Google Chrome pushes ahead with targeted ads based on your browser history::YMMV, based on where you are

    • kratoz29
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      410 months ago

      I switched a few weeks ago, I have not been able to test it on a PC, but the Android app definitely feels slower than Chrome, Cromite and Vivaldi.

        • kratoz29
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          310 months ago

          It is enabled, I think the performance hit would come from Dark Reader… but it is a must have extension for me (the reason I dropped Chrome actually, since they ditched the ability to darken websites in recent chrome versions).

    • @JonsJava@lemmy.world
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      210 months ago

      Switched? I’ve been using it since pre-1.0

      I have chrome, but that’s because my company’s product uses it for our clients plugin. Only use it for work stuff.

    • @weew@lemmy.ca
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      1710 months ago

      have they not already been doing this ever since they created Chrome?

      • @dalekcaan@lemm.ee
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        410 months ago

        Yeah it honestly surprises me they haven’t been doing this already. I mean at least on a smaller scale this has been Google’s business model for a while now.

  • @notannpc@lemmy.world
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    5210 months ago

    I like seeing the full cycle of Google Chrome starting out as the hero the world needed, to becoming the bloated pile of stalkerware trash like it had originally replaced.

    Rest in piss Google chrome.

    • @wizardbeard@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1210 months ago

      Was it ever needed? What has chrome provided that wasn’t already available from other 3rd party and/or open source browsers?

      The whole “faster than firefox” thing was greatly exaggerated, didn’t last long, and was at least partially artificial as google has been found to intentionally gimp their sites on non-chrome browsers.

      • @StudioLE@programming.dev
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        2110 months ago

        Chrome’s UI was light years ahead of the competition. I’d be tempted to say they had an impact on the design of all desktop applications.

        • @linearchaos@lemmy.world
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          110 months ago

          Yeah when they came out they did absolutely everything right. And they do no evil years they just kept nailing it time after time.

      • @notannpc@lemmy.world
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        710 months ago

        For folks that knew browsers other than Internet Explorer existed, no.

        But for the vast majority of internet users, yes I think it was needed.

    • Ænima
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      610 months ago

      You either die a hero, or live long enough to become the villain.

  • @Kittybeer@lemm.ee
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    3510 months ago

    I had to read the whole article to get to this info: Depending on what Chrome version you’re using, and whether you’ve been selected to start using Topics API, you can switch this functionality off and on by visiting chrome://settings/adPrivacy and/or chrome://settings/privacySandbox – cut’n’paste these URLs into your address bar to jump straight to the controls.

      • Ghostalmedia
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        710 months ago

        Easier said than done sometimes. Google is already doing what Microsoft used to do. They’re locking G suite features to Chrome, and if your company uses G suite, you made find yourselves in Chrome just so a damn thing works.

        • @dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          My company uses G Suite extensively, and I exclusively use Firefox. I haven’t found a single thing that doesn’t work in Firefox thus far.

          Some lawyer somewhere will wind up with a fat payday if some important feature of Gmail/Sheets/Docs gets locked to Chrome exclusively, as soon as anyone notices.

          • Boozilla
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            710 months ago

            FF is my daily driver (tho I do have to use other browsers for testing and such). G Suite works great for me in FF as well.

          • unalivejoy
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            610 months ago

            Unrelated to G Suite, Google search on mobile should work perfectly fine on Firefox, but Google has decided anyone not using chrome will get a “mobile” version of the site. There’s an addon that fixes that by just changing the user-agent string.

          • Ghostalmedia
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            510 months ago

            Latest thing I encountered, virtual backgrounds in Google Meet.

              • Ghostalmedia
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                10 months ago

                And those are basically Chrome.

                WebKit, Gecko, and other rendering engines don’t always get full compatibility, even if they’re super standards compliant.

                • @porkchop@lemm.ee
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                  19 months ago

                  They use the chrome rendering engine but they are not chrome. You get the best of both worlds. Compatibility with your corporate g suite whatever with a security/privacy-first mindset (at least with Brave)

        • @Klystron@sh.itjust.works
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          510 months ago

          Especially with some webapps too. My nas’s only allows you to upload folders through chrome, completely unsupported on Firefox. They do however another service on a different site that does support folder upload on Firefox for some reason though. I don’t get the disconnect.

          • @9tr6gyp3@lemmy.world
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            310 months ago

            You could ask them when they are going to support uploading through a modern browser like Firefox.

            • @DeadlineX@lemm.ee
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              110 months ago

              There are a lot of webapps only supported by chromium based browsers. A lot of development focuses on popular modern browsers. Firefox market share is under 5%. I use it because google has become more awful every year. I wish everything was supported on Firefox. It uses a different engine which provides challenges for some js and js libraries.

              The amount of dev hours involved has to be justified by the user base that desires the feature. This is the case even for just adding new features. It’s annoying, because I can only test using chrome, and chrome dev tools is way worse than Firefox.

              • @9tr6gyp3@lemmy.world
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                110 months ago

                If we keep having to justify any development for other browsers, well end up with Chrome having all the market share!

                • @DeadlineX@lemm.ee
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                  110 months ago

                  I agree. I don’t choose what goes on the board though. And Firefox is less than 5% of the browser market share (likely less than 1% of our customer market share). The money folks are the ones who ultimately decide what gets put in the pipeline. Why would a company care about reducing chromes market share? If we had a bunch or a large customer asking for it, then we’d likely do something to fix the Firefox issues.

                  Being a modern browser doesn’t really matter. What matters to companies is their user base and the needs there in. Increasing profits and (if they’re a good company) user satisfaction. Majority will always outweigh the few in these cases.

        • 👍Maximum Derek👍
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          210 months ago

          I encounter a site that will only work in Chrome based browsers (or at least won’t work in Firefox) about once a month. I’ve yet to encounter one that will only work in Chrome proper.

    • @Blizzard@lemmy.zip
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      2210 months ago

      You can switch it now but obviously it’s just a matter of time til you won’t be allowed to.

          • @yggdar@lemmy.world
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            710 months ago

            For me it’s Chrome for work, because we’re not allowed to install anything on our machines :(

              • Billiam
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                910 months ago

                If they’re not allowed to install their own software, they probably aren’t allowed to use USB drives

                • @yggdar@lemmy.world
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                  310 months ago

                  You’re absolutely right! USB storage devices are blocked and we don’t have the right to execute arbitrary executables anyway. It is a pretty secure environment.

            • @Sanctus@lemmy.world
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              310 months ago

              Apologies, I am the one who makes those decisions. So I give firefox to those who will take it and no matter what I make sure Google isn’t their default search engine.

              • @yggdar@lemmy.world
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                310 months ago

                I manage a team of about 30 people in IT. Your job is not valued enough, and I know the importance of what you do. Thank you for your work!

      • IninewCrow
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        1110 months ago

        And also … When you give users the choice to turn something on or off but don’t tell them that the thing is on and also make it inconvenient for them to turn it off …

        … Most users won’t turn it off.

  • YⓄ乙
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    810 months ago

    Goddamn I won’t be affected coz I am not using chrome. Sworry!

  • @CCatMan
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    310 months ago

    Does this apply to chromium?

  • nfntordr
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    310 months ago

    I’m happy to get interest based ads so I’ll keep sticking with Chrome.

    • nfntordr
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      110 months ago

      lol! love the downvotes due to personal preference.

  • Queen HawlSera
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    210 months ago

    If I use chrome I better get some Pepsi ads that incorporate the kinks I look up on e621