Fortunately, I never had those to begin with... so hopefully, then, what they do suck up will end up f**king them up.

Okay, looks like I took a looker nap than usual, just call be Rip Van Winkel, but can someone explain the importantance of this?

I use IE8, yeah I know, and up in the upper right hand corner where you search there is an opition to find other search platforms.  You can search using Live Search, Google, Yahoo, etc.  So what am I missing.  Do I need to only use one search platform to be 'Political Correct'?

I'm not try to make fun of anyone, I really want to know.

Wasn't there also a site that did that for Yahoo vs Google a while back?

How does Microsoft SilverLight play in all of this?

Stardock does a fair amount of advertisements here on WC. Does that make them bad?

Dang! I need to turn off my TV, stop listening to the radio, stop reading newspapers, magazines and close my eyes while driving and just go live in a freakin cave. That way I'll be safe from the evil advertising gremlins that suck my brains out and force me to buy things at gunpoint....

(For the slow witted: the preceding comments are meant in HUMOR and do not necessarily reflect the views of anyone living or decesed, nor anyone thinking of being living or deceased. We now return you to your regularly scheduled forum...)

Another funny point: Hotmail does everything that Google does...

I probably wouldn't have used BS, but the majority of us here are just home computers users.   Yes, there are some folks here that do earn their living using their computers. 

What 'secrets' do most of us  have on our computers that are being gathered, your financial information.  If you do any buying on line it all ready is available.  Identily theft, sure it happens.

Most of what people fear can be prevented by practicing smart surfing habits.  But even if you do that it's not going to stop everyone.  If you get targeted by someone there isn't much you will be able to do.  Yes I know we are talking about the different browsers out there and what they may be tracking, keeping and probably selling.  No difference if you have a store card and use it.

I don't hold myself out as an expect, I'm just a home computer user that does some on line shopping, and most of the time I lie on line, so I don't much care.

Whether it sounds stupid or not is besides the point.  They DO gather information, if not quite as much as people make out.  For example, if you register for gmail, you get different kinds of ads based on the subject of your e-mails.  

They'd shoot you in the back while competing for everyone else's attention; multi-internationals corps stop at nothing to pile up bullets anyway.

You could be next. As long as you have money to spend, the purchasing decision still isn't yours to take but theirs to invoque by slamming the hammers of hypnosis right through your brain.

Freemarket? To whom advantage(s), may i ask?

Costs markup, ever heard of that.

It's soooo silly, it has become pathetic & idiotic.

We're all buying advertisements, not being lured by it.

it's 'Don't be evil' Jafo.

... pigs ass

There is a BIG difference here, kona.   Stardock does NOT data mine or collect personal imformation to target you with advertising... Google DOES.  Yes, we submit personal information to Stardock, but that is for the purpose of creating a customer account and profile for our purchases and on'line activities, etc.  However, Stardock does NOT use that information to target its customers or members with specific ads.... Google DOES.

Of course they gather/store personal information... but how much is a matter for debate.  For example, if you were to do a google search on yourself, the search results would return only what is mostly 'publicly' available information... yet you know that they have much more on you because the targetted ads are based on non-public information... often times information you have not divulged openly, just to a friend or relative via email, etc.

That is why I am so opposed to google-analytics being present at every page load on every site you visit... it allows Google to collect data on where you go and what you look at via your IP address... and that, to me, is just as bad, if not worse, than covertly and illegally tapping phone lines to monitor peoples purchasing and other habits.  Use Google's 'phone home' browser and OS and you're opening the door the even greater Google scrutiny of your personal preferences/habits, etc.

Yup, which is why I detest advertising execs so much.  They get ridiculously huge fat salaries for words and images that anyone with a bit of creativity could come up with, then they charge goods and services providers an arm and a leg to force annoying ads down our throats.  The result of all this... the providers pass these costs on so that we the consumer ulimately pays more for our goods and services.

It's also the reason why the gap between the haves and have nots is getting wider... why more and more people (middle class included) are finding themselves on or just below the poverty line. While executive salaries keep pace with inflation and rising costs, the average joe's does not, thus putting more and more out of his reach as prices continue to rise.  I blame advertising for this... and company execs... and bankers.... AND Google!!!

No!  Truth is, MS data mines to provide you with updates and sell you MS stuff... whereas Google data mines for advertising puposes and to sell you all sorts of crap... most of which you neither want or need.  Yup, I remember when my niece was using Google's email service and she frequently got spam for penis enlargement devices/methods... yeah, right! 

Like she needed a penis enlargement... not unless Google had collected personal data on her hubby and was trying to tell her something.