this post was submitted on 24 Apr 2025
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[–] [email protected] 168 points 1 month ago

This is the biggest anti-endorsement I've ever heard. Thank you for telling us all that. I will absolutely never be using this browser.

[–] [email protected] 93 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Sad to think there will be real people who are fine with the privacy invasive spyware

[–] [email protected] 50 points 1 month ago (1 children)

my ex fiance loved personalized ads because that's how she found out about products she wanted and i was like… but you didn't want it before you knew it existed. you were just living your life perfectly fine and now you're $20 poorer

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago (1 children)

You obviously need a privacy-conscious fiance

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago

my new one is much wiser

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[–] [email protected] 63 points 1 month ago (3 children)
[–] [email protected] 66 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 25 points 1 month ago

It's still the most widely used browser, even if it doesn't individually effect you doesn't mean it's not bad

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Chrome is already pretty close to this. People still using it are a mystery to me as it is.

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[–] [email protected] 49 points 1 month ago (5 children)

Blip. Just like that, they are dead to me. I know our society has decided super invasive data collection for ads is okay... I've decided that is another part of the social contract we need to revisit. With prejudice.

[–] [email protected] 34 points 1 month ago

never mind about accepting the things we cannot change, it's time to start changing the things we cannot accept

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago

I still haven't come down to terms with ads being accepted

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[–] [email protected] 36 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Even by CEO standards, why would you state that out loud?

[–] [email protected] 25 points 1 month ago (1 children)

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

He's so out of touch that he believes their users are going to be excited by this.

“That’s kind of one of the other reasons we wanted to build a browser, is we want to get data even outside the app to better understand you,” Srinivas said. “Because some of the prompts that people do in these AIs is purely work-related. It’s not like that’s personal.”

And work-related queries won’t help the AI company build an accurate-enough dossier.

“On the other hand, what are the things you’re buying; which hotels are you going [to]; which restaurants are you going to; what are you spending time browsing, tells us so much more about you,” he explained.

The personal integrity of others is a concept completely lost on this person, it seems.

[–] OutlierBlue 7 points 1 month ago

The personal integrity of others is a concept completely lost on this person, it seems.

If you have no integrity yourself, it's hard to understand that others do.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 month ago (4 children)

The message is aimed at his customers (ie. his advertisers), not for the potential users of the browser.

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[–] [email protected] 36 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Never use Perplexity, got it.

I'm old, I don't browse the web on my phone, anyway.

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[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 month ago (4 children)
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[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 month ago

capitalism inspiring innovation right before our eyes.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 month ago (6 children)

I presume this browser is going to have an install base of about 1? Depending on how many testers they have.

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[–] melsaskca 22 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Fuck that guy sucking my time with his ads. If I want to buy a ladder I'll go online, or go to the store and buy one. Once all this world ending shit dies down let's get rid of "advertising" as an economic concept. We don't need any more socio/economic engineering, we need humanity and ecology.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Ads after you buy a ladder: "Yes, you've had one ladder, but what about a second ladder?"

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Damn, you'd really think these bozos would have learned to read a room by now, you know?

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 month ago

Nearly half of the country is dumb enough to support Trump. I think he is reading the room.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 month ago (7 children)

I want to say a thing that I want to happen to this ceo but it would get me banned.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Just say "I wish for this man, his ideas and his life work to slide into disregard and irrelevance and become nothing more than a footnote on idiocy".

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago

Do you think this guy would avoid saying a thing? No, he'd come right out and tell you if he wanted you dead. As long as he could provide your with personalised ads in the afterlife.

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 month ago

Firefox forks and uBlock Origin all day.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 month ago
[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 month ago

Cool, I’m done with Perplexity.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Welcome to real life: advertisement is seen as filth. People might tolerate it in exchange for something else, but being "targetted" doesn't make them less filthy; on the contrary, once you get how it's being targetted at the expense of your privacy, comparing it with dog shit becomes unfair - because dog shit is less worse.

As such I want to see Perplexity bankrupt.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 month ago (1 children)

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

I can't speak for anyone else but no, I would not be fine with that

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 month ago

Well im definitely not gonna use it then. It's also apparently being built on top of Chromium so its not like its a brand new browser engine or anything. I wonder if they even had human programmers work on it, or just let their own AI churn out some slop for them.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

So is this another tech-bro sniffing his own farts, or does he have some plan to force the browser on people?

Edit: After reading the article, it's both.

He's basically talking about toppling google in terms of ads and saying that users will be fine with the tracking because the ads will be more relevant. There's also a Motorla partnership and it will come pre-installed on their Razr series. There is talks of one with Samsung as well, and they would have zero issue forcing that browser on their customers as long as they get a copy of the data.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

That is one major reason I will no longer use a phone that doesnt let me easily uninstall their garbage. It is all spyware.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 month ago

So it's not going to be available in the EU and UK? That's fine.

As I understand it, the GDPR would require explicit consent from the subject before this data could be gathered in the first place, with some significant fines if breached.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 month ago

I read that as "Perplexed CEO" and it kind of fits IMO.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 month ago

Neat. Can we have access to everything he does online?

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 month ago (1 children)

For the last time I don’t want Jenna Haze shower curtains!!!!

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago (1 children)

That’s not what the restraining order says.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago

"Nobody liked that."

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago
[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago

Very cool stuff, Mr. Technofascist!

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago

Oh fuck right off, you ghoul.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago

perplexed about the value proposition here

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago

Will he be perplexed when his browser fails?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago

Hey, that sounds like a terrible idea.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago

I'm morbidly curious as to how well they could do trying to get my profoundly cheap self to spend money.

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