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Microsoft Research Paper Considers Serving Web-ads From Localhost

Posted by timothy on from the call-is-coming-from-inside-the-house dept.

An anonymous reader writes: A paper from Microsoft researchers (PDF) posits the possibility of 'pushing' web ads to a user's own computer and serving them into pre-arranged containers on web pages, with the EFF or ACLU serving as privacy mediators between the user and the advertisers who want to engage them. However the framework — dubbed 'Privad' — would need to get installed on the user's system by the same familiar means which the likes of Superfish use. The report admits that Privad would probably need to be disseminated "through adware-style software bundling, shopping discounts, toolbars or other incentives."

12 of 231 comments (clear)

  1. Allow me to comment on the subject... by gr33ngiant112 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    No. No. No. No. No. Definitely No. Nope. Don't Even. No. Lets not, and say we did.
    In the event of nope, just no. Absolutely not. So, as you can see, NO.
    Sincerely,
    No@nope.com

    1. Re:Allow me to comment on the subject... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      No. No. No. No. No. Definitely No. Nope. Don't Even. No. Lets not, and say we did.

      In the event of nope, just no. Absolutely not. So, as you can see, NO.

      Sincerely,

      No@nope.com

      Free. Free. Free. Free. Absolutely Free. If you're gonna charge me, don't. Don't even. Don't even fucking think I'll open my wallet for 99 cents.

      I'm a cheap ass, just like everyone else demands services for Free. As you can see, Free is the price tag that is acceptable.

      Sincerely,

      NoPrivacy@HowWeFuckingGotHere.com

    2. Re:Allow me to comment on the subject... by penguinoid · · Score: 3, Insightful

      And yet, free and open source software tends to have less ads, and is sometimes better than the commercial software as well.

      --
      Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
  2. Good Luck... by edit28 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    We'll see how long it takes us before we remove/block this "feature"

    1. Re:Good Luck... by OhPlz · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You're a beta tester on every product now, that's not specific to MS. It's the never ending rush to market followed by the inevitable need to "rebuild our image". They're not forcing you to upgrade either. If they wanted to do that, they'd shove Win 10 down the update mechanism, not a notification applet.

      As for the update not stating what it does, that's a valid criticism of most of MS's updates. There used to be a time when each update had a good description of what it did. They haven't done that in a long time now. There are a lot of updates with very sparse information. Again, I think that's part of the rush to market. If anything breaks or too many people complain, we'll do something then.

      Something that should be concerning is the Home edition of Win 10. It looks like they'll be forcing updates on them. You need the premium or whatever the branding is to be able to control the updates. That's some bad news, but probably understandable considering those users aren't the techie types that will make an effort to keep their stuff up to date and secure.

  3. Slashdot Editing By Timothy by Frobnicator · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Wow. Thanks /.'s Timothy for your editing work.

    After all the years we're used to your frequent grammar issues.

    But incorrect markup with raw URLs like that, that's an impressive low.

    --
    //TODO: Think of witty sig statement
  4. "From Microsoft Researchers" by thedonger · · Score: 2, Insightful

    More like, "From the Microsoft Marketing Department." Unless I'm missing something, this is just bundling "safe" adware as part of Windows. Hmm, maybe Ubuntu will have new life breathed into it.

    --
    Help fight poverty: Punch a poor person.
    1. Re:"From Microsoft Researchers" by RabidReindeer · · Score: 4, Insightful

      More like, "From the Microsoft Marketing Department." Unless I'm missing something, this is just bundling "safe" adware as part of Windows. Hmm, maybe Ubuntu will have new life breathed into it.

      Nah, it'll be an integral part of the next systemd release along with emacs, ntp, and the web browser.

  5. So the Ask toolbar isn't just malware by RevWaldo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's the competition.

    .

    --
    Prisencolinensinainciusol. Ol Rait!
  6. Re:Dis gon' be gud by gTsiros · · Score: 3, Insightful

    see, that's the problem. consumers don't care for a better product, or rather, they do not select a product based on objective criteria, their sense of value is distorted by marketing tricks. That's why i mentioned human nature. Companies know this and they use it to their best interest.

    --
    Looking for people to chat about multicopters, coding, music. skype: gtsiros
  7. Targeting helps make an ad good by tepples · · Score: 3, Insightful

    A good advertisement is one served to the correct audience. For example, if you are a single man, an ad for feminine hygiene products is unlikely to be good. Therefore some measure of targeting is required.

  8. Re:Full screen ads on Slashdot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Because you're not using adblock.