Joe :fedora: :debian: :ferris: (@Joe_0237@fosstodon.org)
fosstodon.org
Today I found out that google docs infects html exports with spyware, no scripts, but links in your document are replaced with invisible google tracking redirects. I was using their software because a friend wanted me to work with him on a google doc, he is a pretty big fan of their software, but we were both somehow absolutely shocked that they would go that far.

@Joe_0237@fosstodon.org wrote:

Today I found out that google docs infects html exports with spyware, no scripts, but links in your document are replaced with invisible google tracking redirects. I was using their software because a friend wanted me to work with him on a google doc, he is a pretty big fan of their software, but we were both somehow absolutely shocked that they would go that far.

  • NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world
    112·
    1 year ago

    Google also replaces your Google searches with different searches behind the scenes to things they can make money off kf. Found that out the other day, and switched to duckduckgo instead. Google has become a Spyware nightmare.

    • Heresy_generator@kbin.social
      1072·
      1 year ago

      If anyone isn’t familiar with this here’s the Wired article

      Here’s how it works. Say you search for “children’s clothing.” Google converts it, without your knowledge, to a search for “NIKOLAI-brand kidswear,” making a behind-the-scenes substitution of your actual query with a different query that just happens to generate more money for the company, and will generate results you weren’t searching for at all. It’s not possible for you to opt out of the substitution. If you don’t get the results you want, and you try to refine your query, you are wasting your time. This is a twisted shopping mall you can’t escape.

      Why would Google want to do this? First, the generated results to the latter query are more likely to be shopping-oriented, triggering your subsequent behavior much like the candy display at a grocery store’s checkout. Second, that latter query will automatically generate the keyword ads placed on the search engine results page by stores like TJ Maxx, which pay Google every time you click on them. In short, it’s a guaranteed way to line Google’s pockets.

      It’s also a guaranteed way to harm everyone except Google. This system reduces search engine quality for users and drives up advertiser expenses. Google can get away with it because these manipulations are imperceptible to the user and advertiser, and the company has effectively captured more than 90 percent market share.

      It’s unclear how often, or for how long, Google has been doing this, but the machination is clever and ambitious. I have spent decades looking for examples of Google putting its enormous thumb on the scale to censor or amplify certain results, and it hadn’t even occurred to me that Google just flat out deletes queries and replaces them with ones that monetize better.

      • NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world
        421·
        1 year ago

        I figured this out when I searched for my gaming web page on itch.io, and it wouldn’t come up. But then I went to duckduckgo and did the search, and every game I’ve made was in the search result. Pretty scummy if you ask me. Needless to say I changed all my browsers to duckduckgo instead of google.

        • CrypticCoffee@lemm.eeEnglish
          201·
          1 year ago

          By browsers do you mean search engines in the browsers? I use DDG for search. Firefox is king, browsers wise.

      • somePotato@sh.itjust.works
        16·
        1 year ago

        Everytime I try to google anything that might be remotely related to a product every result will be a store.

        I’d never have assumed that they just replaced my query but in hindsight it’s kinda obvious

      • SokathHisEyesOpen@lemmy.mlEnglish
        193·
        1 year ago

        Google can get away with it because these manipulations are imperceptible to the user

        Dude, it’s blatantly obvious to the user. Idk why they think they’re being clever, but when I search for “Pioneer SC71 user manual” (a home theater amp), and all it shows me are cheap car stereos listings from Walmart and Amazon (with affiliate tracking of course), I know they’re not showing me what I’m looking for. It’s a worthless service for anything except products and heavily filtered news (they only show what aligns with their agenda). I went from totally loving Google, to not when using them anymore. They’re a disease.

            • SokathHisEyesOpen@lemmy.mlEnglish
              72·
              1 year ago

              We’ve suspected they were ignoring our terms for years now, and had hard proof they were ignoring our search operators. There are hundreds of Reddit threads discussing it. But people noticing or not isn’t what would make it clever. Some bullshit executive suggesting they serve whatever is most profitable doesn’t seem clever to me, it seems greedy, hostile, and short sighted. What would be really clever is figuring out how to still give people what they’re looking for, and still increase their income.

    • SokathHisEyesOpen@lemmy.mlEnglish
      161·
      1 year ago

      That’s really obvious based on how fucking terrible their results are now. Google was the most useful tool in the world for a long time. Now they’re just a really rich spyware farm.