Scroogled: Google places ads directly in GMail

[Dot Matrix]

It pops up at them.  They are notifications designed to get peoples attention to inform them of whats going on.   If they do not read it, then it is the user's fault....no one elses.

 

And most people I know pay attention to what is on their screen.  I have my grandparents asking me things all the time and its normally about MS notifications.

 

So do Windows notifications, but we all know how many users never read them.

[techbeck]

So do Windows notifications, but we all know how many users never read them.

 

then again, the user cannot blame anyone but themselves for ignoring the notification.

[ViperAFK]

So do Windows notifications, but we all know how many users never read them.

The user refusing to read anything on their screen is not gmail's fault (or windows') fault.

[HawkMan]

.

 

 

Exactly. GMAIL is not fully setup to support IE 11 yet.  I have seen that message before when using IE10 and other versions if IE.  It will change/go away.

 

/quote]

What if instead of looking for specific browser id strings they followed the standard and queried the browser what HTML5 functions it supported and worked from that. That's the standard and that way browser that fully support the page don't get falsely tagged as no supported.

By then google has a well known history of falsely tagging browsers as unsupported and even feeding them broken code instead of working code that gets fed to other browsers they "like"

[neo1911]

How is this different than Spam Mail? Can Google's spam filter automatically filter out these emails?

[techbeck]

By then google has a well known history of falsely tagging browsers as unsupported and even feeding them broken code instead of working code that gets fed to other browsers they "like"

 

This isnt unique to Google.  And why can't MS design their site to work well with all browsers.

 

This really is a moot point since it will eventually go away.  Someone doesnt like something, they will pick at every little thing to tear it down.  Like what this thread is all about really.

[ViperAFK]

.

 

 

Exactly. GMAIL is not fully setup to support IE 11 yet.  I have seen that message before when using IE10 and other versions if IE.  It will change/go away.

 

/quote]

What if instead of looking for specific browser id strings they followed the standard and queried the browser what HTML5 functions it supported and worked from that. That's the standard and that way browser that fully support the page don't get falsely tagged as no supported.

By then google has a well known history of falsely tagging browsers as unsupported and even feeding them broken code instead of working code that gets fed to other browsers they "like"

Not like microsoft doesn't do the same thing. For example with outlook exchange web access, google chrome on windows works fine, but the same version of chrome on linux they force the "light" version for no reason, even though the regular version works fine if I spoof my user agent.

[HawkMan]

That's not the same as sending garbage code to the browser though. Yes they should do a query for supported html5 fucntions and deliver the page the browser can support instead of relying on antiquated user agents. 

 

However they have not been as bastardly about it as google have. like when they took over google docs many an eon ago. the version they took over worked in all three major browsers at the time, IE, FF and opera, just fine in fact. Shortly after google took over(this was when IE had 90% marketshare and had to be supported and Google was sponsoring FF mind you) They did exactly two changes to the service in their first patch. they changed the branding to google, and they changed  it so Opera users got a message they could use the service as it wasn't supported. if you tried using it, several things was suddenly broken, change user ID and it worked. shortly thereafter there was a new "update" that again didn't actually change anything on the surface, but they actually added a fucntion that went beyond the user agent to check the browser and would send the same garbage code to opera again, since this wasn't a simple user agent fix, it was a lot harder to spoof. 

 

upholding their do no evil mantra, I'm sure they had honest intentions ;)

[ViperAFK]

That's not the same as sending garbage code to the browser though. Yes they should do a query for supported html5 fucntions and deliver the page the browser can support instead of relying on antiquated user agents. 

 

However they have not been as bastardly about it as google have. like when they took over google docs many an eon ago. the version they took over worked in all three major browsers at the time, IE, FF and opera, just fine in fact. Shortly after google took over(this was when IE had 90% marketshare and had to be supported and Google was sponsoring FF mind you) They did exactly two changes to the service in their first patch. they changed the branding to google, and they changed  it so Opera users got a message they could use the service as it wasn't supported. if you tried using it, several things was suddenly broken, change user ID and it worked. shortly thereafter there was a new "update" that again didn't actually change anything on the surface, but they actually added a fucntion that went beyond the user agent to check the browser and would send the same garbage code to opera again, since this wasn't a simple user agent fix, it was a lot harder to spoof. 

 

upholding their do no evil mantra, I'm sure they had honest intentions ;)

 

But they DO send garbage code to the browser. The "light" version of OWA is totally crippled compared to the full version, and its forced on the linux version of chrome for no reason. How is gmail forcing a crippled light version on IE11 "sending garbage code", yet Microsoft doing the same thing to chrome is not? The real difference is that IE11 isn't even released yet. There is a 99.99% chance when the final IE11 comes out it will work in gmail just fine, because google would be insane to alienate IE users... On the other hand Microsoft is doing it to a stable release of a browser just because of the operating system its running on (which makes no sense because chrome on linux render's the same as chrome on windows, because its the same browser).

 

I'm definitely not saying google is perfect or "not evil", but cuddling up to microsoft as if they are "Morally Superior" to google is ridiculous, because microsoft does the same things.

[Lord Method Man]

How is this different than Spam Mail? Can Google's spam filter automatically filter out these emails?

 

They aren't emails. They are ads marked up to look like emails, kind of like the fake "Download Now" buttons that are actually ads on various file serving websites.

[LittleNeutrino Veteran]

Have not seen one of these ads yet and i use Gmail for my personal email as well as hosting my other email accounts as well.

[techbeck]

upholding their do no evil mantra, I'm sure they had honest intentions ;)

 

The message to upgrade your browser comes up on a lot of sites when new versions of IE are released/in testing.  This is nothing new that has been going on for a long long time.  The only difference here is that on Google sites, you are advised to use Chrome.  God forbid Google pushes their own browser on their own sites.

 

The only issue here is people looking for something else to rag on Google about.

[HawkMan]

But they DO send garbage code to the browser. The "light" version of OWA is totally crippled compared to the full version, and its forced on the linux version of chrome for no reason. How is gmail forcing a crippled light version on IE11 "sending garbage code", yet Microsoft doing the same thing to chrome is not? The real difference is that IE11 isn't even released yet. There is a 99.99% chance when the final IE11 comes out it will work in gmail just fine, because google would be insane to alienate IE users... On the other hand Microsoft is doing it to a stable release of a browser just because of the operating system its running on (which makes no sense because chrome on linux render's the same as chrome on windows, because its the same browser).

 

I'm definitely not saying google is perfect or "not evil", but cuddling up to microsoft as if they are "Morally Superior" to google is ridiculous, because microsoft does the same things.

 

Crippled/light version is not garbage code. in compariosn the code google sendt actually broke spreadsheets and documents. 

 

a light version of a webpage with lesser features is not garbage code. 

and I didn't cuddle up I said they should have done it correctly as well. still they're not as bad as google are, at this point in time. 

The message to upgrade your browser comes up on a lot of sites when new versions of IE are released/in testing.  This is nothing new that has been going on for a long long time.  The only difference here is that on Google sites, you are advised to use Chrome.  God forbid Google pushes their own browser on their own sites.

 

The only issue here is people looking for something else to rag on Google about.

 

That wasn't what I was referring to there, but anyway. sure they can spam their own browser. of course they'l have to answer to EU for it as well as users annoyed by the annoying banner. 

[techbeck]

sure they can spam their own browser. of course they'l have to answer to EU for it as well as users annoyed by the annoying banner. 

 

Why?  The message to use Chrome only shows up on their sites for browsers not yet compatible.

 

Google advertising its own products on its own site.  Seems like the EU should be after every company the if they have a problem with it.

[blade1269]

Everybody should send it back too google, as spam report.. Haha

[Richteralan]

Gotta love everyone still bashing Gmail when quite a few people pointed out you can disable it.

 

I opted out ads ages ago and have NEVER seen these things. Typical making-a-mountain-out-of-a-molehill of fanboys.