Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

What is the real purpose of creating websites to provide free information?

H

hajime

macrumors G3
Original poster
Jul 23, 2007
8,092
1,368
Hi, I have antivirus software installed on my PC. Each day it reports that there are many trackers collecting my personal data from various websites. I think Safari on Mac also reports that each days it "prevents" certain number of websites from gathering our information.

Over the past 10 years, there are uncountable number of websites made to teach people various things and provide various information. Whoever made them seem to be spending a lot of time to create webpages to provide the information for free. What is the real purpose behind? To track information from readers and sell those information?
 
Last edited:
  • Haha
Reactions: cateye
You can't make blanket statements that apply to everyone. For myself writing about a topic helps me understand it better AND helps me refresh my memory about it once a good deal of time has passed. There's no nefarious intent behind me putting it out there for free.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Macky-Mac and ItWasNotMe
hajime said:
Over the past 10 years, there are uncountable number of websites made to teach people various things and provide various information. Whoever made them seem to be spending a lot of time to create webpages to provide the information for free. What is the real purpose behind? To track information from readers and sell those information?
Click to expand...
It’s not all bad actors I assume. I mean you can similarly ask why people spend time to ask and/or answer sharing their knowledge or opinions on a site like MR? Motivations are probably manifold.
 
Depends on what you mean by free information. In the coding community it's really popular not only because there's a tradition of sharing information for others to build on top of but also people genuinely enjoy sharing knowledge.

Oh and of course it's marketing for the person making the site. For corporations (to establish credential, general product marketing, talent attraction) and individuals (something unique to put on the resume) alike.

Really depends on the content though. For example a lot of review sites generate ad revenue and get paid to promote particular products.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MisterSavage
I will tend to trust/revisit sites that say, "Please hit Like, leave a Comment, and maybe consider joining Patreon" or similar.
 
  • Like
Reactions: hajime
zakarhino said:
Depends on what you mean by free information. In the coding community it's really popular not only because there's a tradition of sharing information for others to build on top of but also people genuinely enjoy sharing knowledge.

Oh and of course it's marketing for the person making the site. For corporations (to establish credential, general product marketing, talent attraction) and individuals (something unique to put on the resume) alike.

Really depends on the content though. For example a lot of review sites generate ad revenue and get paid to promote particular products.
Click to expand...

I often get reports on lots of trackings from pcmagazine which is a well established computer magazine long before the www era.
 
I run a website that offers hundreds of maps, including almost 2tb of unique ones that I made myself. It's free, there's no registration, no membership, no advertising and no tracking. Why? Still trying to figure that out! 🤣

On a selfish level, it's something I wanted myself and nobody else offers it. Aside from that, it's a way to give something back to the community by providing something unique for people in my region that isn't available anywhere else. The site is 10 years old but was greatly expanded starting in 2019 when I got serious about learning javascript at the age of 70. Has been a great learning experience, with no end in sight.

Now, hopefully I'll find a way to make a few bucks from this in the future, either through the unique content I've created or the code I'm writing. But it won't be from tracking people or putting ads in their faces!
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: JimmyG, Brian33, decafjava and 2 others
Just got a report saying that macrumors has been doing some tracking. What is this site doing?
 
Most of the time, if a site has advertising then you will get those reports. Just click the little shield icon to the left of the address bar in Safari (on the Mac) to see what a site is doing.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: hajime
Thanks. Do you know if the Windows version of Safari is as good as the Mac version? I wonder if cyber security features of the Mac version of Safari require or take advantage of some hardware of the Silicon chips. I don't use a Mac these days.
 
Last edited:
Sorry, I just assumed you were talking about the Mac, but now I see you mentioned "my PC". Unfortunately, Safari for Windows was discontinued long ago.

"Apple continued to release new Safari versions for Mac and Windows, but when Safari 6.0 was released as part of Mac OS X Mountain Lion in 2012, a Windows version was missing. Apple later quietly removed the download links for Windows Safari, seemingly marking an end to the browser's existence on non-Apple platforms. The final version was Safari 5.1, released in 2010."

https://www.xda-developers.com/safari-for-windows-editorial/
 
  • Like
Reactions: hajime
Boyd01 said:
Sorry, I just assumed you were talking about the Mac, but now I see you mentioned "my PC". Unfortunately, Safari for Windows was discontinued long ago.

"Apple continued to release new Safari versions for Mac and Windows, but when Safari 6.0 was released as part of Mac OS X Mountain Lion in 2012, a Windows version was missing. Apple later quietly removed the download links for Windows Safari, seemingly marking an end to the browser's existence on non-Apple platforms. The final version was Safari 5.1, released in 2010."

https://www.xda-developers.com/safari-for-windows-editorial/
Click to expand...

No problem. At the beginning I was talking about the Mac version but later on I mentioned about the PC version.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Boyd01
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back