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Re:US weighs Google break-up in landmark antitrust case by hightrix on Wednesday October 09, 2024 @06:29PM (#41793443)
What’s hard for you to understand?

Plumbing is good and useful. Plumbing using lead pipes is harmful.

Advertising can be good and useful. Modern advertising that requires tracking everything a user does is harmful.

Re:US weighs Google break-up in landmark antitrust case by BurningFrog on Wednesday October 09, 2024 @08:04PM (#41794165)
After rereading a few times, I think I've parsed your argument:

That X enables many businesses to exist doesn't mean that X is a good thing on balance, because X itself can have harmful effects that outweigh the benefits.

This is of course true, and I can look past the inelegant phrasing.

But to make this a credible argument you need to argue for why the costs of advertising outweigh the benefits.

Re:US weighs Google break-up in landmark antitrust case by JumpCrisscross on Wednesday October 09, 2024 @07:58PM (#41794123)
> What’s hard for you to understand?

They're looking for depth where there isn't any. You're attempting to prove advertising is bad by claiming it's like lead pipes, on the basis of them both being bad. It's tautology. One could similarly "prove" ad blockers or puppies by this analogy to be whatever because they, too, can be good or bad.

Re:US weighs Google break-up in landmark antitrust case by hightrix on Thursday October 10, 2024 @11:51AM (#41800141)
Please read again.

Modern advertising is what I'm against, not advertising as a whole.

Similarly, I'm against lead pipes for plumbing, not plumbing as a whole.