#google

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Delete your and go join instead. Trust me you'll have a better time, and still enjoy the same features for the most part.

Delete your and go join . It has a lot of the same features and it is free, doesn't have ads, and isn't run by a corporation.

Delete your , , or account, and go join . Trust me you won't miss anything from them since Mastodon is a lot like them without the ads, or the corporate shittyness.

Go try out instead of . It is shaping up to be a great alternative to TikTok.

Go try out it is a lot like , and it doesn't have ads, nor any of the crap that comes from being owned by .

Go try out it is a lot like , but 


My research on how Chrome extensions spam Chrome Web Store search with irrelevant keywords has been picked up by @dangoodin: https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/01/googles-chrome-web-store-has-a-serious-spam-problem-promoting-shady-extensions/

The article quotes me towards the end, something that is worth repeating:

“It wasn’t that hard to notice, and they have better access to the data than me. So either Google isn’t looking or they don’t care.”

Back in October I asked here why searching for “Norton Password Manager” on Chrome Web Store brings up five completely unrelated extensions which all show up before the actual Norton Password Manager. Now I know the answer: some extension authors figured out how to use translations in order to mess with the search results. https://palant.info/2025/01/08/how-extensions-trick-cws-search/

I found 920 extensions using this approach. Most of them fall into a few large extension clusters that are spamming Chrome Web Store. For example, I could attribute 122 extensions to the Kodice / Karbon Project / BroCode cluster that I covered in June 2023 originally. Another 100 extensions belong to the PDF Toolbox cluster that originally appeared on my blog in May 2023. The ZingFront / ZingDeck / BigMData cluster is one I also researched back in 2023 but didn’t publish – 223 extensions.

There is also a cluster that was new 


has so far completely ignored the 's easy-switching requirements. It’s still more than 15 steps to change the default on devices, and search websites can't guide users to the setting in .

On the choice screen obligation (art. 6(3)): Google also hasn’t rolled out updated Android choice screens to 250+ million users according to competitor , who has lodged a complaint against the in 2024.

Source: https://spreadprivacy.com/investigate-google-dma/

Search for “Google Slides” & you may see that the first image they select for one of their flagship office softwares is... Someone’s SEO-cash-grab “custom product” spam. Plastic slippers with the Google slides icon on them? Google’s own intellectual property is being parasitized here. What chance do independent artists stand? Google doesn’t care, as long as they are paid by search spammers who, in turn, somehow think this will make money.

Plastic slippers with the Google slides icon on them the image is a rendering of a custom product.