Abstract
Statistical processing based on data is generally called "AI", and it is running everywhere. Its typical use case is to pick and suggest contents. Web browser and search app list contents up from news media or magazine based on user's behavior and tendency. Smartphone sometime unilaterally suggests such contents regardless of user's intention.
If this inference is on-target, it would be naturally accepted, but the reality, it has not reached such a level. Or euphemistically speaking, it may have reached a practical level, but there must be some circumstances that prevent it from functioning at a practical level. Frankly speaking, it is nothing more than harassment and annoyance to the user.
Although personalization is off and advertisement is opt-out, Google app suddenly notifies useless topics as gossip or "life hack" every few hours these days.
It was getting depressed enough, so I decide to review a series of notification functions bringing useless notifications and deactivate them.
Exclusion of certain media - case of Google News, Discover on Google Chrome
It is difficult to control contents on Google News and Discover, but excluding specified media is easy. Each content has 3 dots leader including the option to remove them as "Don't show content from ~".
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Selecting this option, specified media is blocked and not shown anymore, if platformer works <
Incidentally, the option "Not interested in ~" is not recommended. Probably users will expect to face less contents including keyword. But its effectiveness is unknown.
Exclusion from notifications - case of Google app
This is not for removing only specifically targeted media. This is the way to eliminate general contents users don't want.
Android's notification functionality is distributed in multiple locations, and it is controlled on a per-application basis.
Check next setting to control notification on specified app. Turning notification off, this app stop notification. It makes notification itself not work, not notify only for specified contents.
Apps & Notifications > Special app access > Notification access
Then, refer to the settings for each app, and select items not to be notified from app's notification setting. In case of Google app, it has following categories.
- Entertainment
- Shopping
- Sports
- Finance
- Stories about your interests
These category is indicated in notification toaster items with the notified content together. Check unnecessary notification item and turn its category off there.
In the case of the image attached at the top of this post, specified items are categorized in ”Stories about your interests”. Turning this category off, not only specified media, but also any contents in this category are not notified.
Off topic
A closer look at "Stories about your interests" above indicates "2 notifications per day". But corresponding item was notified more than twice as the image at the top of this post shows. It is easy to see how lax the platformer's operation is.
I believe that people who work for platformers are talented and skilled. But I simultaneously wonder if they are satisfied high salaries and gorgeous free lunches without feeling any psychological guilt. Because they are dedicate to
- How to show content to users regardless of their needs
- How to get users to click regardless of their needs
One aspect of a platformer is an advertising. Although showing contents to users and get them to click is a part of them business, I feel their business is pretty lude and arrogant as if forcing to consume contents they give because users are using excellent service they made.
As posted how to block online advertisement recently*1, users should have countermeasure as "DeGoogle"*2 for self-defense and less exposure against platformers as possible.
