For the last time, no, I Won't be a fan of "Google Fiber for Grand Rapids"

(This is going out to a whole bunch of places, not just Facebook.)

I Won't become a fan of Google Fiber for Grand Rapids, for a couple reasons. Let's start with the big one: I don't want my Internet traffic primarily channeled by a company whose primary revenue source stems from figuring out how to show me the ads I'm most likely to click on. That's a very, very direct incentive for them to do traffic analysis and directly watch the sites I visit so that they can figure out what I'm interested in, and thus what I might buy, and thus what ads to show me.

No, AdBlock doesn't fix things; avoiding being shown ads wouldn't stop the incentive for analysis any more than a boycott on Wendy's for serving meat helps PETA.

I'm sorry, but I'm just not interested. Even if they promise not to do privacy-invasive things, they ultimately can't help it; it makes too much business sense for them to set up a transparent HTTP proxy and build up their Analytics and Adsense statistical bases. *I* would, if I were them. If they don't, then they're stupid; they would be ignoring the opportunity to blend together geographical and demographic awareness into their ad business, and sell localized Adsense ads with better accuracy than the ones you already see. (From Jenison, I get offers to "meet singles in Kalamazoo" ... Kalamazoo is a long ways away from me, but happens to be where the other end of this DSL connection sits.)

So, no, I'm not a fan of Google Fiber.

The second reason I won't become a fan of Google Fiber is the same reason I don't plaster my car with bumper stickers; I don't care to broadcast my taste, appreciation, like or dislike of every single cause, organization or business that flies across my radar.

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:wq