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[return to "Google is already pushing WEI into Chromium"]
1. devsda+Iu[view] [source] 2023-07-26 14:21:51
>>topshe+(OP)
There are many arguments against this but not many brought the implications for search engines.

If websites implement this, it will effectively make building a web search engine impossible for new entrants. The current players can whitelist/attest their own clients while categorizing every other scraping clients as bots.

If not for other reasons, I can't see how Google a search company can be allowed to push something that can kill competition using its market dominance in other areas like browsers.

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2. derefr+qX1[view] [source] 2023-07-26 19:48:48
>>devsda+Iu
> The current players can whitelist/attest their own clients while categorizing every other scraping clients as bots.

Can't they already do this by having scrapers send plain-old client certificates? Or even just a request header that contains an HMAC of the URL with a shared secret?

Actually, taking a step further back: why does anyone need to scrape their own properties? They can make up an arbitrary backchannel to access that data — just like the one Google uses to populate YouTube results into SERPs. No need to provide a usefully-scrapeable website at all.

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