Top all-time · #1241
Ben Edelman
Personal blog · benedelman.orgsecurityeconomics
Ben Edelman's personal blog at benedelman.org covers security and economics. Since 2009, 59 different Hacker News readers have linked it 75 times, most often “Google Ads: 12 years of colors”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-10-27, and you can follow it by feed.
Most-linked posts?
- Google Ads: 12 years of colors3 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2014-10-15
- Forced Clicks and Stand-Down Violations by Shopping Plugin Phia3 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2026-07-11
- Honey's Dieselgate: Detecting and Tricking Testers3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2025-12-30
- Google Toolbar Tracks Browsing Even After Users Choose "Disable"3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2010-01-26
- /docs/htc-mada.pdf3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2017-05-16
- /news-021815/3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2019-04-02
- Comparing Google's Internal Discussions with Its Public Claims2 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2015-04-01
- IAC Toolbars and Traffic Arbitrage in 20132 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2013-02-06
- /news/021314-1.html2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2014-02-13
- The Darker Side of Blinkx2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2014-01-30
What Hacker News says?
2009: "A new study [1][2][3] out of Harvard University seems to give Utah an unflattering distinction: No. 1 in the nation for pornography consumption." [4] There are more recent studies that rank Utah in the bottom 10. [5] [1] Edelman, Benjamin. "Red Light States: Who Buys Online Adult Entertainment?" Journal of Economic Perspectives 23, no. 1 (Winter 2009): 209–220. [2] http://www.benedelman.org/publications/redli…
Comment linking /publications/redlightstates.pdf
on “Court agrees with EFF: Utah's VPN law demands a technical impossibility”Submitted AppLovin nonconsensual installs as a story · 179 points
HN discussionFrom the wiki page on TrustArc: "In January 2006, Harvard economics researcher Benjamin Edelman published a study showing that sites with TRUSTe certification were 50 percent more likely to violate privacy policies than uncertified sites: https://www.benedelman.org/news-092506/ And perhaps ironically (if honestly true - maybe it never was the intention), TrustArc was nominally/purportedly started to promote privacy…
Comment linking /news-092506/
on “Starbucks and TrustArc add fake cookie processing delay if you don't click agree”Submitted Keeping “Free Law” Free as a story · 68 points
HN discussionThey already take advantage of their in several different ways. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ftc-says-google-skewed-search... http://www.searchenginejournal.com/yelp-complains-outranked-... http://marketingland.com/once-deemed-evil-google-now-embrace... http://searchengineland.com/google-results-too-ad-heavy-1662... http://wallstcheatsheet.com/stocks/ftc-googles-ad-practice-i... http://www.benedelman.org/adlabelin…
Comment linking /adlabeling/google-colors-oct2014.html
on “Wikipedia starts work on $2.5M internet search engine project to rival Google [pdf]”Submitted Misrepresentation of Fuel Surcharges in Airline Price Advertising as a story · 42 points
HN discussionIronSource is known for leveraging their ad network and installers to distribute spam, malware, and adware bundlers. What the fuck Unity. [1] https://www.benedelman.org/news-021815/ [2] https://blog.infostruction.com/2018/10/26/adware-empire-iron...
Comment linking /news-021815/
on “Unity merges with IronSource”Submitted Google Toolbar Tracks Browsing Even After Users Choose "Disable" as a story · 37 points
HN discussionThey are bundling in the Ask toolbar, a known piece of malware/spyware. See: http://www.benedelman.org/spyware/ask-toolbars/ Whenever you see the word "toolbar," just think "virus," because that's pretty much what they amount to. See: http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-reasons-guy-whos-fixing-your-c... (#2) An organization claiming to be for "open source" should not be distributing KNOWN malware, by ANY means. PERIOD. I…
Comment linking /spyware/ask-toolbars/
on “How far the once-mighty SourceForge has fallen”Submitted Hard-Coded Google Search Results as a story · 34 points
HN discussionGoogle has confidential "Mobile Application Distribution agreements" that guarantees google services and functionality and stipulates requirements.. Luckily court cases have revealed the stipulations that show Android is anything but "Free" to handset makers.. http://www.benedelman.org/docs/htc-mada.pdf unfortunately i can't find any cases that show how much of the estimated ~60 dollars per handset is licensing cost…
Comment linking /docs/htc-mada.pdf
on “Don't tell people to turn off Windows Update”Submitted Examination of Upromise toolbar reveals security issues as a story · 7 points
HN discussion"Certified" means they have signed Google's Mobile Applications Distribution Agreement, a confidential contract where Google permits access to Google Apps in exchange for the manufacturer agreeing to load up all of Google's required bloatware, set Google Search as default, comply with all of their compatibility requirements, and agree to not release any devices running alternative versions of Android. We don't have…
Comment linking /news-021314/
on “Google starts blocking “uncertified” Android devices from logging in”Submitted Click Fraud Inflates Conversion Rates and Tricks Advertisers into Overpaying as a story · 5 points
HN discussionBen Edelman (Harvard, Microsoft) published a study [0] about how dark patterns in the online travel industry help them reach margins up to 25%. He also mentions the consolidation where most well-known booking sites are owned by just two large groups. [0] http://www.benedelman.org/impact-of-ota-bias-and-consolidati...
Comment linking /impact-of-ota-bias-and-consolidation-on-consumers/
on “Successful machine learning models: lessons learned at Booking.com”Submitted Honey's Dieselgate: Detecting and Tricking Testers as a story · 3 points
HN discussionif they are "clearly labeled" now, what terms do you use to describe what he ad labels were in the past? http://www.benedelman.org/adlabeling/google-colors-oct2014.h...
Comment linking /adlabeling/google-colors-oct2014.html
on “The meaning of AMP”Submitted Measuring Bias in “Organic” Web Search (2011) as a story · 3 points
HN discussionI don't think Google's contractual terms are illegal, though they certainly have a profound impact on any competition that uses Android or builds Android apps. See this article for a detailed analysis of Google's Mobile App Distribution Agreements (MADA): http://www.benedelman.org/news-021314/ Furthermore, from my understanding, for any device to support streaming to Chromecast, it must have Google Play Services, wh…
Comment linking /docs/samsung-mada.pdf
on “Amazon will stop selling Nest smart home devices”Submitted Pricing and Efficiency in IP Addresses Market [pdf] as a story · 3 points
HN discussionPer excellent report by Ben Edelman, which I strongly recommend reading for anyone interested in the booking platforms http://www.benedelman.org/publications/ota-bias-12jul2017.pd... Priceline Group: priceline.com, agoda.com, booking.com, cheapflights.com, ctrip.com, KAYAK, Momondo.com, Opentable.com, rentalcars.com, Rocketmiles Expedia, Inc.: Expedia.com, Carrentals.com, Classic Vacations, eLong.com, HomeAway, Hote…
Comment linking /publications/ota-bias-12jul2017.pdf
on “Bad UX: How Booking.com deceives clients”Submitted The Darker Side of Blinkx as a story · 3 points
HN discussionActually, you are wrong, it's a requirement of the MADA contract, and you can see an example here: http://www.benedelman.org/docs/htc-mada.pdf "Company shall not... take any actions that may cause or result in the fragmentation of Android, including but not limited to the distribution by Company of a software development kit (SDK) derived from Android or derived from Android Compatible Devices..." Please don't claim…
Comment linking /docs/htc-mada.pdf
on “Are Google, Amazon and others getting too big?”Submitted Harvard: Racial Discrimination in the Sharing Economy – Airbnb Field Experiment [pdf] as a story · 2 points
HN discussionWhat ads would get blocked? The ones not sold by Google, for the most part. I can see it coming - "Host on AMP, and your ads will get through". "Use Google Ads, and your ads will get through." "Pay dues to the Acceptable Ad Consortium, and your ads will get through." Look what happened with TrustE and their ratings. It started out as a good idea, and ended up as a cover for scumbags. Today, a TrustE seal has negativ…
Comment linking /news/092506-1.html
on “Be Careful Celebrating Google’s New Ad Blocker”Submitted Harvard Study: Airbnb hosts discriminate against black people[pdf] as a story · 2 points
HN discussionI'd refer you to Ben Edelman's explanation of the Google MADA. http://www.benedelman.org/news/021314-1.html (Note: He has been paid to consult for Microsoft, he's a biased source. But he's the person who initially discovered these agreements and put them somewhere public on the Internet.) EDIT: Sidebar, but the whole "Private business discussions should stay private" comment in your link... Bezos knows how appalled…
Comment linking /news/021314-1.html
on “Is Amazon getting too big?”Submitted The Darker Side of Blinkx as a story · 2 points
HN discussionThe article is correct, you're mistaken. While AOSP is licensed under Apache 2.0, in order to bundle the Play Store and associated Google services you have to agree to MADA[0]. No major manufacturer, except Amazon, ships an AOSP variant without Google's Services. Arguably many of Android's core APIs now flow through Play Store Services (e.g. Location Services). [0] PDF warning: http://www.benedelman.org/docs/htc-mad…
Comment linking /docs/htc-mada.pdf
on “Google to Charge Phone Makers for Android Apps in Europe”Submitted Cookie Stuffing with Google Adsense as a story · 2 points
HN discussion
