How Google and Facebook Turned You Into a Product | Chaos Lever

Update: 2025-05-01

Description

Welcome back, fellow alleged humans 👋 In this episode of Chaos Lever, we jump headfirst into the ad-tech cesspool to answer one burning question: how did we go from banner ads to full-blown surveillance capitalism? Spoiler: it involves Google being a monopoly (confirmed!) and Facebook being... Facebook. Yes, it’s as bad as you think.

This isn’t just a rant (though it’s a good one)—we walk through the history of online advertising, from the first innocent banner to the vast network of data-siphoning machinery that tracks your every click. Want to know how cookies, JavaScript, and ad exchanges work together to auction off your attention in microseconds? We’ve got you. Want to rage with us about how smart people built this nonsense instead of, say, curing anything? Also covered.

If you've ever wondered how ad blockers work, what a Facebook Pixel is, or why your pork loin is being monetized without your consent, this one’s for you. Come for the breezy kilt talk, stay for the existential dread.

LINKS
📌 The surprising truth about goldfish memory: https://discoverwildscience.com/the-surprising-truth-about-goldfish-memory-its-not-3-seconds-1-296741/
📌The 115 page decision in the Google case: https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/US-v-Google-Ad-Tech-Opinion-4-17-25.pdf
📌A brief history on online advertising: https://www.peppercontent.io/blog/history-of-online-advertising/
📌Your user agent data: https://whatmyuseragent.com