Privacy analysis of FLoC (Mozilla blog)

Posted Jun 15, 2021 16:44 UTC (Tue) by josh (subscriber, #17465)
In reply to: Privacy analysis of FLoC (Mozilla blog) by madscientist
Parent article: Privacy analysis of FLoC (Mozilla blog)

> Given: you will see ads.

Then I report a bug on my adblocker's filter list.

> Now, would you prefer these ads that you will see to be totally random and hence probably unrelated to anything you might be interested in?

Yes, because that makes it even easier to give them less attention and treat them as the noise they are.

Privacy analysis of FLoC (Mozilla blog)

Posted Jun 15, 2021 18:12 UTC (Tue) by Wol (subscriber, #4433) [Link] (4 responses)

That's EXACTLY the problem with badly-targeted advertising. It's better at grabbing your attention, but, being for stuff that you dismiss instantly, it's a far more effective unwanted distraction.

Cheers,
Wol

Privacy analysis of FLoC (Mozilla blog)

Posted Jun 17, 2021 1:45 UTC (Thu) by kenmoffat (subscriber, #4807) [Link] (3 responses)

That sounds exactly like what I will call fleabay - I happen to be logged in, search for random items which on inspection turn out to be no use to me, e.g. graphics cards which are available but have the wrong interface (or alternatively follow a link from a forum of things which are either not as described, or insanely priced), and for the following weeks I get mail saying "We've found these items similar to what you were looking at".

More than 99% of online advertising is counter-productive for the advertisers.

Privacy analysis of FLoC (Mozilla blog)

Posted Jun 17, 2021 22:15 UTC (Thu) by rgmoore (✭ supporter ✭, #75) [Link] (2 responses)

The worst use of advertising money is when they keep trying to sell you something you already bought. I could understand if Company A doesn't know what I bought from Company B, but when a company keeps trying to sell me something I bought from them, it makes me think they don't know their business.

Privacy analysis of FLoC (Mozilla blog)

Posted Jun 18, 2021 8:23 UTC (Fri) by farnz (subscriber, #17727) [Link] (1 responses)

Related to that is companies not noticing that they can't sell me a $thing, but could sell me $thing accessories - if you've spent $2,000 on a new camera body, you won't be in the market for another camera body soon. But you might be in the market for a $800 lens that fits your camera body.

Privacy analysis of FLoC (Mozilla blog)

Posted Jun 18, 2021 8:52 UTC (Fri) by Wol (subscriber, #4433) [Link]

> But you might be in the market for a $800 lens that fits your camera body.

And you WON'T be in the market for an £800 lens that DOESN'T fit your camera body.

That's what I mean about ads that are very good at grabbing your attention, but instantly piss you off ...

Cheers,
Wol