Richard, you are certainly not alone in your feelings. I think the majority of people feel that way. I just don’t know if we are correct. First of all, let me apologize for the length of this reply and to state, I do not support them making money from me and leaving me out of the equation and in the dark. For me it is more about the sneaky way they do it, not that they do it.

I look at it this way. every time I watch a football game TV they are making money from me. Their income is based on how many of us are watching. But they are giving me the game, and making money from advertisers. I could purchase a Pay per view and receive no advertisements but they are still making money from me. That is exactly what browsers and search engines are doing, right? The problem is we don’t know. In the TV world, there are highly paid athletes they must compensate and they charge advertisers to get that money back and make a profit. I’m kind of OK with that. We can check out their income and expenses to determine their true profit. But where is the money going that the silicon big guys are earning. If they are making an insane amount of money and we are left out, I agree with you 100%. If the money they make is barely covering their costs then I am fine with that. The problem is, there is no easy way to check. TV makes money from millions of users watching ads. Browsers and Search Engines make money from Billions and Billions of views, clicks, redirection, and who knows what else. I need transparency on how much they are actually making from me before I can state an honest answer. If over a year’s time they are making $5.00 do we really need to worry. The fact that it is 5 times 10 billion might make them rich but getting back a percentage of my $5 would not help me. Thanks for your input. It is appreciated.

Richard: Thank you for that cookie program. Does who it says. See you have several gems in your collection. Would be an interesting read if you were inclined to share them.

Jim: Yes I do have certain sites whitelisted. And as mentioned, I belong to a miniscule group of people who go to extreme measures and block almost everything. Believe my tactics do no harm to these visited sites.

PS I also donate financially to certain sites so they remain open and assist others, Mindblower!

Kevin, most of what we have on DCT about whitelisting cookies are comments from staff and subscribers. I can give you a list of the programs I have used and are familiar with.
Cookiebro – Cookie Manager **** Works with Firefox –
I really like this one because it allows you to edit your existing list of cookies, you may white or blacklist any of your existing cookies by accepting the domain or purge them all.
Cookie AutoDelete ****
Great features, You can enable automatic cleaning and put a delay of cleaning. Clear cookies after every domain change, Whitelist, Graylist and blacklist domains.
Vanilla Cookie ***
Similar to the above programs with just a fewer options.
Edit This Cookie – For Edge ***
I am not sure if this is available for regular Microsoft users right now. I am using it in my version of Edge which is an Insider’s build. If it is not already in your list of extensions for your version, it will be soon.
These are the only cookie managers I use, each will allow you to accept cookies from a domain and block cookies from others or delete them after your session ends.
Hope this helps.

Jim,
Could you please provide me a link to any DCT article(s) about whitelisting sites to allow cookies and overall cookie management? Would greatly appreciate it.

Mindblower, I have always whitelisted sites that I plan to support and accept cookies. I also clear all other cookies after every surfing event. I do, however, believe the internet will have a major hiccup when all ads are blocked. I just don’t see how small informative sites can exist without some income, and if it not from generous donations, which I don’t see happening, it has to be from something like cookies or ads. There are several sites like DCT that I regularly visit and gladly accept cookies, ads and in some cases give tokens. With you being a regular on DCT I am sure you understand. I know that a lot of people don’t come close to the privacy steps you keep, that is why sites like this exist to help them learn.

Hi MB,

I use a plugin called “I don’t care about cookies” to keep those annoying warnings at bay.
You can read about it here: https://www.i-dont-care-about-cookies.eu/

Richard

I dislike companies making money on my searches without any reward. Am constantly reminded that blocking ads will stop a free internet, and we will all have to pay. But, we are already paying, and totally unaware of the cost.

Also firmly believe, that only a small handful of people take their privacy seriously, or go to the extremes I mentioned, Mindblower!