Google Keeps What Ask.com Erases

Stony Stevenson passed us an ITNews article on the AskEraser service we discussed the other day. The Ask.com service is intended to obscure a user's search data - but does it really go away? "AskEraser may remove user search query data from Ask.com's servers, but deleted data may live on, in part at least, on Google's servers. That's because Google delivers the bulk of the ads on Ask.com, based on information provided by Ask ... It may well use the information for other purposes, such as measuring the responsiveness of its systems. However, Leeds said he could not disclose the specifics of the contractual relationship between Ask and Google."

URL's are dups ... and are rough on Firefox ...

The two URL's in the story the same ... plus might want to use the printable URL [itnews.com.au] since in FF, it pegs the CPU meter (much worse than this overly busy site) [komar.org] ... maybe it's all that information being sent to Google?

that christmas website

oh I just spent an hour on that amazing website, please don't post that url again ;-)

the only answer

Someone really needs to develop a diff tool for the internet.

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I have it on pretty good authority that Ask.com will likely not renew their contract with Google for serving paid ads. Ask has been developing their own platform and is working pretty heavily to recruit advertisers to it. You can see it here [ask.com].

Re:the only answer

They already renewed the deal and announced it about a month ago. Their own platform isn't even developed by them it is build on LookSmart's AdCenter technology and probably only accounts for 2-3% of their sponsored search revenue.

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I stand corrected. I had spoken with Ask.com representatives, but obviously they were just trying to generate some additional revenue and I failed to do any additional research (doh!). Here's the scoop [searchengineland.com] and some analysis.

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Maybe they just want to combine these two ad at the same time during the transition edge.

Another Answer

We definitely have out-used Google.
I checked out this site called Way Back
Machine, and I was stunned at how many
websites we're "cached" from way back
like in the 90's. Anyone who thinks
there stuff is "safe" on the internet
is nuts. Even this message I just
po

Re:

Depends on your definition of "safe". It does make some quite safe backups.

Ask not...

My fellow Slashdotters: ask not what Ask.com can do with your data - ask what your data can do for Ask.com.

My fellow citizens of the Internet: ask not what Slashdot will do for your data, but what together we can do for the freedom of all data.

Ask me why

I feel all Googley inside using a private proxy for all my web traffic...

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Does Firefox+adblock+noscript kill most of this?

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test

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that was indeed a quick test, my friend.

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Yes! Data should be freed!
That's why Google (and all other companies) should have unlimited access to it.

AskEraser is as evil as DRM.

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My fellow citizens of the Internet: ask not what Slashdot will do for your data, but what together we can do for the freedom of all data.

Says the Slashdotter: "Information is meant to be free, but NOBODY HAD BETTER KEEP INFORMATION ABOUT ME DAMN IT"

Hrm.

Google Search History

I have search history logging shut off in my google account, I suspect (out of paranoia) that they are still logging my data however.

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Don't panic! Google will only remain logging when you are paranoid.

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Don't panic! Google will only remain logging when you are paranoid.

Just because you're paranoid don't mean they're not after you.

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Yes it does. That's why they use the word "Paranoid" and not "adequately prepared."

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If your a paranoid drug dealer, it doesn't mean the fuzz ain't tapping your phone.

Google: DUNT BE TEH EVIL!!!!111

ZOMG, u meen teh Goog3l is staring teh too much nfo an viol8ing pplz privassy? TEH OMG, I THOT TEH GOOGEL WAS TEH NOT BE TEH EVIL?!?!?!

TEH GOOGEL HATES TEH MIKKKR0$$$l0th... hows cud tey be teh evilz? It dunt make teh cents?!!

Re:

Okay, that's cute and all.. But stop. Really. It has not been funny for years now. You're like that guy in the office that still gives the Fonzie "Heyyyyyy" all the time.

You never truly know what Google keep and censors.

Yes, Ive noticed that Google keeps things that eventually gets erased somewhere else, but Google also censors - partially because of violations of various company rules, laws, and much more (too much more!). SO much more in fact - that a little "googling" around the world....from ...servers around the world - will yield different results from what you may get googling from your country, think that I am paranoid and kidding? Try it!

Re:You never truly know what Google keep and censo

I would be surprised to learn that Google ever deleted anything. I know a few Googlers, and from what I gather information is generally made "unavailable to the public" rather than erased.

Re:

"Googlers"? I thought we called them Googlebots. ;-)

Re:You never truly know what Google keep and censo

Google uses your origin IP in addition to your browser agent when trying to rank results. Nothing sinister about it.

I'm always behind a public NAT of some sort, my interests don't bear any general resemblance to any others who may be using it. I don't object to that on grounds of paranoia (you would be paranoid too, if everyone was out to get you), but it's kind of stupid.

I'm irritated at "targeted" home mortgage ads for California residents only popping up.

I'm irritated at "targeted" ads for social networking sites when I'm reading email from my wife.

I'm irritated that there is even a concept called "click fraud" (and the only thing that irritates me more than that, is reading sites who defend the use of the word "fraud" in it).

I'm irritated at most things internet nowadays, but keeping search history and using that as special sauce on the results just doesn't work for me. I haven't been at a unique naked IP address since 1998.

I added ask.com to my search engine list thingie in Firefox and have been using it as my first choice search engine after I read about their privacy feature. So long as advertisers support the term "click fraud" and have a degree of hostility towards someone who does not shop on the internet (like blocking content to people who use AdBlock), I don't mind blocking content and I will never click on a random ad that pops up because if I clicked on it, it would be "click fraud" because I never buy things that way.

I do buy things over the internet and in fact spent several thousand dollars towards my family's Christmas/New Year's travel (plane/boat/hotel) that way, but I did it my way.

And yes, I do expect advertisers and those who depend upon them to cater to me. I can live without your content or your good will. You cannot survive without paying customers of which you just lost (a potential) one if you're annoying me. Don't bug me, but I'll call you if you have something I want to buy.

You folks who are happy with whatever Microsoft is peddling at the moment, or Google, or whomever ... you folks who are happy to share everything about you with whomever ... you foks who are happy to accept whatever is given to you ... I'm happy for you man! Enjoy! Some of us are different, O.K.?

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ARE YOU TIRED OF ADS?

ARE YOUR HANDS GETTING SHAKY WORRIED ABOUT ACCIDENTLY CLICKING ON INTERNET BANNER ADS? WELL LIVE IN FEAR NO MORE!

DO I have the product for you! FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY I will tell you FREE OF CHARGE how to improve your life! It's fr

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As I speak I am typing "beagle" into the google box in Konqueror. 1st result: beagle-project.org, the open source search indexer. Try it from Windows, you get dogs.

I'll leave trying it from Microsoft Windows as an exercise for the reader as I can't do that. On Mac OS X with Firefox and via Google (and I'm logged into my gmail account all of the time), I get beagle-org as my first hit and via ask.com where I have th

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No, actually the results are the same on both platforms.

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I would have said "thanks" but your post contains many weasel words.

Google is the only search engine I use lately, and I find their sponsored ads quite useful. I was recently searching for monogrammed towels to buy for my brother for Christmas, and searching for them on Google resulted in more relevant content among the sponsored ads than than among the search results. I got what I wanted and was satisfied.

I'm not sure what you think I was weaseling out of, but O.K. I have experience like yours. Perhaps the most spectacular "hit" I got was a side bar ad from gmail when I writing someone with regards to the current state of affairs of preinstalled-Linux no

Re:You never truly know what Google keep and censo

Also perhaps they store what you have searched on before? It seems that when I have been searching lately it directs me to things around my area. Also caters to my system (Ubuntu). Maybe it's just me (being paranoid?) but is it possible they really perso

We all need to Maximize profits NOW

Ask needs to make a profit, just like everybody else. If it were not for advertisements there would be no Askeraser, and Ask will naturally choose the partner they think will give them the most money. I use Google Adsense on many of my websites too, for exactly the same reason. I know that Google spies on my visitors, and I really would like to avoid them doing so, but at the end of the day I want dinnar and no advertisement revenue, no dinner. That being said.. I personally use (polipo+)privoxy for all my normal browsing and Tor+privoxy for the majority of my browsing. And this is kind of how I make lame excuses for myself and my Adsense usage: It's really up to each one of us to educate ourselves on how to avoid internet tracking & surveillance. It really is up to each and every one of us. If people choose to use Windows and Internet Explorer and have lots of spyware installed and not filter unwanted parts of webpages and not use Tor then so be it and if I can make a profit off it then atleast I get to eat. And I don't cry or think twice about people using things like Tor+Privoxy to visit my sites, since it's only a small percentage who are smart enough to do so. But they should. And they should not trust that I, or AskEraser, or anyone else for that matter (scroogle, and such services) do not track people - because that is not needed. See, if you trust Askeraser to erase you records then you have already decided to trust a third party. Maby they really do erase. Perhaps they just say they do. BUT if you choose to ensure that they don't track you by running software which makes sure they CAN'T track you - such as Tor - then you don't NEED to trust Askeraser (or anyone else). That is the only real solution imho, putting your faith in a third party is stupid, regardless of them being trustworthy or not for the time being.

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Yes, your point is pretty much valid, but knowing what we know about TOR nowadays...it's still relying on a third party. You can't know if the end of the TOR network is run by a person interested on helping people or a data harvester. Same can apply to pro

Re: The Tor Network, in bullet summary

In bullet summary, Tor is only for traffic in the categories:

- 1. Who cares if they log this anyway?
- 2. Encrypted traffic

And this is all explained in the documentation - which you should read in order to benefit from using it. Yes, you really should

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I don't get why an action is less evil when done on less qualified people.

Some people would argue that targeting people who are less able or qualified to understand what's being done and/or protect themselves from it is in fact more evil - hence the vitr

"Ask...

And it shall be yours..."

That must've been promised to GOOGLE, not Ask...

Not really a surprise

This is the first thing I thought of when I read the article the other day. Google ads gets your referer string which contains the search query you used on Ask.com and much of the same information Google would have gotten had you simply used Google for the

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Oddly enough using something like http://noscript.net/ [noscript.net] and you start to learn exactly how many sites are running the googlites anal-ytic web script, well at least until you disable script notifications of.

As for obscuring your searches try this http://mr [nyu.edu]

Ask's parent is breaking up.

Ask's parent company, IAC, is breaking up. They're a conglomerate; they own things like the Home Shopping Network, TicketMaster, Lending Tree, and CondoDirect. All those are being sold off. They're keeping all their "internet properties", like Excite (yes, that's where Excite ended up), CitySearch, Evite, Popular Screensavers (!), iWon, Match.com, and Zwinki. IAC collected many of the major losers from Web 1.0 under one corporate roof.

At this point, it hardly seems relevant what Ask does.

Get Off My Lawn!

I think your assignation of "Web 1.0" to all of these things is not warranted. For Match and evite, aren't these classic early example of almost entirely user-driven content creation and social networking? I *think* that's what Web 2.0 is about. Unless it'

Adblockplus.

Who downloads ads any more? They make the internet too slow for me.

Click Now for your Free Censorware.

Who downloads ads any more? They make the internet too slow for me.

I could be wrong, but I believe your comp still downloads them, and you are still paying for that bandwidth. Adblock simply stops them from being displayed, not from existing. The only time you're saving is the few seconds you might have been tempted

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If I recall correctly, Adblock (not plus) would, by default, not download ads. You could manually turn on a feature that would download them, but not display them. Some people would turn this feature on so that the webmaster would still get per-view credit

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I just checked. The "sponsor websites" ability has not been in Adblock Plus since 0.5. See this forum thread: http://adblockplus.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=5980#5980 [adblockplus.org]