thoughts

Windows 8.1 to display targeted advertisements on local system searches

It is very disturbing that [Microsoft decided that it would be a good idea
to display targeted ads on local searches][0]---that is, if you search for a
file on your PC named ``finances'', you may get ads for finance software,
taxes, etc. If you search for ``porn'', well, you get the idea.

  Bing Ads will be an integral part of this new Windows 8.1 Smart Search
  experience. Now, with a single campaign setup, advertisers can connect
  with consumers across Bing, Yahoo! and the new Windows Search with highly
  relevant ads for their search queries. In addition, Bing Ads will include
  Web previews of websites and the latest features like site links, location
  and call extensions, making it easier for consumers to complete tasks and
  for advertisers to drive qualified leads.[1]

While that is certainly obnoxious, consider the larger issue of privacy
(which seems to be in the news a lot lately[2][3]): Late last year, there
was an uproar in the Free Software community when [Ubuntu decided to query
Amazon---enabled by default---on local searches][4] using their new Unity
interface. The problem is that your personal queries are being sent to a
third party---queries that you generally would expect to be private. If I
run a `find' or `grep' command on my system, I certainly do not expect it to
report to Amazon or Microsoft what I am searching for.

And to make matters even worse, Microsoft is exploiting this information to
allow advertisers to target you. [Ironic.][5]

[Do not use Windows 8][6] (or any other proprietary software, for that
matter).

[0] http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9241524/Steven_J._Vaughan_Nichols_Microsoft_Bing_bang_bungles_local_search
[1] http://community.bingads.microsoft.com/ads/en/bingads/b/blog/archive/2013/07/02/new-search-ad-experiences-within-windows-8-1.aspx
[2] [cref:2d97ce3e654c74345794bedcbcca215cfaf75e20]
[3] [cref:c9a9837b4f23c1e350d270d9782544fdef705bc0]
[4] http://www.fsf.org/blogs/rms/ubuntu-spyware-what-to-do
[5] http://www.scroogled.com/email/
[6] https://www.fsf.org/windows8

master

Mike Gerwitz

2013-08-12 23:01:01 -04:00

parent 2d97ce3e65

commit 6733c6ecc8

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Windows 8.1 to display targeted advertisements on local system searches

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