From time to time, important news gets overshadowed by other headlines, even though it could have a profound impact on our (online) world. To most of us, few things are more bothersome than the dreaded cookie banners. On countless websites, you’re confronted with a pesky pop-up urging you to agree to something. You end up consenting without really knowing what it is. If you try to figure out what’s going on, you quickly get lost among the often hundreds of “partners” who want access to your personal data. Even if you do give your consent, it’s questionable whether you truly understand what you’re agreeing to.
I’m not a fan of being tracked so don’t get me wrong, but without the money earned with advertising the Internet will look very different and not only in a good way.
Advertising predates tracking by millennia. We can have online advertising without tracking, and certainly without this orgy of sharing data between 4353 partners. But market alone won’t get us there, because whoever offers advertising without tracking and selling data will be at a huge disadvantage compared to the crooks who sell. Only regulatory action can help. So this small step should be celebrated.
I disagree. The online advertising industry needs to shrink, and we should probably break up the monopolies.
Look at this chart:
Growth of advertising correlates with enshittification.
I 100% agree and totally get why I am being downvoted, but just disabling advertising or banning tracking cookies are not a magic fix to save the internet from the perspective of the companies that now show these ads. But I am definitely I favour of changes, the enshittication went way to far already. But there is more than big social media platforms is what I mean to say.
I agree with that!
Advertising should be illegal.
The world would be a better place without it.
Ding ding ding
Advertising has funded many things yet hasn’t made anything better, ever.
Demonstrably incorrect. Advertising is responsible for many, many fantastic free services. Without it they wouldn’t be free or wouldn’t exist.
A lot of advertising is annoying and misleading, even good advertising can lead to people buying stuff they don’t need. I am definitely not pro-advertising but it does serve more than monopolistic capitalism, especially on a more local level.