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Not sure what they're doing besides apparently giving my data away for free but Popula.com pages are running Google AdSense which occasionally calls Google's ad server and collects and passes along user data to DMPs so... No? mariabustillos/1054913547166089216?s=21Permalink On twitter.com
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Unless they are rather foolish in how they have implemented their site (giving data away about your users without making money on it just is a disservice to everyone but Google) this either indicates an intention to turn on ads in the future and they're measuring for value or...Permalink On twitter.com
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Popula is accidentally pulling in user tracking scripts via their social sharing buttons, a thing which happens all the time, and thus proving a perfect example of how difficult it is to operate on the web and disentangle yourself from ad tech.Permalink On twitter.com
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Anyway, Popula is accountable to: Google (which is telling them how measurement works--a bias they present as data via Analytics). Twitter, which is vacuuming up user data through a button. Pocket, which absolutely has its own tracking & interactions with publishers who scale.Permalink On twitter.com
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The web is the web because it is interconnected technologies. Our solutions come from determining how to operate within the system, not by proclaiming ourselves an island. But have fun. mariabustillos/1054913547166089216?s=21Permalink On twitter.com
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What frustrates me in cases like this is how it fails to take accountability to the past, future, or peers...Permalink On twitter.com
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Who maintains or pays for the archive if they shut down? What happens to the journalists when they go jobless? What of the time wasted by setting a trend others fruitlessly follow? What of the money wasted?Permalink On twitter.com
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'Our journalism exists until we are unsatisfied with the business model we are working with' is a nice thing to say, but it creates situations that negate the point of journalism. What use is a first draft of history that falls out of existence?Permalink On twitter.com
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PS: Popula is not currently fully stored by archive.org, something I hope changes in the near future.Permalink On twitter.com
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PS-2: (They could also be pulling in the AdSense tracking via their use of Google Fonts.)On twitter.com
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I know it sounds like I'm being mean to Popula for no reason but honestly, like most of my media criticism, the point is to encourage people to operate in reality b/c I would like many news sources of all types to thrive. To do so requires they be aware of the web they operate inPermalink On twitter.com
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So some tips if they want to be more independent and leak less user data: - Remove the Twitter button - Download the Google font you are using and self-host it - Turn off XMLRPC & the Generator meta tag b/c they're vulnerabilities - Consider a Google Analytics alternativePermalink On twitter.com
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(If you really want a Twitter button you can use Intents to build one yourself without loading a third-party script. )Permalink On twitter.com
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I did some investigation and... irony: it is their subscription software that's loading AdSense. No idea if that's an option or something Pico does automatically. It does not appear to fully execute, but that may be because their JS is fked up.Permalink On twitter.com
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Not really sure why the heck Pico, a first-party-focused subscription and CRM tool according to their site, is loading any ad code.Permalink On twitter.com
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Though it is worth noting that my user data still leaks to ad tech via both the Twitter button and--according to some studies--Google fonts.Permalink On twitter.com
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Adding to end of thread for clarity: mariabustillos/1055132397434335237Permalink On twitter.com
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