(Moved from GoDaddy)
This has to have been the biggest mess anyone has ever tried to make of my
website.
I told them if it kept up, I'd move my content elsewhere. Since it kept
up, that's exactly what I'm doing.
No, I'm not monetized.
The only person who issues marching orders as to where my content is and is
not allowed to be is me. So, my website might be hosted by a particular
web host, but the site itself belongs to me. Period.
That being said, here's how the migration and integration is going.
I had to begin a bit sooner than I wanted to, so you might still encounter
some of the pages before I've had time to finish the polishing of the content
on those pages. Is that a bad thing?
Not necessarily.
That's because as I go, I'll see something and get an idea of how much better
I could possibly make it, whatever form that takes. Moving content,
rearranging it, updating it... Those are a few of the kinds of changes I
suddenly get ideas about.
The pages of the Original Parlor can be reached through the Files on the
Mayfair Witches section. That is where I have my content from the
Original Parlor. I've also used the same organization structure found
here.
No, I'm not monetized.
I can do a lot more with my site on the new combined platform than I could
with the Original Parlor. Now, the Original Parlor is well backed up and
archived. I do monitor it. However, the only place you will
actually be able to access my content from the Original Parlor is
here.
No, you may not use any of the pages on the combined site as landing pages for
your ads.
No, I'm not monetized.
No, the presence of Google Analytics does not automatically mean a website is
monetized and/or runs ads. Google Analytics has tools like plain old
fashioned website traffic that don't even require a consent signal, let alone
an Ads account.
For those Analytics features that do require consent, yes, this site has a
basic consent banner. If you were to sign up for email updates to this
blog, well, that does require consent under things like GDPR, even if you are
the one actively providing your personal data.
The pages of Original Parlor content integrated with this site don't collect
anything like that, just this part. This part is where user provided
data goes.
And no one is allowed to inject codes like other Google tags into anything of
mine. Only my Google Analytics tags are allowed. Anyone thinking
of attempting to inject code to cause problems or poach data--don't even try
it.
I think this would be a good time to explain something for cautionary
purposes. The only consent banners you will ever see on any website of
mine are the ones provided by the web hosts themselves in their own website
builders. Never again will I use a third-party CMP. I don't care
if they're "Google certified".
Within the last year, I had a horrendous experience with a CMP. That
experience included finding things like an unauthorized second consent string
full of vendors I didn't use. Even my web host didn't use them.
And it was a looooooooong list.
They had to do with that whole IAB TCF thing.
And guess what. Not only did that second consent string have no consent
banner when I had one set up on that account (that no longer exists) and on my
site, they'd actually throw me a howler telling me I had to create a consent
banner for that second consent string I did not create our authorize that was
full of vendors I did not use.
Then, they'd throw up more howlers advising me not to have so many vendors.
That's just it, class. I didn't have that many vendors.
And the consent string, that second one, was one they wouldn't even let me
audit to ignore any vendors I did not use.
This is where I admonish that "Google certified" does not mean it's okay to
misrepresent to website publishers what Google's policies actually are.
No, they do not require us to collect consent for vendors we don't use and who
don't even come into contact with users on our websites.
There is more, obviously, but my first piece of advice is this: if the CMP is
not actually Google themselves and they try to scare you--yes, scare you--into
doing something or allowing something and claim it's because "Google said so",
first: if they are not actually Google, tell them to be quiet and sit
down. Second: go to Google directly.
Never allow anyone claiming to help you "be compliant" scare or threaten you
and then try to justify it by putting words in someone else's
mouth.
This whole thing has to do with data privacy, with GDPR (both EU and UK, and
EEA), data privacy in the United States, and other countries. If it's
overwhelming to you, that is completely understandable. Because it is A
LOT to take in.
Bottom line here is, be careful. There have been serious studies in very
recent years concerning third party CMPs, and the findings are not
pretty. When you look into this, and I hope you do, you're going to see
the term "dark patterns". These are the disturbing patterns researchers
found when conducting studies of these third party CMPs.
What makes this so critical is that data privacy and regulations like GDPR are
real, and yes, we do have to comply. We have to make sure that not only
do we collect explicit consent from users to collect their data, we have to
tell users what the data is used for and by whom. There are types of
generic data without identifying personal data that can be used for tracking
website traffic, which is all I will allow unless that consent banner collects
a user's explicit consent.
I STILL don't run ads, either. My web hosts might, so if you do
encounter any advertising, you would need to reach out to GoDaddy or
Google. I have nothing against advertising and marketing. I'm
actually quite a "fan" of personalized advertising, if you'll pardon the
pun. What I am NOT a fan of is people's personal data being extracted
without their consent or even their knowledge. I'm also not a fan of
vendors I don't know or use collecting that data because how is anyone
supposed to know what those vendors use that data for when we don't even know
that vendor let alone use their services?
Bottom line is consent is still required. We still need to collect
explicit consent before any sensitive user data is collected. I only
have a Google Analytics tag here, and regardless of who screeches to high
heaven about it, my tags are set to send consent denied signals unless and
until users provide their explicit consent for their data to be collected.
That is also my rule and like with data privacy laws, my rule is not open to
interpretation, nor is it subject to debate. That is how things are
going to be done around here when it comes to consent.
And all unattended children will receive an espresso and a free kitten.
For those interested in learning more about CMPs and dark patterns, here is a
2022 research paper from Proceedings on Privacy Enhancing Technologies by
Michael Toth, Nataliia Bielova and Vincent Roca:
On Dark Patterns and Manipulation of Website Publishers by CMPs
