https://www.reddit.com/r/changelog/comments/49jjb7/reddit_change_click_events_on_outbound_links/
created by umbrae on 08/03/2016 at 17:31 UTC*
212 upvotes, 57 top-level comments (showing 25)
We're rolling out a small change over the next couple of weeks that might otherwise be fairly unnoticeable: click events on outbound links on desktop. When a user goes to a subreddit listing page or their front page and clicks on a link, we'll register an event on the server side.
This will be useful for many reasons, but some examples:
1. Vote speed calculation: It's interesting to think about the delta between when a user clicks on a link and when they vote on it. (For example, an article vs an image). Previously we wouldn't have a good way of knowing how this happens.
2. Spam: We'll be able to track the impact of spammed links much better, and long term potentially put in some last-mile defenses against people clicking through to spam.
3. General stats, like click to vote ratio: How often are articles read vs voted upon? Are some articles voted on more than they are actually read? Why?
Click volume on links as you can imagine is pretty large, so we'll be rolling this out slowly so we can make sure we don't destroy our servers. We'll be starting off small, at about 1% of logged in traffic, and ramping up over the next few days.
Please let us know if you see anything odd happening when you click links over the next few days. Specifically, we've added some logic to allow our event tracking to be accessible for only a certain amount of time to combat its possible use for spam. If you notice that you'll click on a link and not go where you intended to (say, to the comments page), that's helpful for us to know so that we can adjust this work. We'd love to know if you encounter anything strange here.
Comment by j0be at 08/03/2016 at 17:51 UTC
323 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Does this track which user clicks links, or is it anonymized? If it isn't, this could be a privacy concern for some users
Comment by j0be at 08/03/2016 at 17:57 UTC
41 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Does this factor for RES expandos? You might get slanted data for image submissions
Comment by kardos at 09/03/2016 at 09:57 UTC
28 upvotes, 2 direct replies
I'm a bit late adding a comment here, but the solution here is simple: make it opt-out so you can appease those who don't want their off-site clicks in your database. Those who don't care won't turn it off, those who do care will, and you won't take a hit on the "creepy" meter.
Comment by xfile345 at 09/03/2016 at 00:23 UTC
21 upvotes, 5 direct replies
Everyone's talking about right-clicking and copying URLs.... But what happens if you right-click > "open in new tab". I do this very often, and this doesn't register an `onClick`, which is how I assume you're going to be tracking information (as it currently does for the "last viewed" link--right?).
I just don't want to get some kind of flag on my account for never clicking links, but voting on stuff when I am, in fact, clicking links. Not that you're going to be flagging accounts for abuse with this data, but you know... just in case.
Comment by Ekrof at 08/03/2016 at 17:56 UTC
14 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Could this be used for better subreddit stats? Something like referrals from inside reddit would be very useful.
Comment by LuciousLisa at 09/03/2016 at 08:46 UTC
39 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Fuck this. This might actually lead me away from Reddit altogether. Privacy > entertainment.
Comment by [deleted] at 09/03/2016 at 03:24 UTC
97 upvotes, 3 direct replies
[deleted]
Comment by faredodger at 17/03/2016 at 23:00 UTC
11 upvotes, 0 direct replies
This is not a "small change" as you've put it, but a huge privacy invasion on your part. This should be *at least* opt-out.
Sorry, I find it hard to believe that Reddit isn't going to monetize this kind of data sooner or later[1]. You might be personally opposed to selling user data, but one change in management is enough to topple the current privacy policy. And since the data is already stored: well, tough luck. Gotta make money somehow, right?
Apart from that: How about the very real threat of data theft? How about Court Orders or National Security Letters? Would you be willing to sell out, let's say, members of the LBGT community just because it's illegal in their country?
And why do you announce this significant change in a relatively obscure subreddit and not on the blog?
Comment by TheGrammarBolshevik at 08/03/2016 at 18:03 UTC
11 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Specifically, we've added some logic to allow our event tracking to be accessible for only a certain amount of time to combat its possible use for spam.
I don't follow. Why would spammers have access to this at all?
Comment by markevens at 09/03/2016 at 16:33 UTC
20 upvotes, 2 direct replies
How long before you start selling this data?
Comment by TotesMessenger at 08/03/2016 at 20:31 UTC*
40 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I'm a bot, *bleep*, *bloop*. Someone has linked to this thread from another place on reddit:
[/r/blackout2015] Reddit will soon begin tracking which links you click upon
[/r/blackout2015] Reddit will soon begin tracking which links you click upon
[/r/conspiracy] Reddit will soon begin tracking outbound links you click on
[/r/privacy] Reddit will soon start logging which outbound links a user clicks on
[/r/privacyrus] Reddit начал следить за кликами на внешние ссылки
[/r/technology] Reddit starts tracking our clicks
[/r/torontocrypto] Reddit will soon start logging which outbound links a user clicks on
2: /message/compose?to=/r/TotesMessenger
Comment by protestor at 18/03/2016 at 08:47 UTC
7 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Why isn't there an opt-out in the "privacy options" in the preferences?
Comment by armedmonkey at 18/03/2016 at 13:15 UTC
6 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Are you going to provide an opt-out, or are we going to start seeing a big market for browser extensions to bypass reddit surveillance?
I'm not even kidding.
Comment by Turtl3-1337 at 18/03/2016 at 20:49 UTC
6 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Can we opt-out.
Comment by adeadhead at 08/03/2016 at 17:32 UTC
47 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Yay data!
Comment by [deleted] at 08/03/2016 at 18:00 UTC*
5 upvotes, 2 direct replies
[deleted]
Comment by [deleted] at 17/03/2016 at 23:40 UTC
6 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Hooray, something the community hates yet the admins insist on adding because fuck us.
Comment by timschwartz at 17/03/2016 at 08:27 UTC
8 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I can't believe Reddit admins think this is acceptable.
Comment by [deleted] at 08/03/2016 at 17:52 UTC*
29 upvotes, 3 direct replies
[deleted]
Comment by FUZxxl at 17/03/2016 at 16:25 UTC
4 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Please give us a way to turn off this tracking.
Comment by JohnObvious at 17/03/2016 at 21:33 UTC
4 upvotes, 0 direct replies
You asked if we had any issues. Starting last night(16Mar2016) clicking or middle clicking brings up the out.reddit.com link and the link never opens. Right click, open in new tab works fine
This on FF 44.0.2 with RES.
Comment by [deleted] at 08/03/2016 at 17:36 UTC
11 upvotes, 1 direct replies
You better make a post on /r/dataisbeautiful when all is said and done.
Comment by teraflop at 08/03/2016 at 18:27 UTC
11 upvotes, 0 direct replies
TIL Reddit wasn't doing this already.
Comment by novov at 08/03/2016 at 19:17 UTC
3 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Hypothetically, would it be possible to weight votes on links based on how many people actually clicked?
Comment by [deleted] at 09/03/2016 at 00:53 UTC
3 upvotes, 1 direct replies
[deleted]