>Saying that google's anti malware blacklist (used by all browsers out there aside of IE) is a secret plan to de-anonymize people by using a microtime of a request timestamp seems... far fetched.
Uh, not really. Tracking users is at the heart of their business model.
Because they have ample means of tracking users aside of sneakily and under false pretences trying to deanonymize requests to a malware protection service they provide.
>Because they have ample means of tracking users aside of sneakily and under false pretences
eyeroll If they were above being sneaky and operating under false pretences they wouldn't have blatantly ignored "do not track".
I'm sure they will never feel like they have enough means of tracking users, either. Every means they develop helps improve their targeting, puts them ahead of their competition and has a direct impact on their bottom line.
It's not about knowing who you are, but knowing that you're the same user that searched for "villas in france" when you're later browsing another site and they have an ad that fits.
I actually worked on a vacation rental site for some time, and as a result of queries I did for research, I ended up "only" seeing ads for one of the major companies in the sector for weeks on end.
But there is of course potential for abuse if someone gets hold of that data.
I have a general idea of how it works or could work, which is why I gave the example of retargeting. But is there proof they actually do it and it's "at the heart of their business model"?
There was recently an article on using HSTS as a sort of super cookie. Yet it doesn't seem to actually be in use[1].
There is a lot of rumour around Google. For example that they use Google Analytics data for ranking. Yet it rarely comes with any proof.
Google makes a significant portion of revenue from their content network, which are ads that are displayed on other websites. They also offer remarketing, which allows an advertiser to display their ads across the content network to people who have visited the advertiser's website.
Uh, not really. Tracking users is at the heart of their business model.