling/#branding (b2b side of scam culture, how do honest sellers match with buyers?)
trade policy
(a #privacy tool does not have to provide extreme protection in order to have an effect—it just needs to raise the cost or uncertainty of #surveillanceCapitalism spending by companies, compared to investments in #adReform, product innovation, or customer service. I think about this stuff in terms of moving the marginal surveillance dollar, not solving everything all at once)
I don't believe that #privacy tools and services can "protect my privacy." But I still use quite a few, including Privacy Badger and Permission Slip
IMHO the more important reason for running privacy tools is to create a noticeable set of privacy people—a customer segment that marketing decision-makers will pay attention to—and redirect marketing budgets and VC funds away from surveillance marketing and toward #adReform and product innovation. #endSurveillanceCapitalism
https://blog.zgp.org/individual-privacy/
(there are plenty of people in #advertising today who are sympathetic to #adReform, but pitching a post-surveillance ad project to work or clients now is like pitching an HTML5 project when almost all users had Flash installed. Advertisers are always a couple steps behind early adopter users, and ad-supported sites are at best one step behind advertisers #endSurveillanceCapitalism is going to be tech early adopters first, followed at some point by innovative advertisers+sites, then more users)
