As FTC starts asking questions about that mega-deal with Google to train AI

Well, look at that. Ads disguised as posts.

    • catloaf@lemm.eeEnglish
      33·
      8 months ago

      Sort of. At least on old reddit, sponsored posts were in a light blue box. Now it sounds like they have a little gray “sponsored” somewhere on it.

    • db2@lemmy.worldEnglish
      13·
      8 months ago

      Steve doesn’t care as long as he can extract money before the repercussions hit. That’s why he didn’t care about alienating so many people that volunteered their time and energy, he’s counting on their being enough momentum to get through the IPO so he can steal take the money he thinks he’s entitled to… he doesn’t give a single shit what happens after because he won’t be there and will just blame everyone else.

    • Ghostalmedia@lemmy.worldEnglish
      539·
      8 months ago

      Which is why they’re now under investigation from the FTC.

      edit: FTC not FCC edit 2: looks like they’re being investigated about AI, not ads.

  • 50_centavos@lemmy.worldEnglish
    551·
    8 months ago

    More of their bullshitery. I had the audacity to use my browser to click a reddit link.

      • T156@lemmy.worldEnglish
        5·
        8 months ago

        As does putting .i on the end, to use the compact interface.

        The links are a bit spotty nowadays, and some of the newer features don’t work quite right, but it otherwise works a treat for most things.

      • FlihpFlorp@lemm.eeEnglish
        4·
        8 months ago

        Just curious, because typing Reddit in at the end of searches magically makes the exact niche result you need appear, how do you open a post in old Reddit?

        • PeroBasta@lemmy.worldEnglish
          11·
          8 months ago

          There are FF addons that can do that for you. Otherwise you have to manually change the www into old.

          • FlihpFlorp@lemm.eeEnglish
            2·
            8 months ago

            Oh really that easy

            Someone else mentioned front ends to limit tracking and stuff so imma check that out too

    • PM_Your_Nudes_Please@lemmy.worldEnglish
      121·
      8 months ago

      Yup, they’re forcing people towards the app because it allows them to collect telemetry data. Your browser walls them off so they can’t data mine your device, but the app gives them full control. It’s why so many services and companies have switched to apps instead of mobile sites; An app allows them to collect and sell your data.

  • SteefLem@lemmy.worldEnglish
    431·
    8 months ago

    Also all the things they (reddit) claim in this article i call BS. Specially so close to the ipo.

        • _number8_@lemmy.worldEnglish
          5·
          8 months ago

          even lemmy has astroturfing. i guarantee reddit’s push to tighten API usage etc was partially to ensure only paid / approved astroturfing was possible

          • sigmaklimgrindset@sopuli.xyzEnglish
            82·
            8 months ago

            Lemmy has astroturfing? Where??? The Linux bros? They just seem like they REALLY love Linux (and good for them, everyone needs hobbies).

    • InquisitiveApathy@lemm.eeEnglish
      151·
      8 months ago

      Maybe I’m misunderstanding, but this referenced ad post is over a year old. There’s been “organic” guerilla marketing by advertisers on Reddit for almost a decade now. How is this relevant to the recent changes?

      • Ghostalmedia@lemmy.worldEnglish
        10·
        8 months ago

        The context is in the article posted. This was one of the early experiments for the new ad platform. Looks like they did some simple test by coordinating things manually, then once they validated the concept, they spent the year building out a platform and interface for advertisers.

        • InquisitiveApathy@lemm.eeEnglish
          2·
          8 months ago

          Ahhh I had a bit of a, didn’t read the article, moment and that was the missing context for me. I appreciate you clarifying!

    • squid_slime@lemmy.worldEnglish
      6·
      8 months ago

      Wtf is up with the comments… They’re all congratulating the marketing to for a good campaign? Saying they’re buying the shit.

  • laxe@lemmy.worldEnglish
    11·
    8 months ago

    Gotta juice up those numbers before IPO so executives can sell their stock and leave others to hold the bag

  • ‮redirtSdeR@lemmy.worldEnglish
    5·
    8 months ago

    if you replace the www.reddit part of the link with farside.link/libreddit it will send you to a random frontend instance.

    this means no ads, no js, no trackers, and probably none of this.

    to do this you’ll need a browser extension. try this one: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/redirector/ (couldn’t find this one for chrome but you can choose another)

    if you used the extension i gave you you can import below as a plaintext in the settings.

    redirect.txt 
    {
    "redirects": [
        {
            "description": "",
            "exampleUrl": "https://www.reddit.com/r/example",
            "exampleResult": "https://farside.link/libreddit/r/example",
            "error": null,
            "includePattern": "https://www.reddit.com*",
            "excludePattern": "",
            "patternDesc": "",
            "redirectUrl": "https://farside.link/libreddit$1",
            "patternType": "W",
            "processMatches": "noProcessing",
            "disabled": false,
            "grouped": false,
            "appliesTo": [
                "main_frame",
                "sub_frame"
            ]
        },
        {
            "description": "",
            "exampleUrl": "https://old.reddit.com/r/example",
            "exampleResult": "https://farside.link/libreddit/r/example",
            "error": null,
            "includePattern": "https://old.reddit.com*",
            "excludePattern": "",
            "patternDesc": "",
            "redirectUrl": "https://farside.link/libreddit$1",
            "patternType": "W",
            "processMatches": "noProcessing",
            "disabled": false,
            "grouped": false,
            "appliesTo": [
                "main_frame",
                "sub_frame"
            ]
        }
    ]
}