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Reddit experimenting with blocking mobile browsers
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this post was submitted on 11 Jun 2023
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Technology
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People need to understand that this is about tracking your eyeballs. Reddit viewed on a webpage does not provide the metadata they want. What metadata does the app provide? Things you wouldn't think about wanting as a human, but the aggregate is very valuable.
Stuff like how long did you watch that video Ad? Where did you click on screen and at what time? What content were you viewing and what course of action did you take to get there? Web viewing only shows the landing page you arrived on reddit from and the exit page that took you away from reddit. Performing these actions in the app provides metadata cookie crumbs like a trail of roach shit to every single thing you've done on reddit in micro activities.
I'm not sure. I've worked at companies using amplitude and hotjar that can record all click event and sessions on web
Users can block those with extensions so the data isn't as reliable
That's probably a big part. Web browsers can do ad blocking. Within the official Reddit app that's way more difficult.
Funneling the herd into the slaughterhouse.
It sure seems like half the herd has wandered off.
It is not super difficult to do the same type of blocking with a router on software like OpenWRT. This can easily block all of the 3rd party ads type junk. The thing I can't quite figure out is what they are able to do on their server connection. It seems like they are able to setup their own proxy and impact other traffic on the same network when they should be far more sandboxed, but I can't prove that.
Someone REALLY needs to make fully open source and transparent mobile hardware and put Qualcomm under the bus... on a high speed looping track. We have no idea what is really possible under the hood on any existing mobile device. Both the processor and the modem are mostly black boxes. Even with the best custom ROMs like Graphene OS, the whole premise is based on developing a verifiable chain of trust on top of untrusted hardware we don't control.
The thing people fail to put together is that this is an issue of ownership; theft of ownership. Now we are seeing the first layers of neo digital feudalism emerging as a result of the theft.
that is not something average people even know about, or would have the skills to attempt. not even close.
I pay for adguard DNS. Rather than use an app on individual devices, I just put the official DNS into my router and problem solved when I'm at home. Works like a charm.
I noticed a while ago that my Asus WRT with a custom hosts file wasn't blocking ads anymore, too. I'm betting your assessment is correct. Shit sucks. Fuck ads.
I run a whitelist fw for my workstation, and have developed that list for years. Yes, it has been a major PITA. They can never get around a whitelist unless they self host all the ads. I imagine their servers will burn down in a day if they allow that kind of access. Plus who would pay these clowns to unverifiably show the ad in the first place. Then all the ad mongers won't be able to mine data on their servers too.
The loss of net neutrality is still only beginning to show its impact. I think we are on the verge of an internet parallel to the Star Wars death of the Old Republic and beginning of the Rebellion. The Chrome browser is the dissolution of the Senate via Web 3.
If I am correct, welcome to Hoth. Mind your battle stations. Imperial Walkers will likely show up at any time.
Users can block those on desktop without issue. On mobile it's a bit harder so most people I know don't even if they use ublock or something on their PCs/laptops (though that is of course only anecdotal).
So if anything if that was the issue they should've shut off support for the desktop version LOL /s
It's not as common to push users to apps on desktop, but its a tried-and-true practice on mobile. I'm sure companies would do it if they could, but app stores and app lockin aren't as strong on desktop as on mobile
Sorry that that wasn't obvious, but the desktop bit was mostly a joke!
But yeah; on desktop extra applications you have to download are definitely a hard sell.
It's a bizzare move though, given that basically every other social media in the world doesn't block mobile browsers.
Facebook infamously does for Messenger. But yes, I think it's a sign of their desperation.
Not blocking but LinkedIn pushes mobile browsers towards their app.