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Google tries to defend its Web Environment Integrity (techreport.com)

submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

238 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I'm happy to see this being noticed more and more. Google wants to destroy the open web, so it's a lot at stake.

Google basically says "Trust us". What a joke.

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[–] [email protected] 169 points 2 years ago (16 children)

Yes exactly. This is what worries me the most since I also run only Linux, and I can't imagine even being interested in computers anymore if Linux is not allowed on the web. That would be horrific.

It's 100% critically dangerous and must be stopped.

[–] [email protected] 34 points 2 years ago (7 children)

What really disturbs me is how the recent tech shenanigans have been a long time coming; seems the internet we have come to know for the last 15 years only existed thanks to the ridiculous interest rates post 2008.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 years ago (6 children)

I'd be interested to hear more of your theory on this:

the internet we have come to know for the last 15 years only existed thanks to the ridiculous interest rates post 2008.

[–] [email protected] 49 points 2 years ago

I think this article from the Verge explains it pretty well.

tl;dr:

The Fed kept interest rates low from 2008 to 2021. Low interest rates made it easier to borrow money and meant that debt-backed investments like bonds had a low return, so investors favored stocks for a better yield on their investment.
This meant tech companies could borrow a ton of money at low interest rates and raise a ton of money from investors through stock sales, allowing them to build services that weren't profitable in order to grow as rapidly as possible. This basically defined the internet as we know it today - big companies offering free/cheap services with minimal restrictions. Companies could afford to charge low fees and look the other way on things like ad blockers.
However, now that interest rates are going up, borrowing is much more expensive and investors are less motivated to buy stock, so all that easy money has dried up. Companies are having to raise revenue by increasing prices, adding more ads, blocking ad blockers, etc.

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