Google's 'privacy-first' ad tech FLoC squawks when Chrome goes Incognito, says expert. Web giant disagrees

Google's effort at "building a privacy-first future for web advertising" already looks like it will require some privacy retrofitting. The internet titan's interest-based ad-targeting technology, Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC), ostensibly intended to provide a more privacy-friendly alternative to third-party tracking …

[Unbelievable!]

FLoC = F***ing Load of Crap

FLoC = F***ing Load of Crap.

Isn't that blatant enough?

[sabroni]

Re: Isn't that blatant enough?

No.

Fucking load of crap

that's blatant enough.

[Wade Burchette]

Re: FLoC = F***ing Load of Crap

FLoC = Filthy Lucre is our Choice

[Anonymous Coward]

Unsupported features?

"the researcher turned on unsupported features in Chrome.”

And we know that Google developers have so much time on their hands that they are constantly putting in bunches of 'features' that they would never think of using.

[Pseu Donyme]

Interest-based ad-targeting sounds good.

Provided no interest is the default and means no ads.

[Hubert Cumberdale]

Re: Interest-based ad-targeting sounds good.

Firefox + uBlock₀ (+ all sorts of other layers, but it's a start).

[Craig100]

Interest-based doesn't work anyway

When will Google and all their non-questioning acolytes realise that personalisation of ads just doesn't work? All they do is make people expend tons of effort trying to get "sales and marketing" out of their faces and behind their shop fronts where they should be.

Google's methods are akin to walking through a bazaar getting stopped at every step to be shown some other piece of crap you've no interest in. Not because you might not be interested but because you're not shopping 24x7, some of use have other stuff to do! Most of the time they're just plain wrong in their suggestions because they don't appreciate that we're actually intelligent and curious. Just because I was curious as to how an item was made and looked it up doesn't equate to wanting to buy one. I'd much rather be shown non-personalised ads so I have my horizons broadened. Not shown the same old tat all the time.

IMO Google are just stupid, stupid, stupid. Oh, and evil.

[Anonymous Coward]

@Craig100 - Re: Interest-based doesn't work anyway

I would go beyond bazaar comparison because in a bazaar you might end up buying something you might like or need. I'd say it's like walking in the park, taking a shower or sitting in the toilet and somebody constantly showing you pieces of crap you have no interest in because you're not in these places looking for shopping.

[Anonymous Coward]

I think I am easily tracked on the web...

by what does NOT run on my browser.

I'm sure that Google and others know exactly who I am and what sites I browse because analytics, scripts, trackers and cookies won't fetch.

We really can't win until there's actual laws with teeth and fines that are more than just "cost of doing business" or maybe even criminal convictions are put in place.

(And I'd also like a pony)

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: I think I am easily tracked on the web...

Did you want a white, black or brown pony? Just for our records...