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YouTube's next move might make it virtually impossible to block ads
(www.androidpolice.com)
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
What's most valuable to Google is the user data. Google is still able to get a lot of user data even if blockers are on. Ads are really just a way to get even more data. If you click an ad 10 times and buy something just 1 time, that information is more valuable than the ability to put ads in front of you.
What good is user data if you don't use it for advertising?
I said one was more valuable. That doesn't mean they don't go well together.
Anyway you can use data to nudge users. For example, Google can change search result orders. They can promote one company/research/ideology/party to the top and demote others.
Finding out where certain people are important for law enforcement or press.
Stores give out free wifi to track your MAC address and see where you go in stores. They sell this data, use it to track theives, or use it for better product placement.
This is advertising.
This service isn't that valuable, and extracting the value required is going to be a PR nightmare.
So A-B testing for their advertising?
But it goes back to my earlier assertion that the value of user data is generally to help with advertising.