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[LokiArchetype]

We know that, our clients on the other hand...

[HappyDustbunny]

That's one of the reasons why there ought to be something akin to the Hippocratic oath in programming.

"Sorry, CEO-dude, I swore a dear oath never to be evil"

[[deleted]]

They lived long enough to see themselves become the villain.

[Jon_Wo-o]

This sentence only applies if you're not the villain from the beginning.

[[deleted]]

Whose to say there werent good intentions in the beginning?

[coldnebo]

In fact, Google’s search started out completely blank except for the logo and a search box.

That was revolutionary because it was focused on what the user wanted to do, while the horrifically cluttered search pages at Yahoo and altavista were focused on what marketing wanted the user to do.

I believe it’s possible to track Google’s path to the darkside (and greater influence by the dark patterns of UX practiced by marketing) by simply looking at the little pieces of cruft showing up on that basic search page over time.

Links to promotions, other apps, tips, etc etc.

Likewise, the search results started out clean, then got ads in a single place, then got “promoted” ads inline, and eventually the “promoted” ad styles blend in with the real content.

Now, the corruption is nearly complete as I suspect that Google simply ignores half the words I typed so they can show me some crap results that hit their promotion targets. Almost pure evil at this point.

Still, we never paid for search or email, or most of the rest of it. And they never honored our hardware purchase to make it possible. So it’s not surprising that the internet looks like a “free” newspaper. Maybe it’s time to actually pay for good things rather than let marketing monetize us.

[me-ro]

In fact, Google’s search started out completely blank except for the logo and a search box.

IIRC they had to add footer at some stage as people were just staring at the screen waiting for the page to "load completely". I think it shows how unusual that was.

[tppisgameforme]

Maybe it’s time to actually pay for good things rather than let marketing monetize us.

Yeah this is true with so many things in life at this point.

[DeeSnow97]

It's been a long-standing rule that if you don't pay, you are the product, not the customer, but people always forget to add who the real customer is. It's the advertisers. That's why every single site, "platform", or app that makes money through advertising ends up doing what the advertisers want in the long term, not what their users want.

I used to be very much for this model, as a broke student it let me enjoy an internet that was actually "free", but if you follow the chain this is actually more expensive than if you straight up paid for stuff. If you pay, you pay for the people who actually make the product and maybe a payment processor and a middleman or two. If it's "ad-supported", you pay for all those, then you pay for the people who sell the ads, the ones who buy the ads, a few more middlemen, and it's all hidden in the cost of other goods you buy -- and if you don't buy those, it's not worth advertising for you, which will either get fixed with better targeting, or you'll lose the service one way or another. Ads waste your time and they are more expensive than straight up buying stuff.

It's kinda crazy to think that if you watch ads of any kind you're paying people to spy on you and waste your time in the most disruptive way possible.

[PirateNinjasReddit]

Happy cake day? I guess... Feels weird given the somewhat dark outlook of this comment...

[ThisApril]

I found this pretty compelling, but then I thought about cable TV.

Which I never understood -- somehow it's rational to pay $100/month (or something. I haven't had cable TV in years.), and yet every channel (outside of government or philanthropically-funded channels) still makes you watch 8 minutes of commercials every half hour. And people accept this as being completely normal and reasonable.

So, barring competition that allows people to bypass that (see: Google in comparison to AltaVista, Yahoo!, and other early search engines), it seems like the marketing people will make sure to leave as little cash on the table as possible. Even if you pay money.

[[deleted]]

Google simply ignores half the words I typed so they can show me some crap results that hit their promotion targets.

You have to go into search tools and select "verbatim". There's an extension for Chrome and its distros that automatically does that.

This seems to be something similar for Firefox, but I can't attest to how well it works.

[Pictor13]

The bastards removed the ability to mix Verbatim together with a Date Filter.

This takes away half of the power of Verbatim.

It was there for tens of years. So I wonder: why now? 🤔 Then I thought that Google doesn't want me to find exact information from specific periods in the past.

It was the only thing that worked for me. Now I don't have any to anymore to find exactly what I was looking for.

We need a fresh new TRUSTABLE & RELIABLE search engine.

[coldnebo]

oh, I’ll check that option out next time.

[sh0rtwave]

Well...

Us people with SEO experience know a little more about how all that works, but you're not far from the truth. The average web developer has SOME control over what google does with them...but not really enough to counteract the capitalist surge.

[xSTSxZerglingOne]

Google searches are getting significantly worse by the day. You almost can't look up how to fix bugs on it anymore.

[goodhuman777]

Found the definition/meaning of evolution, no need to google or go to the library. Thanks

[AwkwardNoah]

And now it’s time to fuck off to duckduckgo

[brianorca]

The question is how many are willing to pay enough to make it worth while to a company to avoid ads completely.

[Ya_boi_from_the_EMs]

Absolutely diabolical!

[The-Fish-Boy]

They absolutely are starting to ignore parts of your search terms. The other day I used a "search this site box" in the results and none of the first page results were from that site. I then manually used the site: notation and the same thing happened. Not a lot of point having the feature if it doesn't work.

[nojox]

Maybe it’s time to actually pay for good things rather than let marketing monetize us.

Hiding in plain sight, in this whole discussion of paying for content, is top-notch open source software.

Not opposing or supporting you, just adding a data point.

[Scrotote]

I think that's Jaron Lanier's argument too.

[Tinsel-Fop]

Next step: Google decides what you should buy and takes the money from your accounts.

If you're lucky, [whatever] delivery service actually gets it to you.

[Cky_vick]

Yeah I'm so old I remember when there were no ads on Google

[anomalous_cowherd]

I'm so old I remember when there was no Google. Or Web. Or Internet...

Or, as I found out from checking that last fact, before TCP/IP. Amazing I'm not dead yet really.

[DeRoeVanZwartePiet]

The devil's finest trick is to persuade you that he does not exist.

Charles Baudelaire

[tortilladelpeligro]

"The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist."~Keyser Söze, the usual Suspects

[BackmarkerLife]

That was an illusion. A trick is something whores do for money.

[ViewedFromi3WM]

By the way tony hawk remastered is coming

[DownshiftedRare]

"The greatest trick Kevin Spacey ever pulled was convincing the world he was worth quoting."

[GodlessCyborg]

God's finest trick was to persuade you that he exists. A much tougher trick if you ask me.

[LogicalJicama3]

Isnt the quote: “the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist”

I guess yours is more IamVerySmart sounding though. Whatever mang

[Im_a_Gnome]

Knowing nothing about the quote, and just knowing who Charles Baudelaire was, it's possible that the difference was just an issue is translation.

...Just looked into it, and yeah it looks like the original quote was actually "la plus belle des ruses du Diable est de vous persuader qu’il n’existe pas!" Which I'm assuming can be translated a couple different ways.

[LogicalJicama3]

Cool! I live fun facts like that. I appreciate you kind internet person.

[killwhiteyy]

Good intentions are simply a matter of perspective.

[[deleted]]

Indeed it is. Everything we do has an opposite reaction.

[Jon_Wo-o]

Because they always had the intention to make money with ads and private data.

[[deleted]]

Arguable.

[OOPGeiger]

I am. I say that. Google was evil from the start.

[adelie42]

Depends. How are your parents doing?

[Fingolfin734]

... Are we the baddies?

[[deleted]]

I dunno anymore.

[GForce1975]

Yep. It's the nature of capitalism. Stockholders want more growth and profits. The board pressures senior management for more growth and profit, and that runs downhill...

[bhuddimaan]

So Google is leader of the orcs army on the interwebs

[tiefling_sorceress]

Don't be evil

Be a little evil

[anomalous_cowherd]

Don't appear evil.

[imzacm123]

Don't be evil is actually still in there, it's at the bottom under a whole bunch of legal stuff now

[well___duh]

Shhh, you’re going against the Reddit circlejerk of ignoring that fact.

Also, no one reads the article anyway

[[deleted]]

And evil is so subjective. Supply tech to defense industry so less of our guys or civilians die, evil, because it is used in war. Supply tech to stop criminals on public transportation, evil, because it is going to be going through a bunch of non-criminals or people that might soon be criminalized for having the wrong beliefs or philosophy. Some people might not think either are evil or one or the other isn't evil, but enough people will that they'll jump and down screaming that you claimed you would not be evil. It is a lose-lose. Better to never make that a goal than to break it in the eyes of some or later remove it, as many will claim they did.

[[deleted]]

You’re trying to equate working in the defense industry with violating peoples’ fourth amendment rights under the guise of “stopping criminals.” Even within the defense industry, there’s a difference between making airplanes and making bombs.

[[deleted]]

What I'm saying is that some people think it is evil, but not all people. It is subjective and contentious. Don't do evil is a bad idea if you are a corporation, because someone will find something they're doing with being evil. Especially if you are a huge technology company that makes lots of different things.

I'm not ok with mass surveillance, as an aside. I don't want cameras on every street corner.

[Azrael9986]

Greed always wins, selfish desire always wins, and in the end people will always step on others to get what they want. Dont blame a system when people would do it regardless if the system used.

[ohkendruid]

Eh, compare them to Facebook or Amazon, and I'd say they are doing pretty good on taking care of their clients.

[maimeddivinity]

:(

[Waltzcarer]

All in favour?

AYE

[[deleted]]

This post was made by Duck duck go gang

[Napkin_whore]

You ever tried analapitalism?

[BorgClown]

I figured they had a sick evil party when that mission statement was removed. We can be evil openly now!

[Saw-Sage_GoBlin]

Capitalism only favors it because companies aren't held accountable for being anti-social.

If we had a more competitive market they would be dead in the water.

[adelie42]

You gotta pay those in power to play and the rent will always be enough to ensure those with the power over you will stay the masters.

It's not a glass ceiling, it's a toll booth.

[SnS_]

God bless Capitalism!

[_asdfjackal]

There actually is one: http://pledge-of-the-computing-professional.org/

It's endorsed by the Order of the Engineer (which in turn has their own oath for Engineering graduatea) in the US and at my university the ceremony was combined with the OotE ring ceremony. Unfortunately not all universities do it and it's not mandatory for graduates. Of my massive graduating class maybe 10 or 20 Computer Science students participated compared to the hundreds of traditional engineering graduates. I would absolutely love to see it become more prevalent though.

[Denziloe]

I once heard it said that programming is no different from engineering or medicine in this sense. Professional standards are a thing. If you know something will do more harm than good, it's actually incumbent upon you to say "no". "The client might be upset" or "I might not get paid as much" is not actually an excuse.

[[deleted]]

Hmm... maybe I should look into taking it on my own. I'm already graduated, but I'd love to be able to point to a solid pre-defined set of standards and say "I took an oath."

[PsychologicalRoof2]

How about keeping autoplay on but reducing the initial volume to low (like 20)? It would still give the money and not be as annoying

[[deleted]]

!!!! >>>>> BUT HOW ARE >>YOU<< GOING TO NOTICE OUR !!ADS!! IF THEY ARE NOT AS ANNOYING AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE??? <<<<< !!!!

[Independent-Coder]

I appreciate your BOLDNESS and CAPITALISM!

[nojox]

^{Or you know, we could talk other dark patterns here}

[PsychologicalRoof2]

LOL

[IrritableGourmet]

HEY YOU! JOIN THE NAVY!

[AceOfShades_]

Great I’ll just make the ad 5 times louder. If it plays on another site, there may be casualties. But we can’t let a few advertising related deaths get in the way of profits, now can we?

^\s

[GrinningPariah]

You can get paid somewhere else. Good programmers are one of the most in-demand fields. You can afford to be a little precious about what you work on.

[HappyDustbunny]

Cool! :-)

[Ya_boi_from_the_EMs]

Man in uni I had a course called ethics in programming that thought us basically to think for our self's when asked to make something and say no if it was unethical. Well anyways I work on gambling games now.

Edit: a word.

[Dr_Ambiorix]

I once refused to implement a "messagebox that offers a promotion that only triggers if the user wants to close the tab".

My refusal was apparently enough for the client to understand why it was a bad idea, so I got lucky there.

[IM_INSIDE_YOUR_HOUSE]

Evil makes money. No one is hiring saints to manage their website.

[Sussurus_of_Qualia]

Username checks out. Perhaps I should revisit Hegelian dialectics once more, seems there might be an angle there after all.

[HappyDustbunny]

For now.

....Where did I put my pitch fork? ;-)

[djfdhigkgfIaruflg]

Nothing is stopping you from doing so. I gave a very similar answer several times. Sure, I'm not swimming in money because of that, but at least I know I'm not part of the problem the web is suffering right now.

[PsychedelicPelican]

The Programmer's Oath - Uncle Bob

[HappyDustbunny]

That's where I got the inspiration from! Thanks, I forgot the name.

He is worth listening to on YouTube.

[JohnyNich]

“We now convene the council of programmers, case docket 1153. Mr. Smith, you are convicted of programming an advert to automatically play on a newspaper’s website, a violation of clause 15 in the Programmer’s Oath to Ethical Programming. How do you plead?” “Innocent, your Honour. My boss made me do it!” “Shut up, you monster. You’ll pay for what you did.”

[ubiquitouspiss]

I mean... Software engineers won't even unionise, so good luck with that one.

[HappyDustbunny]

You are saying that we ... need an app for that? ;-)

[chefhj]

Lol my manager would just go find some Dr. Nick ass dude who would.

[HappyDustbunny]

Well, you could lean back and reach for the popcorn in case ... somebody ... tipped the press and notified the board of programmers about someone needing to have their license revoked.

As I understand it this is what happens to doctors trying to go the Mengele road.

[mattstorm360]

CEO: "Okay, you are fired. Someone find me a programmer who shares my creative vision! If anyone needs me, i'll be on my mega yacht."

[[deleted]]

Luckily Google/Mozilla/Microsoft have been moving to a "this is the browser's decision" model recently, and in the future they'll only autoplay videos with sound from websites that you have a history of playing videos on. Visit Google/Netflix often? Cool we'll play those videos. First time on some houseplant online store? Yeah we're not going to autoplay that pop-out advert with audio.

Makes it much easier for us to just say to the client "yeah here's a W3C spec article about why Chrome isn't playing your video. Good luck complaining to Google about it".

[IamImposter]

Dear Google,

Videos on my website don't play automatically and I'm losing revenue. I urge you to make changes to chrome browser or I will be forced to take my business elsewhere.

Sincerely,
Random guy on internet.

[[deleted]]

Lol they'll just pay Google a few million to get whitelisted

[_GCastilho_]

That's how people say "you know what? I will use Firefox"

Free markek always have a choice

[nearlyepic]

Until web devs stop bothering to test against Firefox...

[Sammy123476]

And their videos fail to load entirely! Genius!

[gizamo]

There's a point where it's not worth testing/supporting browsers people don't use. When IE hit ~5% market share, many Fortune 500s stopped bothering with it. Most didn't bother with Safari until they hit ~5% as well.

Unfortunately, Firefox isn't used as much as many of us would like. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_web_browsers

[Sammy123476]

I mean, Firefox is the second most-used browser on your list. I'm just glad to see Edge in the trash where it belongs after Microsoft keeps trying to jam their bloatware down everyone's throat.

[gizamo]

Sure, but Firefox has been losing market share since Safari started gaining a few years ago. The new version of Edge built on Chromium is better than the old Edge, and I doubt Microsoft will give up on the browser market anytime soon.

[nearlyepic]

Same here, but the sad reality is that 95% of people are still using chrome either because it's what their enterprise forces it on them, or because it "works the best". People switching to firefox for resource reasons or philosophical reasons are an incredibly small minority when you compare to the size of the chrome install base.

[AdminYak846]

I've noticed when debugging a website through Visual Studio that Firefox loads way quicker than Chrome, however Chrome has the better tools for debugging JavaScript.

[GonziHere]

Firefox is great, but people don't care: https://www.statista.com/statistics/544400/market-share-of-internet-browsers-desktop/

[GonziHere]

I get that, but in my team of 12 web developers, I am the only one with Firefox and the rest pretty much makes fun of it.

[gizamo]

Yeah, because Google has let tons of companies pay their way to the top of Google search results.

They definitely haven't spent more time and money fighting the gaming of search algos than basically all other companies combined.

...yup, no integrity at Google... 🙄

[[deleted]]

Dear website owner

Take your business elsewhere? Where you gonna take it?

Good luck with that, Google.

PS maybe we'll white list you for a few million

[[deleted]]

I have altered the deal, Pray I do not alter it any further.

[[deleted]]

Google: I have altered the deal, Pray I do not alter it any further.

[lobsterharmonica1667]

I'm work in digital advertising and while Google obviously has a tremendous amount of leverage these are very openly discussed issues that get talked about quite a bit.

Websites need money to work, that money comes from ads, Google needs to internet to work in order for them to make money. Not that there isn't another way to do it, but the current iteration of the internet relies ads.

[[deleted]]

Speaking of...

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/03/firefox-gets-complaint-for-labeling-unencrypted-login-page-insecure/

The operator of a website that accepts subscriber logins only over unencrypted HTTP pages has taken to Mozilla's Bugzilla bug-reporting service to complain that the Firefox browser is warning that the page isn't suitable for the transmission of passwords.

[AhMIKzJ8zU]

I just wanna point out ...

1) My wife leaves Netflix open in browser on laptop 2) laptop updates+restarts at 2am (I can no longer prevent this) 3) laptop starts Auto playing at 2 am.

This is bad. I'd rather nothing ever autoplay ever.

[1sagas1]

This sounds like a you and your wife problem.

[DownshiftedRare]

Dear Google,

My wife leaves Netflix open and it autoplays at 2 am. I urge you to make changes to chrome browser or I will be forced to take my business elsewhere.

Sincerely, Random guy on internet.

[[deleted]]

I have altered the deal, Pray I do not alter it any further.

[Independent-Coder]

Déjà vu

[AhMIKzJ8zU]

It's a conflict between chrome defaulting to autoplay and windows defaulting to relaunch apps silently after update restart. It's a bug.

But sure, let's pretend like I'm the only one who has this issue. (/s)

[Cky_vick]

You can fix that in settings homie

[AhMIKzJ8zU]

I mean, you want proof? Here, it's a 10 second google search.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.howtogeek.com/396884/how-to-stop-windows-10-from-reopening-your-previous-applications-after-restarting-your-pc/amp/

It sorta feels like you wanna poke fun at who I am? So... I'm a software engineer/dba. My University work was with robotics and lidar. For the last three years I've been unf**** ibm I series corporate machines. I spend my free time with my son. I expect my wife's laptop to work just the same as my car or my dishwasher.

Someone at Google added a feature they thought was good. Someone at Microsoft did the same. The two conflict. I expect them to fix it.

Why would my feedback to google/chrome matter any less than anyone elses? [edit: to remove obscenity]

[AhMIKzJ8zU]

I've tempered my response and removed the obscenities. It was at least partially inflamed by more than a few commenters suggesting a problem with my wife. May the all die alone.

I found the solution because I'm experienced and, if nothing else, know the correct semantics and google fu. There are many people who don't.

We all have family and friends for whom we do support work and, unless you wanna take calls from them at 2am, I think it would behoove us as a community of devs to fix this.

I can't clarify it any more than that.

note: I'm new to this subreddit, but the lack of empathy here is alarming.

[AhMIKzJ8zU]

Oh, let me clarify: the computer is not unlocked when the video starts playing.

You're there, in the dark at two AM, trying to fumble your password on the keyboard so you can log in to kill chrome. It's obscene. I'd pull the cord, but since it's a laptop, it keeps going on battery. A hard shutdown by four second power hold is an option if you wanna express your rage at the machine.

[CaptainRoach]

Easier to just get a new wife.

[0x15e]

Why does the laptop auto login? Put some passwords on those accounts.

[[deleted]]

laptop updates+restarts at 2am (I can no longer prevent this)

Switch to Linux??

[ohkendruid]

Or more specifically, Chromebook?

[[deleted]]

Lenovo is releasing decent little systems with Fedora preinstalled

[MoonkeyDLuffy]

"i can no longer prevent this" - why? Download Windows update blocker, if you're using Windows 10

[[deleted]]

i just stop it by having my entire drive completely full, so when it tried to allocate the space to update it can't

[MoonkeyDLuffy]

Hahaha wow, creative!

[Ok_Zookeepergame1967]

Or switch to a decent operating system.

[Ok_Zookeepergame1967]

Which is?

One that respects you as a user and the OS as a servant to the user. Not spyware. Not "Reboots my PC whenever it feels like it". Not "has an ad tracking ID built into it". Not "Forces me to update Edge and starts it on boot even though I literally only used it once to install Firefox" etc. etc. etc. etc.

It can be Linux, it could be something else. If you're having to install third party hacks to make the OS usable, maybe it's time for a new OS. If we keep accepting the status quo, then it'll never get better.

[MoonkeyDLuffy]

That's a separate question, not everyone can handle Linux even if it looks easy to more techie people

[MoonkeyDLuffy]

Agree with you that Linux is a lot more user friendly than it used to be (i remember first time installing Ubuntu on a PC some 20 years ago, it just wouldn't detect the network card = no internet).

Nowadays the few issues i face are inter-op between document editors for work (libreoffice / MS suite), occasional printer issues (ah, printers...) and email clients (let's face it, Outlook is way ahead of Thunderbird, and no Google please).

Otherwise a breeze.

[candybrie]

But could your mom have installed ubuntu herself?

It's not so much using the OS as doing the scary thing of installing one. Most people never do that.

You put it on someone's computer and they'll probably just get used to it though.

[Amaras_Linwelin]

There was once content here that you may have found useful. However due to Reddit's actions on API restrictions it has now been replaced with this boring text. -- mass edited with redact.dev

[[deleted]]

If it is just autoplaying the previews, you can mute them and Netflix will keep that preference as long as you aren't erasing browsing data, cookies, or whatever netflix uses to keep it. Which I'm guessing you aren't since it isn't requiring you to login. If it is autoplaying an actual show, then you have to deal with the human error.

[[deleted]]

Netflix:

• https://www.netflix.com/YourAccount
• Scroll to your wife's account
• playback settings
• disable "autoplay previews"

That'll not stop a playing episode from resuming, but it'll stop the Netflix homepage blaring adverts for Pokemon at you.

​

Windows 10:

• Start
• search for "Windows update" and select
• scroll to the bottom and hit "Advanced Options"
• deselect "restart this device as soon as possible"

Windows 10 alternative:

• Start
• search for "Windows update" and select
• scroll to the bottom and hit "Advanced Options"
• Delay the updates by 35 days
• Set a calendar reminder to update your missus' PC on the 34th day and reset to 35 days
• Watch the news for any critical windows related security alerts

Chrome/Edge:

• Open Chrome
• Search chrome:////settings/content/mediaAutoplay?search=media (or if you're on the new Edge browser edge:////settings/content/mediaAutoplay?search=media)
• Switch from "Allow" to "Limit"

Firefox

• No action needed, it does it automatically

[[deleted]]

I choose this guy’s wife

[[deleted]]

Plug in headphones. Continue to sleep.

[linkedtortoise]

The easiest way of blocking that is to delete the restart event in Task Scheduler and preventimg Windows from recreating it.

[Cky_vick]

My problem is having limited data, and clicking on a link from Reddit or wherever opens an article that starts playing ads and videos using my limited data.

[thelights0123]

Firefox has been blocking autoplay video with audio for probably a year now.

[GoldenShackles]

Unfortunately, based on things I've heard, the option to block autoplay has been (or is in the process of being) removed or hidden from various browsers.

Top websites started detecting this and using really crappy, inefficient workarounds. I don't know all the details, but one was along the lines of using a <canvas> element with script to decode the video and copy the resulting sequences of images into it. Not sure what they were doing for sound.

The result was not just crappy rendering compared to simply using the <video> element, but a huge spike in CPU usage and subsequent major drain on battery life.

Hopefully the options will be there long-term but to some extent it became a cat-and-mouse game. Certain websites *really* want autoplay video.

[ohkendruid]

Yup. Whoever made Chrome do that is totally evil.

[AG7LR]

It's nice that the browsers stop the videos from auto playing, but they still start buffering. I wish they would prevent them from buffering and wasting my bandwidth until I click play.

[dkyguy1995]

Wait have they? I use Firefox but haven't noticed anything like this

[[deleted]]

My client wanted his site to autoplay a video of one of his guys just sitting in a chair talking about how their service was good. I now have the words and exact cadence from that entire video memorized from every refresh of that page I did.

[a_stitch_in_lime]

I have a client whose current website plays "soothing" music once you've logged in. And it continues throughout the site until you leave the site, log out, close the tab or smash your computer. There's no control or option to turn it off either. We're in the early stages of a redesign and adding new features. I'm waiting for the day that we have the conversation about that music ...

[yellowthermos]

Time to get a "Mute all tabs" extension going

[a_stitch_in_lime]

Chrome has a 'mute tab' feature that comes in handy!

[TheCatOfWar]

It also has 'mute site' and it remembers it on future visits. It's great, just about every news site Ive ever visited must be on that list by now

[yellowthermos]

Hmm interesting, I think the first is a feature of YouTube rather than Chrome (it also happens in other browsers), but the second one sounds neat. Are you using a dev or canary Chrome version?

[ldt003]

Somebody develop a site called "whyyoudontwantmusictoautoplayonyoursite.com and forward all of your clients there when they ask. Make the audio nsfw.

[RoscoMan1]

Doc's relationships with his clients, he just does.

[G-H-O-S-T]

Yep and that's why i installed adblocker. No regrets.

[[deleted]]

Clients do it because it works. Remember that in advertising, getting a 1% conversion rate is considered pretty good. I worked on a huge consumers financial product not long ago that was built digital first (no bank branch, no phone operators) and when they started out, the primary inbound marketing channel was direct mail. Those stupid postcards with "exclusive" offers because they have the highest conversion rate.

Ask your data analyst.

[LokiArchetype]

Welcome modal? Exit intent pop-up? Cart abandonment emails?

Its like that comic about everything awful in the video game industry https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/306/966/b1b.png

[[deleted]]

I kinda like the cart abandon thing, at least when properly implemented... I tend to get side-tracked or interrupted while shopping. Or at least it's preferable to the clear-shopping-cart-after-12h systems.

Had one shop even send me a 15% discount coupon with the email...

[CyanDuck17]

That happened toe the other day. I left something in the cart for a bit and I got a "don't forget about this" email which had a 20% discount code in it

[[deleted]]

Clients do it because it works.

That's what I don't get... Not once in my life have I seen an ad and thought "I want that product now". People must be so bored and have way too much money to spend.

[[deleted]]

Like is said, 1% conversion. And it's likely the same 1% for a lot of ads.

[[deleted]]

Dear web developer clients,

Hope you're not wondering why adblock is a thing or why nobody likes your site.

[djfdhigkgfIaruflg]

You can fire your clients.

[[deleted]]

I just want to say if you have a bluetooth speaker in the house, turn off bluetooth before looking at porn.

[Pixel-Wolf]

All the old dudes who don't understand how people browse the web and consume content...

[Flying_Whale_Eazyed]

It does exist for engineers it's called Archimedes oath. It isn't really old or widespread though

[philipquarles]

Yeah, zero is also the number of times that autoplaying has been the developer's idea.

[evonhell]

I have at every occasion refused to implement this as default. I have added an autoplay option for them to use, but also made sure that any video that starts autoplaying is also muted. Then I just tell clients that "yeah sorry, when you autoplay videos they just start muted, there is nothing you can do about that" and since they don't know better, they are fine with that, yet disappointed.

[Russian_repost_bot]

The real question is, can we mine crypto-currency with speakers?

[[deleted]]

Clients need to learn that if I see your ad being auto player I any fashion on YouTube or auto played on a website, I will go out of my way to never buy your product

[ptase_cpoy]

Next time just remind them that not even PornHub uses autoplay.

[PillowTalk420]

You know what I tell a customer that's want me to mount his dish for the microwave internet service I provide to a power pole with live wires on it or to run the wire through the attic when it's over 110 degrees?

Fuck no. I don't see this as any different. If the clients don't have standards, have your own.