Hacker News with Generative AI: Advertising

Google is allowing advertisers to fingerprint you (ghacks.net)
Google has announced a change to its advertising policies that will allow advertisers to use digital fingerprinting starting February 16, 2025.

Privacy, Google, Advertising, Digital Fingerprinting

12 points by lr0 7 hours ago | 0 comments

On Google’s Policy Change Towards Fingerprinting (lukaszolejnik.com)
While I once hoped 2017 would be the year of privacy, 2024 closes on a troubling note, a likely decrease in privacy standards across the web. I was surprised by the recent Information Commissioner’s Office post, which criticized Google’s decision to introduce device fingerprinting for advertising purposes from February 2025. According to ICO, this change risks undermining user control and transparency in how personal data is collected and used.

Privacy, Google, Web, Advertising, Regulations

48 points by MasterPI 8 days ago | 60 comments

Candy Crush, Tinder, MyFitnessPal: Apps hijacked to spy on location (wired.com)
Some of the world’s most popular apps are likely being co-opted by rogue members of the advertising industry to harvest sensitive location data on a massive scale, with that data ending up with a location data company whose subsidiary has previously sold global location data to US law enforcement.

Privacy, Mobile Apps, Data Security, Advertising

187 points by gnabgib 8 days ago | 108 comments

See the Thousands of Apps Hijacked to Spy on Your Location (404media.co)
Some of the world’s most popular apps are likely being co-opted by rogue members of the advertising industry to harvest sensitive location data on a massive scale, with that data ending up with a location data company whose subsidiary has previously sold global location data to US law enforcement.

Privacy, Security, Mobile Apps, Advertising

37 points by diogenes_atx 8 days ago | 12 comments

FTC Orders H&R Block to Pay $7M and Overhaul Advertising and Customer Service (ftc.gov)

FTC, Lawsuits, Advertising, Consumer Protection, Customer Service

4 points by impish9208 9 days ago | 0 comments

Apple and the AI Divide (anderegg.ca)
This morning I read a 404 Media article about Instagram showing people ads with AI-generated images of themselves. I thought this take from Sam Biddle was very good:

Artificial Intelligence, Technology, Social Media, Advertising

28 points by GavinAnderegg 10 days ago | 46 comments

Online Behavioral Ads Fuel the Surveillance Industry (eff.org)
A global spy tool exposed the locations of billions of people to anyone willing to pay. A Catholic group bought location data about gay dating app users in an effort to out gay priests. A location data broker sold lists of people who attended political protests.

Privacy, Surveillance, Data Brokerage, Advertising

166 points by Breadmaker 10 days ago | 96 comments

Collection: More Doctors Smoke Camels (tobacco.stanford.edu)
One common technique used by the tobacco industry to reassure a worried public was to incorporate images of physicians in their ads.

Tobacco Industry, Advertising, History, Public Health, Medicine

98 points by t0bia_s 11 days ago | 142 comments

Used Meta AI, now Instagram is using my face on ads targeted at me (reddit.com)
Used Meta AI to edit a selfie, now instagram is using my face on ads targeted at me.

Privacy, Social Media, Advertising, Artificial Intelligence

305 points by amrrs 11 days ago | 176 comments

Used Meta AI to edit a selfie, now [they're] using my face on ads (reddit.com)

Privacy, Artificial Intelligence, Social Media, Advertising

11 points by mbil 14 days ago | 1 comments

Mozilla Advertising (mozilla.org)
Mozilla is redefining digital advertising with privacy-first, high-performance solutions.

Privacy, Advertising, Web Browsers

20 points by nalinidash 14 days ago | 6 comments

Perplexity got ads (twitter.com)

Perplexity, Artificial Intelligence, Search Engines, Advertising

237 points by amrrs 14 days ago | 361 comments

UK ICO response to Google's policy change on device fingerprinting (ico.org.uk)
Yesterday, Google announced to organisations that use its advertising products, that from 16 February 2025, it will no longer prohibit them from employing fingerprinting techniques. Our response is clear: businesses do not have free rein to use fingerprinting as they please. Like all advertising technology, it must be lawfully and transparently deployed – and if it is not, the ICO will act.

Privacy, Advertising, Regulation, Google, UK

158 points by walterbell 15 days ago | 96 comments

I still don't think companies serve you ads based on your microphone (simonwillison.net)
Apple are settling for $95m (nine hours of profit), agreeing to settle while “denying wrongdoing”.

Privacy, Technology, Advertising, Apple

210 points by paulcapewell 15 days ago | 342 comments

Ad Spam in Slack (lingon.land)
When I recently logged out from my Slack account due to issues I've had with getting notifications for some instant messages people were sending me I was just flabbergasted to see that Slack nowadays is completely full of ads and other spammy messages.

Slack, Advertising, Spam

17 points by lingonland 16 days ago | 6 comments

Google internal mail from tech search lead to ad lead [pdf] (justice.gov)

Google, Internal Documents, Lawsuit, Advertising

9 points by lifeisstillgood 20 days ago | 0 comments

Feeling Seen (lopespm.com)
This ad struck me as the culmination of a long-standing trend. I struggled to articulate it at the time, but I’ll attempt to do just that in this article.

Marketing, Advertising, Psychology

4 points by lopespm 28 days ago | 0 comments

Buying a TV in 2025? Expect lower prices, more ads, and an OS war (arstechnica.com)
If you're looking to buy a TV in 2025, you may be disappointed by the types of advancements TV brands will be prioritizing in the new year.

Consumer Electronics, Television, Technology, Advertising

54 points by rbanffy 33 days ago | 81 comments

Sorry, Mad Men. The Ad Revolution Is Here (wsj.com)
During an hour-long call this past week to sell investors on the virtues of a $30 billion merger of two advertising giants, data and technology came up a dozen times each. AI, eight times. “Creativity” was uttered once.

Advertising, Technology, Artificial Intelligence

29 points by marban 33 days ago | 71 comments

Controversial EU ad campaign on X broke bloc's own privacy rules (techcrunch.com)
The European Union’s executive body is facing an embarrassing privacy scandal after it was confirmed on Friday that a Commission ad campaign on X (formerly Twitter) breached the EU’s own data protection rules.

Privacy, European Union, Social Media, Advertising, Data Protection

4 points by marc__1 35 days ago | 0 comments

Why Am I Paying a Premium Price for a Google Pixel Phone Filled with Ads? (ycombinator.com)
I really don’t understand what I’m paying the premium price for with my Google Pixel. The constant ads, especially in apps like YouTube, are incredibly frustrating. I expected a smooth, ad-free experience, but instead, I’m bombarded with ads at every turn. The same or even better hardware is available at a much lower price, without these interruptions. So, what exactly am I paying extra for?

Google Pixel, Advertising, Consumer Tech, Smartphones, Value

13 points by de6u99er 38 days ago | 13 comments

Y Combinator Funded AI Firm's 'Stop Hiring Humans' Billboard Sparks Outrage (gizmodo.com)
In San Francisco, the heart of Silicon Valley, an AI startup called Artisan has spent an untold sum blitzing the city with an advertising campaign that dispenses with the need for humanity.

Artificial Intelligence, Business, Controversy, San Francisco, Advertising

90 points by alister 38 days ago | 50 comments

Google ads appeal process is broken? (ycombinator.com)
Hi there HN. I'm posting this in case anybody who has a Google contact or works at Google themselves would be able to help.

Google Ads, Advertising, Customer Service, Business

21 points by growthwtf 39 days ago | 0 comments

Ad bans lead to less fast food eating in Quebec, study says (2012) (globalnews.ca)
TORONTO – Kids who don’t see a cheeseburger Happy Meal when they watch TV are less likely to bug their parents to have one, according to a Canadian study.

Advertising, Fast Food, Health, Canada, Children

14 points by thunderbong 40 days ago | 0 comments

Ask HN: Why don't they remove the cookies (and hence the banners) (ycombinator.com)
I get it if you're an ads-driven website<p>But why do agencies, municipalities, (government) railways or other non-ads driven websites need to have cookies, and hence the frustrating banners?

Privacy, Websites, User Experience, Advertising

6 points by jorisboris 40 days ago | 12 comments

UK bans daytime TV ads for cereals, muffins and burgers (france24.com)
The UK government is banning daytime TV adverts for sugary foods like granola and muffins in its battle against child obesity, branding such popular items as junk food.

Health, Food, Public Policy, Advertising

295 points by ivewonyoung 40 days ago | 337 comments

Honda's award winning commercial "Cogs" [video] (youtube.com)

Honda, Advertising, Video, Awards

13 points by barrettondricka 41 days ago | 4 comments

The great tracker blocker conundrum – Technical – Vivaldi Browser (vivaldi.com)
In the spirit of keeping Vivaldi free for all our users, we are trying out some changes to the way our tracker blocker works. These changes relate to ways in which our tracker blocker was affecting our partnership with search engines in unexpected ways.

Privacy, Web Browsing, Advertising, Search Engines

6 points by thunderbong 42 days ago | 0 comments

The correct amount of ads is zero (manuelmoreale.com)
The Verge has finally shipped the new paywalled version of their site and added a subscription. I personally have nothing against that move and I think freemium is the way forward if we want sites to be sustainable and not be invaded with ads.

The Verge, Freemium, Subscription Models, Advertising

860 points by surprisetalk 43 days ago | 589 comments

Walmart buys vizio to use its TVs as a new way to blast you with ads (gizmodo.com)
All those Vizio TVs swarming the aisles inside of Walmarts across the globe will now be owned by Walmart itself. Walmart bought the TV maker Tuesday wholesale for a whopping $2.3 billion.

Advertising, Acquisitions, Consumer Electronics

35 points by rntn 45 days ago | 32 comments