zlacker

>>pabs3+(OP)
I hate to say it, but if you used Chrome to read this, then you're part of the problem.

Awful stuff like this wouldn't stand a chance if Google didn't have such a near-monopoly position.

For the sake of the open internet, please switch to a different browser. IMO, Firefox is best*, but even something chromium based is probably fine. Just not Google Chrome.

* On desktop - Firefox is a bit weaker on Android, with an extemely limited set of extensions (but still better than Chrome with no extensions) and just a Safari wrapper on iOS, with no extensions. (But sync works everywhere!)

(I posted something similar in a different thread recently but I think it bears repeating.)

>>nfried+E7
> I hate to say it, but if you used Chrome to read this, then you're part of the problem.

Victim blaming BS.

Let's see who else is the problem. How about all those engineers who decided not to contribute to Firefox? Or all those website developers who didn't test their site in Firefox? Or hell, why not all those Mozilla engineers who didn't fix Firefox hard enough?

Let's put the blame where it actually is. Google is to blame. Not the users of their free products they advertise all over the place and have an unlimited marketing budget for.

>>scroll+ha
Victim blaming is absolutely the correct approach here. Of course you shouldn't blame your grandma for using Chrome, but people on HN are a completely different audience. HN readers should be well aware of the damage Google is causing to the open internet, using Chrome is tantamount to supporting this effort.

>>vultou+lb
What should HN readers do that are forced to work within these ecosystems? Ex. Work, school.

It’s not always so easy to walk away from an entire platform. People’s entire livelihoods could be based around Google.

I don’t see any issue with Google owning some of this responsibility.

>>cmilto+0d
Google is a monopolist that acts like a monopolist. Its main revenue source is advertising. So it will use its monopoly power to secure advertising.

You cannot expect Google to act against its own self-interest only because you ask nicely. You have to stop giving them the market power to do it.

>>nequo+2f
Have they won the game of capitalism by becoming a monopoly?

I don’t expect Google to act against its own will, but they should.

>>cmilto+6i
I don’t know if they won the game of capitalism but their market power and profit incentive are facts.

If you don’t want to stop using Chrome, then your alternative is to buy a controlling share of Alphabet and appoint a Board that forgoes advertising revenue in exchange for being nice to adblock users.