Why The Web Is Such A Mess

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  • čas přidán 22. 11. 2020
  • Tim Berners-Lee envisioned a "universal information system". What went wrong? • MORE BASICS: • The Basics
    Written with Sean Elliott / seanmelliott • Camera by Tomek • Graphics by William Marler wmad.co.uk
    🟥 MORE FROM TOM: www.tomscott.com/
    (you can find contact details and social links there too)
    📰 WEEKLY NEWSLETTER with good stuff from the rest of the internet: www.tomscott.com/newsletter/
    ❓ LATERAL, free weekly podcast: lateralcast.com/ / lateralcast
    ➕ TOM SCOTT PLUS: / tomscottplus
    👥 THE TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES: / techdif

Komentáře • 7K

  • @TomScottGo
    @TomScottGo  Před 3 lety +24769

    The thing behind me is the Centre for Computing History's Megaprocessor. It plays Tetris.

  • @No-uc6fg
    @No-uc6fg Před 3 lety +23128

    After a few years of Internet use, one develops a Clinical Eye to discern the real download button.

    • @itachi2011100
      @itachi2011100 Před 3 lety +1074

      That or you switch to Linux where you don't have to find the download button.

    • @hearingmorethan1517
      @hearingmorethan1517 Před 3 lety +519

      God why is this a goddamn thing ffs

    • @Bernard.
      @Bernard. Před 3 lety +175

      You are so rightttttt 😭

    • @sylvesterdivine9292
      @sylvesterdivine9292 Před 3 lety +980

      finding the right download button is a talent you learn

    • @bryanp.1327
      @bryanp.1327 Před 3 lety +554

      Much like discerning search results that matter

  • @mifino
    @mifino Před 3 lety +6008

    The silliest part of this is how they all word it as «We care about your privacy»

    • @trevinbeattie4888
      @trevinbeattie4888 Před 3 lety +742

      They care to the minimum extent required by law

    • @safe-keeper1042
      @safe-keeper1042 Před 3 lety +591

      "We care about your privacy, and by sheer coincidence we started caring at about the same time that GDPR law came about..."

    • @krux02
      @krux02 Před 3 lety +311

      We care about your privacy, in the sense of you giving it up so we can track you all the time.

    • @thegreentaxi1
      @thegreentaxi1 Před 3 lety +192

      They care a lot. They just don't care about protecting it :P

    • @sion8
      @sion8 Před 3 lety +43

      Oh, they care alright… just as long as they become part of your private sphere.😒

  • @levirichardson8505
    @levirichardson8505 Před 3 lety +5230

    I just want to clear this up: The majority of advertisers are not humans.

    • @MikkoRantalainen
      @MikkoRantalainen Před 3 lety +406

      I agree, majority of advertisers are some still unidentified lower lifeform.

    • @sponge1234ify
      @sponge1234ify Před 3 lety +276

      Literally; most of the web's ads are made and curated by computers nowadays.

    • @levirichardson8505
      @levirichardson8505 Před 3 lety +161

      @@sponge1234ify Not quite what I meant, but you're not wrong.

    • @levirichardson8505
      @levirichardson8505 Před 3 lety +130

      @@MikkoRantalainen much lower. So low they have to steal our data to make a living

    • @sponge1234ify
      @sponge1234ify Před 3 lety +45

      @@levirichardson8505 oh i get what you mean, i'm just trying to be witty :p

  • @Noksus
    @Noksus Před 3 lety +5213

    I just love how the law clearly states it is "opt-in", not "opt-out" and still nearly every website has every option checked and you need to EXPLICITLY opt-out from everything. Drives me mad.

    • @RustOnWheels
      @RustOnWheels Před 3 lety +584

      Don’t forget the locked ‘legitimate interest’ options…

    • @JNJNRobin1337
      @JNJNRobin1337 Před 2 lety +133

      Wait Does This Mean A Lawsuit Could Happen About It?

    • @fan0
      @fan0 Před 2 lety +45

      Some websites has opt-out, you don't need to untick this boxes.

    • @Renard380
      @Renard380 Před 2 lety +177

      Just boycott those sites. Every time i see one of those endless lists i just close the page. Those parasites have to learn.

    • @emilianozamora399
      @emilianozamora399 Před 2 lety +441

      @@Renard380 you're like a grain of sand moving to a different beach

  • @TheSecondVersion
    @TheSecondVersion Před 3 lety +9394

    "Google creating a VPN is like Ted Bundy opening a women's shelter."

  • @sarahp6512
    @sarahp6512 Před 3 lety +5525

    What advertisers don't realize is that the more intrusive, annoying, and frequent their ads are, the more likely I am to go out of my way to avoid their products.

    • @Odima16
      @Odima16 Před 3 lety +992

      I feel the same way, but you'd be surprised how much you subconsciously get drawn to those products despite that. The whole "any publicity is good publicity" concept holds very true for ads. You tend to trust something more the more you hear it, even if it's just the name of a brand.

    • @pyrioncelendil
      @pyrioncelendil Před 3 lety +516

      They don't care. Advertisers universally subscribe to the notion that there's no such thing as bad publicity. After all, their goal is just to get you to view their ads, not so much buy their products. Connecting ad views to purchases is somebody else's problem.

    • @banana_
      @banana_ Před 3 lety +125

      @@Odima16 Exactly what I wanted to say. Even if it's the most annoying ad in the world, it works for the company

    • @ammonha
      @ammonha Před 3 lety +303

      Companies spend billions on advertising each year, they know exactly what works and what doesn't.

    • @EpicEmberOriginal
      @EpicEmberOriginal Před 3 lety +6

      @@banana_ This reminded me of go compare. It worked, at one point I actually did use their site

  • @ItsJustVirgil
    @ItsJustVirgil Před 3 lety +5177

    “Guys learns 12 languages but nobody wants to speak with him.”
    I felt that.

    • @actionjaxon7570
      @actionjaxon7570 Před 3 lety +16

      What languages can you speak

    • @actionjaxon7570
      @actionjaxon7570 Před 3 lety +63

      @djbrysongaming I feel that. A universal language

    • @brunnomenxa
      @brunnomenxa Před 3 lety +12

      Learn languages ​​to read and understand more things then.

    • @brunnomenxa
      @brunnomenxa Před 3 lety +46

      Or maybe there are 12 programming languages.

    • @Arnikaaa
      @Arnikaaa Před 3 lety +2

      Yes. (And 700th like)

  • @hooliganbubsy7298
    @hooliganbubsy7298 Před 3 lety +2173

    Remember when youtube had harmless, slightly opaque, banners that'd pop up and you'd look at them and press the X and that was that. Harmless advertising that didn't ruin your experience. Crazy.

    • @pzyqux6641
      @pzyqux6641 Před 2 lety +135

      Can't watch on mobile anymore, because they have 3 ads infront of videos now. Have to watch on pc where i have an adblocker.

    • @TinyDeskEngineer
      @TinyDeskEngineer Před 2 lety +378

      The worst part is that like a quarter of all of the ads are now some of the most mind-numbingly obvious scams.

    • @pzyqux6641
      @pzyqux6641 Před 2 lety +194

      @@TinyDeskEngineer Or not family friendly.

    • @DeeSnow97
      @DeeSnow97 Před 2 lety +240

      @@pzyqux6641 I wonder what percentage of ads would be demonetized for not being advertiser-friendly, had they been uploaded to youtube as a regular video

    • @bigpod
      @bigpod Před 2 lety +4

      @@pzyqux6641 i dont use an ad blocker and guess what whether that be on phones or computers there is not that many ads, besides i dont have a problem with ads because i cant wait 5 more seconds to view a video

  • @Casocki
    @Casocki Před 3 lety +2277

    *turns off location for photos*
    "Basic features may stop functioning"
    Ya is that so?

    • @Voreoptera
      @Voreoptera Před 3 lety +243

      Why do apps need really strange permissions to do some mundain thing? Where is the learn more button there.

    • @joshuapowell6822
      @joshuapowell6822 Před 3 lety +254

      Daniel Mostly so they can collect more data on you. Say you have a photo of yourself and your family right in front of the Eiffel Tower. They’d know you visited Paris, who you’re related to with facial recognition and that you go on holidays. Advertisers can use that to advertise a family holiday or advertise souvenirs to you. While the example isn’t the best considering the pandemic, it should hopefully give you an idea as to why they ask for it.

    • @MusicalPlant5024
      @MusicalPlant5024 Před 3 lety +164

      That’s also because the permissions that are asked are super vague- like how a calculator app might ask to make and manage phone calls when it really just wants to be silent while you’re calling someone.

    • @Liggliluff
      @Liggliluff Před 3 lety +65

      - The camera app has the permission so it can add the location to the photo taken. But the app should still work regardless.
      - The photo viewer has the permission so it can show you old photos of the place you're currently at. But the app should still work regardless.
      They can still sell this location data further. So it's up to you if you want to share the location or not. But at least these apps make sense to have it.

    • @theramendutchman
      @theramendutchman Před 3 lety +129

      @@Liggliluff "But the app should still work regardless."
      THAT is the problem; apps deliberately stating "basic functions will no longer function" which is really just a lie to the person without the technical details in their head

  • @Kaktanternak
    @Kaktanternak Před 3 lety +2657

    "the web is built around freedom of design"
    Adblocks are a direct result of that

    • @Somajsibere
      @Somajsibere Před 3 lety +271

      Long live adblock!

    • @andiego888
      @andiego888 Před 3 lety +74

      @@Somajsibere no long live brave browser with free built in ad blocker and tracker blocker. Faster, free and built on chromium

    • @alexwasdreaming9440
      @alexwasdreaming9440 Před 3 lety +127

      and that freedom of design is exactly what makes us be forced to turn it off to read any article, the cycle continues

    • @jan.tichavsky
      @jan.tichavsky Před 3 lety +55

      I hate ads, that's why I don't have monetization on CZcams and no ads or even tracking on my site. Back in the day Google Analytics was cool way to get stats about your page visits but there are open source alternatives you can run on your server like Piwik or publication systems have it built in already, so no need for Google to sniff around.

    • @Mic_Glow
      @Mic_Glow Před 3 lety +58

      but there are anti-adblockers.. so you need an anti-anti-ad-blocker. And NoScript. And custom script manager while at it. It is a pain to set up and make working on individual sites but still less pain than the ads/ popups.

  • @monkfishy6348
    @monkfishy6348 Před 2 lety +1745

    web browsers should require a universal "never accept cookies and tracking" option built in.

    • @calebnasiatka5711
      @calebnasiatka5711 Před 2 lety +89

      Duck duck go does. I'm not advertising I'm just a user.

    • @yffips
      @yffips Před 2 lety +167

      You would find yourself wondering why certain websites don’t function properly. I’d say most websites require a certain level of cookies in order to work.

    • @animyosfox8617
      @animyosfox8617 Před 2 lety +37

      I think such technology was already created with the "Do Not Track" message, but I think I also heard that this does not work by now anymore...

    • @afacelessuser
      @afacelessuser Před 2 lety +9

      use the extension i dont care about cookies

    • @animyosfox8617
      @animyosfox8617 Před 2 lety +28

      @@afacelessuser Doesn't that extension just *accept* all the cookies or do I misunderstand that?

  • @SeanORaigh
    @SeanORaigh Před 2 lety +441

    I love how most cookie pop-up boxes only have a "confirm/ok" button and a very small "more options" button that will possibly eventually maybe lead to being able to opt out.

    • @littlestbroccoli
      @littlestbroccoli Před rokem +24

      If they don't lead to an overly-wordy explanation of what cookies are, how the site values your privacy, and what they will absolutely do with your information, regardless. (With possibly a small link buried in the text somewhere directing to an email where one can "request" data removal.)

  • @dalethepalemale6855
    @dalethepalemale6855 Před 3 lety +3249

    "Cookies" is also such a harmless sounding word, which gives advertisers the slight advantage of the layman missing the red flag

    • @mustafaeee6778
      @mustafaeee6778 Před 3 lety +89

      We should've called them "Location Trackers".

    • @xanderkyron
      @xanderkyron Před 3 lety +247

      @@mustafaeee6778 That's not what they do, though, at all. Cookies don't track your location. That's not a function they can perform. It's just browser storing information on the client, like your login session ID and auth token. They can be used to track what websites you were on (if your browser doesn't block this functionality, ie you live in 2008), but not your location, and even that is an unintended side effect. We need cookies on the web, they're incredibly useful and enable stuff like logging into websites.

    • @moonbleu130
      @moonbleu130 Před 3 lety +28

      some sites require you to accept those little spy disguised as cookies to continue to a site

    • @boring7823
      @boring7823 Před 3 lety +16

      @@xanderkyron Heh, > *like* logging in <
      The MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 that Tom alluded to is exactly this, when you say "yes" you are literally logging onto the advertiser web server. Maybe "Logon-Token" would have been more accurate.

    • @xanderkyron
      @xanderkyron Před 3 lety +51

      @@boring7823 Even calling them Logon Tokens doesn't really make sense in the broader sense of what cookies can store. I think login tokens/session ID should be stored as a different thing and named as such, and Cookies can be named client-side variables or something similar. It's not like a super technical and specific thing that the user never sees besides agreeing to needs a friendly name.

  • @joyphobic
    @joyphobic Před 3 lety +11777

    Tim Berners Lee's original idea of the internet sounds awfully similar to Wikipedia though. I think that's a good thing

    • @x67th
      @x67th Před 3 lety +403

      Other way around

    • @truestory1664
      @truestory1664 Před 3 lety +99

      Capitalism

    • @ShaunCheah
      @ShaunCheah Před 3 lety +1727

      A while ago, someone made the case that Wikipedia was one of humanity's greatest achievements, possibly *the* greatest achievement. Every once in a while I remember what I read and try to find a counterargument, but I've not really been able to find anything that tops the collective summation of the entirety of human knowledge.

    • @tahunuva4254
      @tahunuva4254 Před 3 lety +171

      @@ShaunCheah Depending on your definition of "achievement", I'd argue the applicable concept of absolute truth is a lil more impressive than Wikipedia :P

    • @OntarioTrafficMan
      @OntarioTrafficMan Před 3 lety +1456

      Wikipedia is one of the few remaining representations of the original altruistic intent of the internet.
      Which is why it's not even remotely profitable.

  • @LazerLord10
    @LazerLord10 Před 3 lety +1189

    Screen resolution being used to fingerprint people.
    *Sweats in 2650x1600

    • @ITAC85
      @ITAC85 Před 2 lety +41

      @SharkTH In JavaScript, you can get both the screen resolution, AND the browser content resolution. The resolution may also change depending on your scaling, too.

    • @vijf
      @vijf Před 2 lety +11

      @@ITAC85 some browsers block the screen res header

    • @ITAC85
      @ITAC85 Před 2 lety +2

      @@vijf Huh.

    • @DeeSnow97
      @DeeSnow97 Před 2 lety +21

      @@mitko17 which actually makes it easier to fingerprint you until mozilla turns it on for everyone by default

    • @enginerd80
      @enginerd80 Před 2 lety +3

      @SharkTH Isn't that a good thing, assuming you want to avoid being tracked? If on every visit you adjust the browser window a little differently, you should look less like you to the site.

  • @LordKittenfish
    @LordKittenfish Před 3 lety +737

    “One of the most popular browsers and one of the major advertisers were under the same corporate umbrella”
    Immediately gets a google ad on the youtube website

    • @chedinbuildsstudio5144
      @chedinbuildsstudio5144 Před 3 lety +25

      I remembered a horror story of a 5 second youtube logo as an ad on youtube , so you're not that far off .

    • @javawakii6207
      @javawakii6207 Před 2 lety +2

      On the CZcams website which is also run by Google

    • @NinjaWhaines
      @NinjaWhaines Před 2 lety +1

      Happened to me too. I laughed out loud

    • @pe2aab
      @pe2aab Před 2 lety

      I have no add's on CZcams. It's a relief.

    • @cakeisyummy5755
      @cakeisyummy5755 Před 2 lety

      @@chedinbuildsstudio5144 How would seeing the CZcams logo as an ad be Horrifying?

  • @tilde5441
    @tilde5441 Před 3 lety +6397

    The internet today feels like a crowded shopping mall with billboards everywhere you look

    • @theirishviking9278
      @theirishviking9278 Před 3 lety +25

      ...we hello futurama flashback....

    • @JamesTheBell1
      @JamesTheBell1 Před 3 lety +198

      I believe the original idea for the shopping mall was to have it feel like a village centre - a nice place to be with seating and open spaces. Then it was corrupted into a commercial hole. The internet has gone the same way. What next?

    • @Rotem_S
      @Rotem_S Před 3 lety +37

      Use an ad blocker

    • @liamhtml979
      @liamhtml979 Před 3 lety +119

      except the billboards have cameras which can track which stores you enter and slowly builds a database of information about you

    • @yotokil2914
      @yotokil2914 Před 3 lety +7

      @@JamesTheBell1 AI

  • @MegaMGstudios
    @MegaMGstudios Před 3 lety +2960

    Often times I'm not even allowed to access a site without accepting cookies. Not sure how legal that is.

    • @sion8
      @sion8 Před 3 lety +510

      Are you a resident of the European Economic Area? If so, you'd need to report them from incompliance with the GDPR!

    • @thehildabeast100
      @thehildabeast100 Před 3 lety +351

      @@sion8 and they will just laugh at you and pay the fine

    • @midnightgear2616
      @midnightgear2616 Před 3 lety +311

      @@thehildabeast100
      Idk, 4% or 20 mil sounds steep. Maybe it needs to be that much per person?

    • @eduardoizquierdo309
      @eduardoizquierdo309 Před 3 lety +21

      It is not but who is going to stop them?

    • @mercuryrocks
      @mercuryrocks Před 3 lety +7

      @@eduardoizquierdo309 yo it was a minute ago when you said that.

  • @dindins8431
    @dindins8431 Před 3 lety +1282

    “Vote saxon” you love to see those references

    • @biggusdickus9125
      @biggusdickus9125 Před 3 lety +40

      Damn, well spotted! I was watching that episode today!

    • @gingerbread2005
      @gingerbread2005 Před 3 lety +63

      I was scrolling through the comments to see if anyone had noticed that! Doctor Who for the win!

    • @xHadesStamps
      @xHadesStamps Před 3 lety +30

      I was wondering if it was a Doctor Who reference!

    • @YouTubeperson1337
      @YouTubeperson1337 Před 3 lety +51

      Don't you hear it? The drumming?

    • @lewisw9527
      @lewisw9527 Před 3 lety +16

      underrated episodes ngl

  • @meowtherainbowx4163
    @meowtherainbowx4163 Před 3 lety +120

    0:16 I love the reference to young Tom replacing other people’s work with the word “content”

    • @yoshipaul3896
      @yoshipaul3896 Před 3 lety +4

      am i the only other person who got that reference?

    • @xexpaguette
      @xexpaguette Před 2 lety +7

      @@yoshipaul3896 nope!

  • @wallyhackenslacker
    @wallyhackenslacker Před 3 lety +1759

    A screenshot of Google Chrome's privacy settings should appear next to the definition of "conflict of interest" in the dictionary.

    • @NoName-kj2vf
      @NoName-kj2vf Před 3 lety +44

      At 6:25 I bursted out laughing when I got a chrome book ad

    • @Root174
      @Root174 Před 3 lety +8

      I got an ad for Google's online learning courses: digital workplace.

    • @firmman4505
      @firmman4505 Před 3 lety +1

      Conflict of what interests?

    • @enderknightmare2432
      @enderknightmare2432 Před 3 lety +1

      @@NoName-kj2vf I got a target ad

    • @barvdw
      @barvdw Před 3 lety +18

      It's one of the main reasons I refuse to even install Chrome on my laptop, and use it almost by accident on my Android based devices. I trust G* even less than M$.

  • @remukk
    @remukk Před 3 lety +1594

    Popup: Disable your adblock please
    Me: * adds that popup to my adblock's blacklist *

  • @MeepChangeling
    @MeepChangeling Před 2 lety +121

    It's amazing how different a web experience you have if you simply install adblock and then add all known ad-host servers to your HOSTS file. I've used it for over a decade and genuinely forgot that ads exist on the web.

    • @maxwilson7001
      @maxwilson7001 Před rokem +6

      Where did you find all known ad-host servers and where is the HOSTS file?

    • @maxwilson7001
      @maxwilson7001 Před rokem +30

      @@jacksoncremean1664 I mean, fair I guess, but I want to learn. I want to gain this skill I don't have

  • @JustWasted3HoursHere
    @JustWasted3HoursHere Před rokem +35

    The never ending battle between people wanting to use the internet for free to get info, have fun, etc and companies that want you to buy their stuff reminds me of the battle between software companies trying to keep their software from being copied and users trying to copy their software (anti-piracy). It's a never ending arms race. But just remember that if you are getting services for free, like what Google does with so much of their company...YOU are the product.

  • @jordantierney6495
    @jordantierney6495 Před 3 lety +1383

    “If these cookies were food. They’d probably have raisins in them.” What a stunning endorsement

    • @FireFly209
      @FireFly209 Před 3 lety +111

      I think you're raisin an excellent point there...

    • @eun5oo280
      @eun5oo280 Před 3 lety +15

      @@FireFly209 Shut up and take my like >:(

    • @Pixdoet
      @Pixdoet Před 3 lety +10

      And possibly asparagus in them who knows

    • @haph2087
      @haph2087 Před 3 lety +20

      @@Pixdoet That's actually just battery leakage from the GPS trackers in the cookies, not asparagus.
      The both make your pee smell weird, I know it's confusing.

    • @sharpfang
      @sharpfang Před 3 lety +1

      I'd say, mouse turds

  • @KastaRules
    @KastaRules Před 3 lety +2091

    The Internet must be broken: I always accept ALL THE COOKIES yet I have Not received a single one so far.

    • @arx48
      @arx48 Před 3 lety +23

      good one xD

    • @coltaylordyath5180
      @coltaylordyath5180 Před 3 lety +13

      If you do a Google search for the word 'Google', you can break the Internet.
      Seriously, don't do it!

    • @omairshafiq1998
      @omairshafiq1998 Před 3 lety +23

      @@coltaylordyath5180 why am I going to do that

    • @natasha-ut7si
      @natasha-ut7si Před 3 lety +6

      @@coltaylordyath5180 I want to do this REALLY badly now

    • @nabicx
      @nabicx Před 3 lety +9

      boomer humor

  • @xnadave
    @xnadave Před 2 lety +269

    I really, REALLY want to see a channel comprising all of Tom's *RANT DELETED* segments. I'll happily donate, say, $100/year to your favorite charity and sign an NDA.

    • @uncommonsense360
      @uncommonsense360 Před rokem +6

      He can't do that, because one person would leak regardless of an NDA

    • @speeder3235
      @speeder3235 Před rokem +2

      @@uncommonsense360 don't care, sign me up too

    • @hamishd8659
      @hamishd8659 Před rokem

      Id sign an NDA if you game me lolly

    • @oncecrowned
      @oncecrowned Před rokem +4

      @@uncommonsense360 they can get into legal trouble

  • @mberrios1875
    @mberrios1875 Před 2 lety +344

    "I just implied that advertisers are not people" BASED TOM SCOTT

  • @voidmayonnaise
    @voidmayonnaise Před 3 lety +3285

    I wish they’d named “cookies” as “breadcrumbs.”
    It’s what they are, really.

    • @lyrqk5829
      @lyrqk5829 Před 3 lety +127

      not as catchy or woobifieable, but 100 times more clever (and sinister)

    • @JustASnack
      @JustASnack Před 3 lety +270

      Breadcrumbs would be a bit misleading nowadays because in web-jargon, breadcrumbs actually stands for that trail of links/categories and sub-categories you sometimes see on online shopping sites or forums.
      So for example, on Newegg, viewing a listing for some RAM, you have the trail at the top:
      Home > Components > Memory > Desktop Memory > etc...
      Those are called breadcrumbs :D

    • @isyt1
      @isyt1 Před 3 lety +69

      @@JustASnack Kinda irrelevant as that flattened tree navigation thing would have gone with a different name had cookies been called bread crumbs

    • @waiitwhaat
      @waiitwhaat Před 3 lety +30

      if you get enough of breadcrumbs, ypu can make the entire bread. Kinda fits imo

    • @Bob5mith
      @Bob5mith Před 3 lety +39

      @@isyt1 "Breadcrumbs" trace a path back to where you started. I don't know how that fits with the way cookies work.

  • @bunothebrains
    @bunothebrains Před 3 lety +1448

    The 4 different forms of life:
    Animals
    Plants
    Fungi
    *advertisers*

    • @kencarp57
      @kencarp57 Před 3 lety +111

      In that order of desirability... 🧐

    • @robertskitch
      @robertskitch Před 3 lety +33

      What about protista and monera?

    • @macaroon_nuggets8008
      @macaroon_nuggets8008 Před 3 lety +42

      Multiceullar Eukaryotic life*

    • @zenaku666
      @zenaku666 Před 3 lety +56

      @@robertskitch I think advertisers are a subkingdom within monera. Right next to lawyers, and tax professionals.

    • @emeralf9228
      @emeralf9228 Před 3 lety +2

      @@robertskitch i fear you may have missed the joke

  • @baycosinus
    @baycosinus Před 3 lety +205

    Website: "You have to accept cookies and disable adblockers to see the content."
    Me: "Ok bye."
    Website: *surprised pikachu*

    • @someonehere4380
      @someonehere4380 Před 2 lety +1

      sadly most people don't use adblockers

    • @trulyinfamous
      @trulyinfamous Před 2 lety +2

      @@someonehere4380 many of them are viruses or some kind of nefarious software. If the company isn't obviously making money though something like a premium version or subscription, they are definitely selling your information.

    • @bigpod
      @bigpod Před 2 lety +1

      @@someonehere4380 i dont use one because i dont need one honestly ads dont bother me as long as your ad doesnt do something too pushy i will not care if ad does to something to pushy then i will close that website and probably never go back most ads on internet are fine its 1% that is problematic which can be avoided with guess what avoiding

    • @Treekicker
      @Treekicker Před 2 lety

      Grease monkey scripts

    • @Grom1477
      @Grom1477 Před 2 lety

      ​@@someonehere4380 God bless those without adblockers. Because of them we are able to surf web without paying a cent

  • @khalilneogy3464
    @khalilneogy3464 Před 3 lety +12

    The cookie that you use reminds of the one from If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, it was a very cozy book that I loved to read when I was young.

  • @mattm7220
    @mattm7220 Před 3 lety +4803

    Tom: * implies advertisers are not people *
    Me: No, no... He's got a point

    • @TheSam1902
      @TheSam1902 Před 3 lety +249

      If they were people, they'd feel empathy

    • @cgi2002
      @cgi2002 Před 3 lety +197

      Even lawyers are closer to actual people than advertisers.

    • @Mentocthemindtaker
      @Mentocthemindtaker Před 3 lety +67

      @@ChaoticTrack Advertisers and corporations are _legally_ people. It's insane.

    • @ff-qf1th
      @ff-qf1th Před 3 lety +3

      @@Mentocthemindtaker legally people in what sense?

    • @belegl.7721
      @belegl.7721 Před 3 lety +52

      @@ff-qf1th In practically all legal systems there exists a construct most often called something like "legal personhood" where either groups of people (e.g. political parties, unions etc.) corporations and other constructs and cooperatives can have rights and legal abilities (to buy stuff, to loan money, hold the copyright to something) according to the law, just like real people (who have "natural personhood"). It's the basis of civil law and what allows businesses to do business. But it's also really weird when you are not familiar with it.

  • @Opus313
    @Opus313 Před 3 lety +2072

    "The Web is a bit of a mess."
    That's quite the understatement, Tom!

    • @jorygeerts9416
      @jorygeerts9416 Před 3 lety +16

      I think Tom would call it "a bit of an understatement". :)

    • @Supertimegamingify
      @Supertimegamingify Před 3 lety +1

      indeed

    • @blakem2902
      @blakem2902 Před 3 lety +31

      Whenever I open up a web page and I accidentally clicked the wrong thing because the entire page moved to fit an ad is probably on the most annoying things ever

    • @capriphonix8863
      @capriphonix8863 Před 3 lety +9

      What do you want from him, he's British!

    • @Nugcon
      @Nugcon Před 3 lety +2

      true

  • @ggb123_17
    @ggb123_17 Před 2 lety +10

    8:39 *gee i wonder why google doesn't have it*

  • @inabyt
    @inabyt Před 2 lety +9

    I was in denver this weekend and We saw someone with a one wheel riding around. We usually never see that in our little town and we said oh look a one wheel! Along with arguing whether it was in fact a one wheel or a hoverboard. All my ads for the next week were hoverboard/Onewheel variants

  • @tilaa_uGim
    @tilaa_uGim Před 3 lety +2285

    I just want to know about the guy who learned 12 languages and nobody wants to talk to him.

    • @goodpeopleoftheworldunite
      @goodpeopleoftheworldunite Před 3 lety +146

      You're not missing out. The headline turns out to be the whole story. Though you won't get the chance to look at a bunch of dodgy ads, or other similar tabloid guff.

    • @QuintaFeira12
      @QuintaFeira12 Před 3 lety +400

      They're all programming languanges

    • @magnum155
      @magnum155 Před 3 lety +14

      That's me in the future if everything goes well. If everything goes poorly... well, you don't want to know.

    • @dromankass8655
      @dromankass8655 Před 3 lety +33

      Don't blame me, I voted for Harold Saxon.

    • @cheeziest360
      @cheeziest360 Před 3 lety +66

      We don’t know, no one wants to interview him

  • @Spiney09
    @Spiney09 Před 2 lety +9

    I know it’s not 100% safe, but I still appreciate Wikipedia for keeping advertisers off its site through donations. I wish there were more sites like them.

    • @HookerHeels
      @HookerHeels Před 2 lety +5

      I am so happy I donate to Wikipedia. I wish I could donate more, and I hope others see the power behind Wiki and donate as well.

  • @ObviouslyASMR
    @ObviouslyASMR Před 3 lety +186

    Anyone else just get rid of the cookies window with inspect element? 😂

    • @ITAC85
      @ITAC85 Před 3 lety +34

      I always do... except when the cookies window takes up the WHOLE SCREEN AND REPLACES ALL OF THE SITE WITH THE POPUP.

    • @scriptguru4669
      @scriptguru4669 Před 3 lety +11

      F5 & a very well timed Stop usually does the trick

    • @Sanjay-ub7eq
      @Sanjay-ub7eq Před 2 lety +1

      @@scriptguru4669 yea!!

    • @FricCc
      @FricCc Před 2 lety +14

      *laughs in pop-up blocker*

    • @wumwum42
      @wumwum42 Před 2 lety +7

      I use ublock for deleting the popups.

  • @emeralf9228
    @emeralf9228 Před 3 lety +1162

    "If these cookies were food, they'd probably have raisins in them."
    your animator is great

    • @Kyrelel
      @Kyrelel Před 3 lety +49

      Raisin cookies are delicious

    • @BertGrink
      @BertGrink Před 3 lety +7

      @@Kyrelel Agreed

    • @senza4591
      @senza4591 Před 3 lety +28

      @@Kyrelel well some people dont vaccinate their kids, but they still think theyre in the right
      /s
      (For anyone that doesnt know, /s means the post was sarcastic)

    • @FactoryofRedstone
      @FactoryofRedstone Před 3 lety +2

      Or is it chocolate chips?

    • @dryued6874
      @dryued6874 Před 3 lety +24

      People dissing raisin cookies are usually the same people who diss pineapple on pizza or Nickelback just because the cool kids do it.

  • @Duterasemis
    @Duterasemis Před 3 lety +917

    "I actually just realized that I just implied advertisers are not people"
    that's correct

    • @natebrown2805
      @natebrown2805 Před 3 lety +17

      factually true

    • @mimi1568
      @mimi1568 Před 3 lety +31

      I just can't decide if they're lizard people or amorphous shape shifters who just "bloop" into a bucket at the end of the day.

    • @TheJaironman99
      @TheJaironman99 Před 3 lety +2

      When I heard that line I immediately thought of the Bill Hicks piece about advertisers

    • @Holobrine
      @Holobrine Před 3 lety +3

      True. Advertisers are corporations which are made of people, but are not themselves people. A corporation, in addition to being made of people, also has a fiduciary responsibility to shareholders, which actual people do not, and that makes all the difference. Without that fiduciary responsibility, no one would really care to thwart the ad blockers. Also if society just made sure everyone had what they needed no strings attached, no one would need or even want to be so annoying just to grab your attention.

    • @WistrelChianti
      @WistrelChianti Před 3 lety +1

      actually... for a large part now they are algorithms

  • @MelonDoesStuff
    @MelonDoesStuff Před 3 lety +25

    I saw that VOTE SAXON poster, you can’t sneak a doctor who reference past me ;)

  • @matthewk.4289
    @matthewk.4289 Před 3 lety +22

    I’m so glad someone finally explained cookies in a simpler way

  • @strawberryjam3670
    @strawberryjam3670 Před 3 lety +681

    "Man devastated to find all his work replaced with «content»"
    I see what you did there.

  • @d_inkz
    @d_inkz Před 3 lety +1847

    The days of animated flash ads on everything were horrific.

    • @tommytomthms5
      @tommytomthms5 Před 3 lety +139

      yet in some ways, less evil than some websites now...

    • @runed0s86
      @runed0s86 Před 3 lety +38

      Guys, uBlock origin existed and still exists

    • @MK-qx9vi
      @MK-qx9vi Před 3 lety +90

      @@runed0s86 uBlock Origin? in 2007?

    • @MicroChirp
      @MicroChirp Před 3 lety +201

      I miss shooting balloons to get a free iPad.

    • @AC3handle
      @AC3handle Před 3 lety +4

      And thus, no more flash.

  • @drbuttocks
    @drbuttocks Před rokem +3

    100% spot on about advertisers not being people. Don't worry about it

  • @Ascertivus
    @Ascertivus Před 3 lety +9

    I think that this video is very informative, clear, concise, and pleasing to absorb. Tom makes some lovely content!

  • @mobiledev6037
    @mobiledev6037 Před 3 lety +3836

    This turned out to be much more interesting than I thought when clicking it.

    • @richardsavory5663
      @richardsavory5663 Před 3 lety +88

      All of them are

    • @miroslavmilan
      @miroslavmilan Před 3 lety +27

      True, but It ended in a cliffhanger. We need solutions, not just stating the problem!
      Just kidding, but I really did feel the video lacked some kind of a conclusion, actual or potential improvements being worked to deliver a better outcome for everyone, or something to give us hope.

    • @TheJobCompany
      @TheJobCompany Před 3 lety +75

      @@miroslavmilan That's because there is no hope, the web is an unfixable mess. The only solution is to move to a cabin in the woods, away from all civilization and network connection.

    • @sirizalot
      @sirizalot Před 3 lety +36

      This is the case for every Tom Scott video

    • @imienazwisko4109
      @imienazwisko4109 Před 3 lety +12

      Welcome to Tom Scott :)

  • @sliceofbread29yrago52
    @sliceofbread29yrago52 Před 3 lety +1975

    I honestly can't remember ever buying a product iv seen on an Ad.
    If anything, the ad causes me frustraion and therefire resist buying that item.

    • @zbdfhg
      @zbdfhg Před 3 lety +331

      - Plato

    • @peNdantry
      @peNdantry Před 3 lety +337

      Anyone who believes they are immune to the effects of pervasive advertising hasn't fully considered that it is a multi-trillion dollar enterprise.

    • @MrCatfail
      @MrCatfail Před 3 lety +270

      A lot of the time it is about influence. Putting something in your head that otherwise wouldn't be there - a brand name, the colour of a certain product. It builds over time

    • @ungodlytemptations
      @ungodlytemptations Před 3 lety +24

      I got an ad for Asaki Japanese Beer.
      It's now my favourite beer.

    • @dreska255
      @dreska255 Před 3 lety +81

      If you set your vpn to a country you are not familiar with (especially developing ones such as those in south or southeast asia, there are a lot of vpn servers based there), some of the ads may be replaced with products that are only available locally, and since you probably are not gonna understand the language anyway, may reduce the influence these ads may have on you. Or of course, you can just use an ad blocker.
      Edit: phrasing. Also i'm not 100% sure that this will not influence you in using any products. If you want to keep brands away from entering your subconscious, just turn ads off altogether.

  • @ValtteriNieminen
    @ValtteriNieminen Před rokem +3

    Just found a new tactic websites use to discourage users from denying cookies: Show a progress bar that takes around 10 seconds to finish before letting you on the site if you don’t accept cookies.

    • @TomsRuns_UK
      @TomsRuns_UK Před 4 měsíci

      It's January 2024 [as of writing], and CZcams waits you 5 seconds before they let you into the video if you installed an adblocker on your browser.

  • @chimeragenesis361
    @chimeragenesis361 Před 2 lety +5

    6:50 frankly it should be minimum, rather than maximum.

  • @godzamoongus
    @godzamoongus Před 3 lety +2290

    “Vote Saxon”
    Nice Dr Who reference Tom

    • @NagromVoice
      @NagromVoice Před 3 lety +108

      Celebration of 57 years of Dr Who!

    • @19Prometheus89
      @19Prometheus89 Před 3 lety +101

      "the drums the drums the never ending drums!"

    • @sapphoanna
      @sapphoanna Před 3 lety +35

      I guess Im glad dr who won superwholock

    • @tombull89
      @tombull89 Před 3 lety +12

      Heh, I saw that too.

    • @Raxacoricofallapatorius
      @Raxacoricofallapatorius Před 3 lety +10

      Damn it! I literally typed this comment almost word for word then I spotted you already done it!

  • @curumu_yt
    @curumu_yt Před 3 lety +1215

    “Advertisers are not people” - Tom Scott 2020

    • @Michael-mh2tw
      @Michael-mh2tw Před 3 lety +14

      'people who make money from advertising in order to continue to make and do what they want are people though, like Tom Scott.' - Me, 2020.

    • @beskamir5977
      @beskamir5977 Před 3 lety +52

      @@Michael-mh2tw Sure, but you can do that ethically, most advertisers are not doing that ethically therefore they lose people status privileges :P But jokes aside, companies/corporations are in some ways alien to humans and could therefore be considered as distinct/separate from human beings.

    • @thanhavictus
      @thanhavictus Před 3 lety +10

      Based

    • @Vassilinia
      @Vassilinia Před 3 lety +11

      He's right though.

    • @jefffrasca4054
      @jefffrasca4054 Před 3 lety +1

      The election is over. Tom Scott 2024!
      (I know he's British.)

  • @frtls
    @frtls Před 3 lety +131

    Sounds more like the real issue is that people got used to a 'free' internet. As such, advertisers gladly filled the money gap but asked for data in return.

    • @bigpod
      @bigpod Před 2 lety +3

      problem is people thing since everything is so accesable it is free but reality is people need to pay for all this stuff

    • @phantombeing3015
      @phantombeing3015 Před 2 lety +2

      @@bigpod what would you chose? Money or data?

    • @bigpod
      @bigpod Před 2 lety +2

      @@phantombeing3015 data of course its worth more if i can use it

    • @phantombeing3015
      @phantombeing3015 Před 2 lety +3

      @@bigpod I meant, like, would you pay to use Google photos or just let them collect datas on you by uploading to their drive for free,m

    • @bigpod
      @bigpod Před 2 lety +2

      @@phantombeing3015 i honestly dont use it but i guess pay with data

  • @tj4y48
    @tj4y48 Před 3 lety +8

    7:56 this is really interesting. My brother recently did this with Windows xp in order to play some of his very old games.

  • @introvertairways6380
    @introvertairways6380 Před 3 lety +1512

    American website: “this site uses cookies”
    British website: “this site uses biscuits”

  • @markozagar
    @markozagar Před 3 lety +343

    The people most in need of spanking are the ones who decided that when users clicked on "More options", they should be presented with two near-identical buttons named "Agree to all cookies" and "Accept my choices". How I wish the legislators would enforce the "informed" part, not just the "consent" part.

    • @Ownage4lif31
      @Ownage4lif31 Před 3 lety +4

      Yea they are annoying

    • @purplespark8
      @purplespark8 Před 3 lety +3

      Exactly. We really need to curb this abuse

    • @Hyperus
      @Hyperus Před 3 lety +3

      That atleast forces you to read it. I have a bigger problem when the accept all button is way more visible.

    • @jimmykeffer7401
      @jimmykeffer7401 Před 3 lety +1

      To be fair, It’s really difficult to make a rule and enforce it on all of the internet at once.

    • @satibel
      @satibel Před 3 lety +1

      I just want the Do Not Track header to be respected and not show that annoying box.

  • @Tharmin.124
    @Tharmin.124 Před 3 lety +25

    You forgot the "sign up now to access the rest of the article" boxes

  • @TimmyBlumberg
    @TimmyBlumberg Před 3 lety +41

    As a programmer it’s super gratifying to see someone talk about something I know about and nail all the details. Great stuff. 👍

  • @u-kn
    @u-kn Před 3 lety +482

    This should be called "Why The Web Is Such A Mess, Part 1"

    • @gabrielragum
      @gabrielragum Před 3 lety +38

      "Part 1 of 2 147 483 647"

    • @cf453
      @cf453 Před 3 lety +27

      @@gabrielragum Part 1 of 2 ^ 31 ? We're gonna need 64-bit.

    • @Siska0Robert
      @Siska0Robert Před 3 lety +17

      You *won't* believe reason #7!

    • @francescolacamera9009
      @francescolacamera9009 Před 3 lety +2

      @@cf453 just put the number in a string and hope nobody'll notice 😳

    • @i.pezzotti853
      @i.pezzotti853 Před 3 lety +1

      “Part 1.00 - Volume I, Version 1.1, Section A”

  • @Max-zs8zr
    @Max-zs8zr Před 3 lety +332

    It’s 2020 and we are still talking about computers in a room with lots of flashing red buttons. Awesome.

    • @fusseldieb
      @fusseldieb Před 3 lety +32

      I absolutely *love* that background.

    • @thaumaturgicresearchcounci4180
      @thaumaturgicresearchcounci4180 Před 3 lety +9

      It's actually the computer running the simulation that we're all living in

    • @RedRad1990
      @RedRad1990 Před 3 lety

      @@thaumaturgicresearchcounci4180 The problem is choice

  • @Atimo133
    @Atimo133 Před 3 lety +2

    Rarely been happier to subscribe and support a channel than yours
    Thanks for your efforts Tom!

  • @arjunatharmalingam5158
    @arjunatharmalingam5158 Před 2 lety +3

    Fantastic Tom! You explain what we use in our everyday, in a way everyone can understand whilst remaining engaged! Cheers

  • @twitertaker
    @twitertaker Před 3 lety +506

    The question "Why is X such a mess?" can almost always be answered with one simple word. Money.

    • @NetheriteMiner
      @NetheriteMiner Před 3 lety +15

      that's sadly accurate

    • @Khronogi
      @Khronogi Před 3 lety +19

      Power and money. You can also derive things back to their 7 deadly sins forms as well.

    • @seraphinduvolzairo5938
      @seraphinduvolzairo5938 Před 3 lety +28

      Capitalism

    • @Facusblues
      @Facusblues Před 3 lety +6

      It's always funny reading people complain about capitalism in CZcams (Owned by Google, one of the biggest companies in the world) and using a Phone/computer that of course is from a big company too. You make me laugh guys, if you hate capitalism so much go to live in the middle of nowhere and stop using technology at all 🤣

    • @twitertaker
      @twitertaker Před 3 lety +6

      @@Facusblues Not speaking for the others (I did not participate in that discussion for a reason) but I did explicitely not complain about the role of money. Not in this context at least.

  • @Shomononosh
    @Shomononosh Před 3 lety +878

    I mean, that "vote Saxon" ad sounds really interesting. Minimalist, straight to the point, one could say they... Mastered the art of publicity.

    • @The_D0C70R
      @The_D0C70R Před 3 lety +78

      Of course the Master is a master of everything, just like the Doctor is a doctor of everything.

    • @lauraireson6358
      @lauraireson6358 Před 3 lety +1

      +

    • @hamsandwich4243
      @hamsandwich4243 Před 3 lety +36

      Yes, Harold Saxon really has *mastered* the art of publicity

    • @canaryimpulse989
      @canaryimpulse989 Před 3 lety +52

      I think what the Web really needs ... right now ... is a Doctor.
      :)

    • @The_D0C70R
      @The_D0C70R Před 3 lety +13

      @@canaryimpulse989 You called?

  • @crungushakooter
    @crungushakooter Před rokem +3

    it's such a shame how dreadful every website is, it really doesn't have to be like this
    it drives me nuts when websites stutter and take a dozen seconds to load in because they have to load a dozen video ads before it can load the couple of kilobytes of text i came in to read

  • @mfs353
    @mfs353 Před 3 lety

    Its amazing how you make these videos with only 1 or few takes. Great video

  • @FlyboyHelosim
    @FlyboyHelosim Před 3 lety +516

    My favorite websites are still those '90s U.S. government/military/university sites that use basic HTML formatting, simple text and graphics, with no third-party content or plug-ins. This is exactly how I make all my websites. People sometimes say it looks dated, but at least you get nothing but the information you want and the pages load lightning fast even on a smartphone.

    • @bettercalldelta
      @bettercalldelta Před rokem +12

      i remember a pure html page from a university website that helped me understand something in c++, it was straight to the point with its information

    • @JetFalcon710
      @JetFalcon710 Před rokem +18

      Well I mean, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. The U.S government has a lot of experience with that -- hell, they still use those massive eight-inch floppy disks for guiding nuclear missiles

    • @DrSpaceman69
      @DrSpaceman69 Před rokem +31

      @@JetFalcon710 bc its safer. Cant hack a floppy disk ;)

    • @JetFalcon710
      @JetFalcon710 Před rokem +10

      @@DrSpaceman69 Yep. Not to mention, they're extremely reliable and also hard to sneak out of a building

    • @user-fr2fm3ri3w
      @user-fr2fm3ri3w Před rokem +1

      Then you aren’t a programmer, you just write a word document and embed it in html.

  • @RobertMilesAI
    @RobertMilesAI Před 3 lety +311

    Hey, remember when websites would make actual pop-ups that would open as their own window at the operating system level? That was fun. Another skirmish in the 'ads vs browser developers' war.

    • @autohmae
      @autohmae Před 3 lety +38

      Yes, and that was worse than now. I think we can win this battle too.

    • @Vellzi
      @Vellzi Před 3 lety +50

      Flashbacks to those websites that would trick you Into to starting a superchain of unclosable windows msgboxes that you had to hold Spacebar to get through while the author writes about how much of your time he's wasting.

    • @Mostlyharmless1985
      @Mostlyharmless1985 Před 3 lety +17

      I’m still gobsmacked at how NETSEND was ever considered a good idea at Microsoft...

    • @vividandlucid
      @vividandlucid Před 3 lety +14

      A friend of mine used some very simple code to make a website that opens new tabs of itself at the speed of light, just a couple years ago. Our school wasn't very happy about it

    • @chris7263
      @chris7263 Před 3 lety +26

      @@Vellzi ugh, and remember when they'd play music or other audio? And sometimes they'd stay minimized when they opened, so you had to figure out which tab/window was making the noise.

  • @aarondavis8943
    @aarondavis8943 Před 2 lety +5

    I'm astounded such a complex system works at all. Even though I understand how such stability is achieved, it still amazes me.

  • @Aesculathehyena
    @Aesculathehyena Před 3 lety +25

    I would love to hear the stuff about corporate personhood and employees acting as hiveminds, tbh

  • @AlanKey86
    @AlanKey86 Před 3 lety +854

    The hovercraft pub is also a mess, but for very different reasons.

  • @wmradar
    @wmradar Před 3 lety +519

    "I just implied that advertisers aren't people..."
    *Bill Hicks would like to know your location.*

    • @ste887
      @ste887 Před 3 lety +2

      Bill is Still busy with his meeting at the docks

    • @daroldcarold3443
      @daroldcarold3443 Před 3 lety +1

      who is bicks?

    • @Zogger568
      @Zogger568 Před 3 lety +1

      He's right tho

    • @umkm2k
      @umkm2k Před 3 lety +8

      I see what Tom is doing there. He's going for that "advertisers aren't people" dollar.

    • @cdein1
      @cdein1 Před 3 lety +6

      @@umkm2k He's doing a good thing, a lot of people are feeling that 'advertisers are not people' dollar. That's a good market.

  • @siddharthapuligilla
    @siddharthapuligilla Před rokem +1

    I am more familiar with this topic(web design, cookies .. etc) than your average user, so didn't expect to learn much when I started this video but was pleasantly surprised, great video!

  • @orangepyro1
    @orangepyro1 Před 3 lety +2

    You're videos are funny as all hell, thank you so much for all the wonderful knowledge you choose to share with us :)

  • @jackgalen6014
    @jackgalen6014 Před 3 lety +270

    This video is as timely as every. CZcams just announced that they will be putting ads on *every* video, whether or not the creator is getting paid. I keep thinking how advertising could get more and more intrusive, yet every day it gets a little worse 🙃

    • @hedgie9823
      @hedgie9823 Před 3 lety +7

      Really?

    • @snowstrobe
      @snowstrobe Před 3 lety +51

      We seriously need a good CZcams alternative...

    • @thepranjaljain
      @thepranjaljain Před 3 lety +13

      This video was made 3 months ago, made public just now. What does that tell you?

    • @jackgalen6014
      @jackgalen6014 Před 3 lety +2

      @@thepranjaljain 3 months from now it can only be worse I guess

    • @allenqueen
      @allenqueen Před 3 lety +20

      It can't be helped can it? Storage Servers cost money, and youtube has a HUGE amount of videos uploaded every day. They need to atleast break even.

  • @DJoppiesaus
    @DJoppiesaus Před 3 lety +608

    "we value your privacy" - well then, why are you showing me this popup with misleading buttons?!

    • @FinJet347
      @FinJet347 Před 3 lety +24

      More like we value our ability to make money out of you in the EU

    • @606films9
      @606films9 Před 3 lety +5

      Privacy, they never said they gave a crap

    • @ratlinggull2223
      @ratlinggull2223 Před 3 lety +13

      That just means they sell your privacy for money.

    • @thenasadude6878
      @thenasadude6878 Před 3 lety +7

      A mandatory text saying "We must comply with EU regulations or we are screwed" is better

    • @Ghaarf
      @Ghaarf Před 3 lety +11

      "We care about your privacy, and by a complete coincidence we started caring at the same time privacy laws were put in place"

  • @clivenorman2314
    @clivenorman2314 Před rokem

    Brilliant video. I had no idea. Am now looking in setting to see if reader view can be my default. Thankyou.

  • @adrianbustoscarrillo639
    @adrianbustoscarrillo639 Před 2 lety +2

    AdBlocker: Imma end this *advertisements* whole career

  • @b.t.burton5000
    @b.t.burton5000 Před 3 lety +60

    At the same time as Tom was dealing with annoying notifications, Chrome asked me if I wanted to allow notifications from CZcams and I thought for a second that it was somehow Tom's doing.

  • @dragonexer1
    @dragonexer1 Před 3 lety +222

    Disable your adblocker to access this article
    *Close tab*

    • @SpiffingNZ
      @SpiffingNZ Před 3 lety +41

      Pro move: Use the ad blocker to hide the element blocking the page and begging you to disable adblocker.
      Works on most sites.

    • @DFPercush
      @DFPercush Před 3 lety +4

      I saw a doozie the other day. Consume all memory resources and crash the browser. --> report to site owner who says "disable ad blocker"

    • @parnikkapore
      @parnikkapore Před 3 lety +9

      Another pro move: Disable JS to remove clutter on a ton of news sites

    • @1127TOMI
      @1127TOMI Před 3 lety +5

      @@SpiffingNZ I always go to inspect element and just delete the elements blocking the site.

    • @TobiasDettinger
      @TobiasDettinger Před 3 lety +1

      @@SpiffingNZ What i have to set in adblocker to do this? I cant find the option yet.

  • @Handlekjdsethrgujahtw23
    @Handlekjdsethrgujahtw23 Před 2 lety +10

    Tom Scott, you are awesome. As a software developer, I am learning new things from you all the time. I often struggle to explain things that I work on to my friends and family, and you make it a piece of cake. Thank you.

  • @jdougn2255
    @jdougn2255 Před rokem

    How many have had the experience of simply talking about something unique, then seeing an ad for that exact unique product pop up!

  • @RockinMidwest
    @RockinMidwest Před 3 lety +401

    When you think about it, Wikipedia IS the point of the internet. (That, and online libraries/public access E-Books.)
    It always has been.

    • @shocktnc
      @shocktnc Před 3 lety +14

      Maybe, but it's being ruined by the rest of the internet.

    • @aloysiuskurnia7643
      @aloysiuskurnia7643 Před 2 lety +9

      How about
      Scihub

    • @karlosdaniel6537
      @karlosdaniel6537 Před 2 lety +16

      @@aloysiuskurnia7643 SciHub and LibGen are the Alexandria's Library of the Modern World.

    • @Name-de1ij
      @Name-de1ij Před 2 lety +1

      They should have a feature where you can request info on a page instead of editing the whole thing

    • @karlosdaniel6537
      @karlosdaniel6537 Před 2 lety +1

      @@Name-de1ij What do you mean?

  • @Liggliluff
    @Liggliluff Před 3 lety +959

    (7:00) A lot of that has changed as the law requires it. A lot of those boxes are now 2 presses. Initial box says "accept all / customise", and if you customise, everything _should_ be off, and then it asks you "accept all / save and close". The accept all is of course big and green, while the customise/save are grey and looks disabled. But it's better than the initial design where you had to check off each individual tracking site.

    • @OLBastholm
      @OLBastholm Před 3 lety +113

      Most are still not two equally sized/emphasized buttons, even though that's what the law requires.

    • @RustOnWheels
      @RustOnWheels Před 3 lety +75

      Lately everything is ‘legitimate interest’ so you can’t turn off more than half of the cookies.

    • @jebactychpolicjantow5497
      @jebactychpolicjantow5497 Před 3 lety +7

      Great. I'd rather pay the €20,000,000.
      Your VAT is paying for this garbage to be thought up.

    • @anirudhkumar9139
      @anirudhkumar9139 Před 2 lety +12

      I still double check if they have actually disabled every cookie except the strictly necessary ones that just can't be turned off

    • @straightupanarg6226
      @straightupanarg6226 Před 2 lety +4

      We're talking about Dark Patterns here.

  • @zombieslayer1468
    @zombieslayer1468 Před 2 lety +1

    one of the ads at the start says "vote saxon" love the doctor who refrences

  • @Poplyser
    @Poplyser Před 2 lety +1

    I never quite understood how important privacy was until I started randomly getting advertisments on instagram and the web, about tutors, colleges, those stuff just when I was starting college.

  • @________w
    @________w Před 3 lety +218

    "Reader view" would also, theoretically, hide any cookie consent boxes. And though they're not meant to, most websites default to "track"

    • @thorbear
      @thorbear Před 3 lety +43

      That's not GDPR compliant, report them :D

    • @philpem
      @philpem Před 3 lety +4

      @@thorbear Let me know if the ICO does anything but say "not our job, we're not a regulator"!

    • @ano_nym
      @ano_nym Před 3 lety +9

      It also seem to "disables" addons, in Firefox at least they are on a "protected" site which doesn't allow addons to work. Meaning that you wont get protection from adblock, and NoScript, etc.
      For example if an article have images blocked due to some NoScript setting, they will be visible in reader mode, so they must be loading. Unless they go through "safe" servers and are "cleaned" they will allow for tracking.

    • @thewolfin
      @thewolfin Před 3 lety

      Not one mention of adblock - we truly are on CZcams.

  • @securi-t
    @securi-t Před 3 lety +368

    "You can't view our page while blocking ads"
    "K. Bye."
    Edit (context):
    The Privacy Badger extension blocks obnoxiously intrusive tracking and triggers this behavior in a frighteningly large number of sites, particularly news sites.

    • @Michael-mh2tw
      @Michael-mh2tw Před 3 lety +1

      Make sense. You should be able to force ads, and you don't need to visit their site.

    • @DanQ
      @DanQ Před 3 lety +84

      "You can't view our page while blocking ads"
      "K. I'll just block the Javascript code you're using to detect that I'm blocking ads."
      If a site uses scripting against my experience of the web, it loses scripting privileges.

    • @flowgangsemaudamartoz7062
      @flowgangsemaudamartoz7062 Před 3 lety +7

      @@DanQ Wait, how does one do that? c:

    • @EvanDrinkwater
      @EvanDrinkwater Před 3 lety +2

      @@flowgangsemaudamartoz7062 also interested!

    • @RealEllenDeGeneres
      @RealEllenDeGeneres Před 3 lety +5

      @@flowgangsemaudamartoz7062 I've never done it, but I assume the easy way is to go into Chrome settings and block scripts for the site you're being blocked on. Although it'd block all scripts from running, not just adblock detectors, so it may break the experience.

  • @valravnheim
    @valravnheim Před 6 měsíci +2

    I really appreciate the 'Vote Saxon' Doctor Who reference!! Classic 🤩

  • @coloursnotflying
    @coloursnotflying Před 3 lety

    I was waiting for this type of a video.

  • @SuperHperTube
    @SuperHperTube Před 3 lety +140

    "DOn't let yOur girlfiEnd cAtch you plAy this gAme"

    • @Saykeh
      @Saykeh Před 3 lety +24

      omfg yes. You wont last 10 sec playing this game

  • @redz_2d
    @redz_2d Před 3 lety +726

    Now can Tom Scott answer why I'm such a mess?

    • @spywalkz1
      @spywalkz1 Před 3 lety +39

      Well find out on another episode of tom Scott

    • @frogery
      @frogery Před 3 lety +20

      advertisers

    • @hammerth1421
      @hammerth1421 Před 3 lety +30

      _broadly gestures at everything_

    • @22NightWing
      @22NightWing Před 3 lety +24

      Tom's videos are usually short...

    • @Alia-bc3rc
      @Alia-bc3rc Před 3 lety +4

      Probably need more cookie.

  • @Kaceydotme
    @Kaceydotme Před 2 lety +1

    I like the idea of Tom sitting there, recording the intro to this video without the popups and noises we see in the finished project, just getting irritated at nothing in particular.

  • @tjb3171
    @tjb3171 Před 3 měsíci +1

    I personally don’t mind ads unless they are very intrusive and get in the way of what I’m trying to do- which is 90% of the time

  • @Jungleboy89
    @Jungleboy89 Před 3 lety +150

    The irony that my dark mode won't stay on in Chrome now is unreal.

    • @GoetheNorris
      @GoetheNorris Před 3 lety +7

      chrome://flags and set it to automatic in developper options. if not get autodarkreader extension

    • @linear9185
      @linear9185 Před 3 lety +2

      you should use firefox it’s much better and dark mode stays on

    • @linear9185
      @linear9185 Před 3 lety +3

      @@Justpassingb1 firefox gang

    • @linear9185
      @linear9185 Před 3 lety

      @Tim Riches yes but firefox is still better

    • @differentlyabledmuslimjewi4475
      @differentlyabledmuslimjewi4475 Před 3 lety

      why are you using chrome? Use something better. We are past the days of chrome and firefox.

  • @OSW
    @OSW Před 3 lety +1688

    I wondered why I hadn't seen one of your vids in a little while, turns out CZcams unsubscribed me for no reason. Gee thanks, CZcams!

    • @shawgoodman
      @shawgoodman Před 3 lety +2

      😂😂😂

    • @UltraVibeProductions
      @UltraVibeProductions Před 3 lety +36

      The messy web strikes again.

    • @noahkrause2835
      @noahkrause2835 Před 3 lety +105

      youtube has been known to do that, they have also been caught removing dislikes from certain companies videos (disney)

    • @peterholmes2364
      @peterholmes2364 Před 3 lety +13

      Did the exact same for me aswell it's really weird

    • @surplusvalue3271
      @surplusvalue3271 Před 3 lety +2

      yes same i don't get his videos in my recommended, i have to always search for it

  • @zetarhythm3503
    @zetarhythm3503 Před 3 lety

    My general go-to method: If a site denies me clean entry for more than 10 seconds, I don't use it. The exception is CZcams, where I only F5 my way through various "Ad 1 of 2" cycles before finding some non-intrusive ad that doesn't require me to drop what I'm doing to hide it. No I don't use adblockers all that often, there are people who rely on ad revenue to fund their channels.

  • @askinredroads5132
    @askinredroads5132 Před 2 lety +1

    0:17 “Vote Saxon” Great reference Tom! Love it.