Ronnie, we do not need to insult each other to make points, but Google or any other toolbar software provider is the third party that I am talking about and you know this also. When and if transmissions of data to third parties (any third party) is outlawed that will make toolbars and browsers that transmit data back to the software provider against the law. I am against the transfer of information to ANY third party, MS, Yahoo, Google, Gator or anyone period. What I am saying is that M$ could build this into the OS, they could also support laws that would outlaw the practice. This is the direction that I think they will take and the direction that computer users want. PRIVACY RONNIE, PRIVACY. If companies can not survive under these conditions, let the bastards go out of business. OK Ron
Was I being insulting? Were you? I don't think so. Google is not a third-party. They are the party that you agreed to their terms to use their software, they in turn also agree not to use that information or sell it to another third party. By your definition, MicroSoft is a third-party who happens to be the Company who built Windows XP. Alexa (who I will insult) sells this information to anybody who will buy it (in the aggregrate of course). They track where you are going and coming. When you disable the toolbar from your browser, you would expect it to stop transmitting -- it does not. Google's does. In fact, if you disable any advanced feature from the Googlebar, then re-enable it -- it will ask you again and tell you that data is being transmitted. This goes far and beyond what other toolbars do. Kewl. Do not use their toolbars. It is a free world -- most parts of it anyway. They already have it built in. It is called the Internet Zone. You can configure the security settings so high and make them as strigent as you want. It is an option that you choose to use as you see fit. You can set it so high that it would be impossible for anything to get transmitted. There are also programs such as Search and Destroy that will monitor those transmissions and warn you when deviousness is afoot. I would much rather have them doing the monitoring than MicroSoft though (think IronPort here, and how you will have to "pay not to receive spam"). OK Anthony
Ronnie, when I go to WebStractions, I am the first party, you are the second party. That is all we need to communicate, just because my box is a M$ OS, Linux OS or MAC OS does not mean they are a third party. A third party is anyone else that is not needed for you and I to transfer information to each other. A third party is Gator, Google, M$ toolbar, Yahoo toolbar, Alexa toolbar, HotBot toolbar or any other spyware. Just because everyone is doing it does not mean that it will be done forever RD.
I gave express permission to Google to transmit the Url of the page I am on to ascertain what the PR of that page is. This is an agreement between myself and no other party. Google's contract is (and always will be) not to transmit that information to another (third) party. This is a function of the software that I installed and agreed to. Lets put it this way. Your visits to a website, whether you realize it or not, may be sending your information to another (third) party in the guise of free counters or trackers. It will also send information of where you are coming from, browser type, what browser software (plugins, toolbars, etc.) you have installed, your IP address, etc. By your definition -- websites contain spyware. Correct?
Ronnie when you and I were kids we used to have party lines in this country. The young kids here would not know what that is, they would think it is one of those 900 sex lines where you party with some ugly chick that has a sexy voice. But a couple of old dudes like me and you know what a party line is. When I was a kid, I would pick up the phone sometimes and hear conversations on the line that I really did not know who in the hell those folks were, but I used to listen in and have a blast. I think that I even used to join in once in a while and say some smart arse remark to those folks having the conversation. On a private line, if I were talking to you, unless the line was bugged, it is just you and I talking to each other, no one else listening. So Ronnie, a third party is anyone other than me and you, I go to your website (thats you), I am accessing your pages (thats me), a third party is anyone that is recording my page views, real simple. I don't care if they have my permission to record the page views or not, they are still a third party. Many Senators have discussed banning transmissions data to third parties, this is what most of the tech companies fear, but I think M$ will be the one left standing if this happens. M$ could also use this as a competitive advantage if they market into this factor.
I don't know what a party line is ... I swear! You are right though. Microsoft, when they get involved, has to be doing it for their advantage. The question I have for you is, do you entrust them with coming up with the solution? I don't. I guess our definition of what third-party means in this instance will differ. But I do not think that is what Congress is contesting. They are contesting the secret installation of the software without the users knowledge, hijacking of your browser screens and replacing them with their own, keyboard loggers, and a whole slew of other menacing malware. Throwing the Googlebar into that class of spyware is a stretch.
Yes Ron, but you do know what I mean, so does Google and so does M$, they all know this, that is why Yahoo is marketing into this booming market for privacy and anti-spyware products. Senators have mentioned banning ALL transmissions of page views to ANY third party, so this first law is only the start of the ballgame. There is a long way to go Ronnie and a hell of a lot of money at stake, M$ has the most to lose, but they also have the most to spend also
So what about the free counters and trackers on the websites? How would that fit into the scheme of things? How far is this going to go? Also -- this is election year stumping. Take a lot of that talk with a grain of salt.
What better on a Rainy afternoon, than to read more conspiracy theories. They are better than horror stories and no more likely to happen in real life.
Like I mentioned, if Google keeps pushing this idea of a Google OS, look for M$ to work this situation as I mention. Yahoo is.............The question is, can Google get enough users on their network computing model and take enough market share before M$ and the lawmakers can respond, time is of the essence.
Hey Anothonycea, about the senators proposing stricter privacy rules. Could you provide a link, or at least something to SE on? Sounds intereesting. But based on my impression so far of america's incredibly lax attitude towards data privacy I am a little skeptical. This is coming from euro land, where we take a somewhat more proactive approach at least in theory. Apropos of nothing, I have been playing with teoma, trying to break the google habit. It is hard. thomas.
http://burns.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.View&PressRelease_id=1077 Senator Conrad Burns is one of the main players, see the above link TPHYAHOO. I also left another link in prior posts in this thread, did you miss it? If you want to find more search engines there are hundreds of them linked from www.searchenginesinternational.com
You mean this link? http://www.searchwars.squarespace.com/display/ShowPage?moduleId=18914 Noo.. I think you meant this link: http://www.bizreport.com/news/8039/ interesting...
I have noticied a dramatic drop in commsions ever since google went public with their shares. I know they do not disclose to you what % they pay due to their competitors. Now that excuse gives them at any time to change the % paid to you! Has anyone else been experiancing this? 3 months now for me. It changed like over night and has been down since. It is too bad they didn't have a option if you were'nt paid a certain rate then the publishers would'nt run the ads. The ads would dissappear until you're rate was meet. I am not going to run five cent clicks! In the meantime my clickthourghs to adsense almost doubled. It does not make "adSENSE" to me. Plus I use their adwords. So now I am just breaking even. The only benefit is traffic. But big deal. I have lost my profits. What a shame. It seemed to be OK for a while.
I know this is off-topic, but this post made me remember.... Years ago I was an internet trainer and I used to teach Google as my search engine of choice. Every other trainer looked down on me and was upset that I used it. (yes I showed other engines as well) Heck all of the other trainers were pro-Microsoft and all lived in their Hotmail. It just seems funny that way back then I was pushing this unknown Google search engine that wasn't really a company and now it's a power and force to be reckoned with. Back then, it was most certainly the best. The search results were amazing. Something happened along the way though. As time passed the searches weren't quite so good, and it seemed like businesses were ranking over pages with the content I was searching for. Eventually Google become the beast I needed but hated. I can't wait for another search engine to pop up that few know about that simply works better. I'm sure it will eventually be corrupted too, but for a time it'll be grand! Regards,
Check out www.searchenginesinternational.com You will find a ton of new engines. Check out www.webcenter.squarespace.com for search engine research
well said, my friend! My question is this "What does Google owe the businesses ? Google owes web surfers the best results.