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Perplexity CEO says its browser will track everything users do online to sell 'hyper personalized' ads | TechCrunch

⁨603⁩ ⁨likes⁩

Submitted ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨PrivacyDingus@lemmy.world⁩ to ⁨technology@lemmy.world⁩

https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/24/perplexity-ceo-says-its-browser-will-track-everything-users-do-online-to-sell-hyper-personalized-ads/

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Comments

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  • vext01@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Why would I use such a browser?

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    • Lembot_0002@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Because some influencer say you should. Works this way for too many people.

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      • mat@linux.community ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        The amount of folks I see use Opera GX “gaming browser” because some influencer said so…

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      • vext01@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        An influencer’s review only makes me wary of a product and makes me question their motives.

        But I guess others don’t see it that way, or they wouldn’t be doing it.

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    • latenightnoir@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      “Because it really gets you, y’know?”

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    • raltoid@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      They’ve partnered with Motorla and probably Samsung to have it pre-installed.

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    • webghost0101@sopuli.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Once they are bought out by the singular mega corporation you will have only few choices left.

      • Learn to love their products

      • Sit idle in the dust because without their product you cannot partake in society.

      • Join an OpenClan and become a technomage

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    • blinx615@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      I imagine all of this data collection would greatly improve AI around browser use? That could be a feature with enough draw in the consumer space.

      Rich CEOs will want all their employees using it and only web apps so that they can try to use that data to replace them. Their perplexity dashboard will have a list of all their employees, AI’s fine-tuned on that employee’s data.

      The future is bright… :-\

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    • stebo02@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      because it has AI omg this will make our lives so much easier for real

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  • KenLin@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I appreciate him saying it upfront. Makes it easy to stay away from all of their products.

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  • futatorius@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    When using my current browser, any guess as to how often I’ve said to myself “I need a browser that spies on me more”?

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    • CarnivorousCouch@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Beep boop, this is your browser speaking. You have stated that you need a browser that spies on you more one (1) times.

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    • Suburbanl3g3nd@lemmings.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      6?

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  • postnataldrip@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Srinivas believes that Perplexity’s browser users will be fine with such tracking because the ads should be more relevant to them.

    Believes it, or is just spinning it that way?

    You could show me an ad for exactly what I want in that moment and I’d immediately not want it any more.

    Enough already.

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    • taladar@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      You could show me an ad for exactly what I want in that moment and I’d immediately not want it any more.

      Depends, if it is an ad for an orbital laser that targets marketing executives it might work on me.

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    • LouSlash@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      You could show me an ad for exactly what I want in that moment and I’d immediately not want it any more.

      proceeds to show something you don’t want at all

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    • vext01@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Exactly!

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  • rpl6475@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Companies are so removed from what users want, they only focus on what shareholders want to hear and don’t consider that users will hate it.

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    • letzlo@feddit.nl ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      But then users use it anyway for some reason. Many people care so little.

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      • Zetta@mander.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        Most people are unintelligent sacks of meat, not much critical thought about what they do runs through their minds.

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      • you_are_it@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        It is legislation’s work.

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      • ReallyActuallyFrankenstein@lemmynsfw.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        Attention is invisible until you take the time to acknowledge it. People will never treat it as a resource of the same value as these companies, because they don’t even recognize it as something being taken away from them (despite that it is actually the most precious resource - our literal lives), and that disparity will always be profitable.

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    • lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Because there is legal precedent that says shareholders come first.

      You can blame Dodge for this (yes, that Dodge).

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      • fuck_u_spez_in_particular@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        Too bad, that long-term users still kind of decide the fate of the company (as shareholders at some point realize that their share probably is not worth it).

        I’m really keen to see when this happens to Tesla, I’m thinking about shorting the stock, it’s so vastly overvalued, and there’s strong competition and sales are crashing everywhere (because of too much Nazi)

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      • MrNobody@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        So to ensure that a company is more likely to be customer focused, rather than shareholder focused, it’s likely a good idea to only go for companies not listed on the american stock exchanges?

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      • zenpocalypse@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        Oh, look, the reason Dodge reliability is garbage.

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  • cmrn@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    That’s like a cigarette brand marketing themselves as the most cancer-causing.

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    • orgrinrt@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Before even reading the article, I’m thinking they’re maybe selling it as a good thing along the lines of “do you hate to see those ads you don’t care about? Taking space on your apps and pages? What if there was a way to make them actually useful! Make them feel like content, just for you!”

      I feel like I have to point out that this is horrific either way

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  • ArchmageAzor@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    This is really good information, now I know to avoid their browser like the plague.

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  • dinckelman@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I would like for the people, who come up with these ideas, to dogfood their own product. Actually force them to try their own medicine. It would be a single digit percentage of acceptance then

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    • madasi@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      You grossly underestimate how much some people truly love the idea of highly personalized ads. People who believe they are the best possible outcome and cannot fathom why anyone would have any problem with them at all. That’s who you are asking to dogfood this product, and they would and would find no issues with it.

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  • 4am@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Where is the hacktivism when you need it? These companies need to be gutted from the inside out.

    Begin, the AI wars have.

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  • calmnchaos@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    In other news, Perplexity has signed a deal with Motorola to have the browser preinstalled on their phones.

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    • BigDanishGuy@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Thx, for the heads up. The only reason I’m not typing this on a motorola g85 is because I got distracted when I was ordering it. Now I’ve got to search for a different brand.

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  • hornedfiend@sopuli.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I think I read somewhere they want to buy Chrome from Google if they are forced to sell. So not many changes, just switching owners who ultimately do the same thing.

    i’m not a Chrome user, so screw both google and perplexity.

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    • MdRuckus@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      OpenAI also wants to buy Chrome.

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      • Dick_Justice@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        And Yahoo, lol

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  • BradleyUffner@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    And people would voluntarily use this browser …why?

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    • SaharaMaleikuhm@feddit.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Weirder things have happened. Like people using Brave voluntarily.

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      • klemptor@startrek.website ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        I’m out of the loop, what’s wrong with Brave?

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      • GeekySalsa@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        Um, should I stop using Brave?

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    • untakenusername@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      because they want ads that serve them things they want I imagine

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  • Captain_J@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Wow! I’ve always wanted a browser that would track everything about me!

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    • mdd@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Gotta get me some of that.

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  • gwilikers@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Do al these dickheads go to a school to learn the same specific hand gestures?

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  • echodot@feddit.uk ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Oh yeah I’m definitely going to use that. He’s a marketing genius.

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  • Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    These fuckers are just so delusional and out of touch with reality. Personalized ads my ass. We’ve been promised those for decades but pretty much all the ads I see on YouTube are from major retail chains with precisely zero relevance to me. They will show the ads of whoever pays for them. Your personal preferences are only relevant when it comes to targeting you with political propaganda.

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    • MagicShel@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      I don’t fucking want personalized ads no matter how relevant they are to me. I only have so much money to buy stupid materialistic bullshit and once that’s gone all an ad can do is make me want something I can’t have. Ads are just trying to make you discontent.

      They just want you to spend more money in a failed attempt to be happier adding complexity to my life when I’d rather just be content with simplicity. And they work really fucking well on my wife. I automatically distrust anything someone is paying money to show me.

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    • BossDj@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      As a Lemmy user, I’m betting you do things differently than most people in general.

      My friends and teenage children get very obviously targeted ads in the crap they do. I think maybe we are more discrete or something?

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  • Wild_Mastic@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Oh, time to stop using any perplexity products

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    • Warl0k3@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Perplexity is a free AI-powered answer engine that provides accurate, trusted, and real-time answers to any question.

      That’s not gonna be hard, fortunately.

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    • whyNotSquirrel@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      First time I hear about this actually so…

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  • RedditIsDeddit@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Hey, look for that browser to fail instantly as no one will use it.

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    • Trihilis@ani.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      They don’t want people to use it. They want Google to give them a big bag of money so they can integrate it into chrome.

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  • PrivacyDingus@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Image

    It’s a three-pronged attack: Subliminal, liminal, and super-liminal

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  • peetabix@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    What a stupid name for a company.

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  • Coyote_sly@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Can’t sell reams and reams of customer data if you don’t have any customers.

    tapforehead.jpg

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  • MonkderVierte@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Chrome does that already anyway.

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  • J52@lemmy.nz ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Dumb and dumber will love it, ts,ts,ts. Some nerds…

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    • echodot@feddit.uk ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Nothing wrong with typescript

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  • frankgrimeszz@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    The selling point is that our product gives you AIDS, for free!

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  • ThraawnSolo@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Haha…I can see this guy saying out loud to his friends…“and while everyone else is moving towards privacy I’ll do the exact opposite, but to the extreme. Don’t look at me like that Kyle, I’ve already sold my soul. We’re gonna be so rich.”

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    • MNByChoice@midwest.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      His only friends care about money. Everyone else walked away.

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  • LovableSidekick@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    “Help us improve your User Experience by trying as hard as possible to get to spend money you don’t have on crap you don’t need.”

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  • Vanilla_PuddinFudge@infosec.pub ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    When you quit talking to potential customers and go right foe the unhinged investors.

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  • zecg@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Fucking Perplexity can’t give away licenses. T-mobile is giving Perplexity AI Pro licenses for free (to subscribers), they advertise it as if it’s something worth something, it’s hilarious. Then obviously not many users took the bait because they sent a mass e-mail (from the University) to all of the faculty giving all employees (not just teaching personnel) these valuable Perplexity AI Pro licenses, only hurry up because there’s only 20k of these and it’s first come first served. Still haven’t used their shit and actually don’t know anyone who does.

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  • Boxscape@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    A caveman-like idea from a caveman-lookin’ mfer.

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  • bungle_in_the_jungle@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Well no thanks

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