<story><title>Mozilla and independent researchers publish guidelines for an ad archive API</title><url>https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2019/03/27/facebook-and-google-this-is-what-an-effective-ad-archive-api-looks-like/</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>borntyping</author><text>&amp;quot;Just block ads&amp;quot; isn&amp;#x27;t a useful answer here - this is about being able to see who is advertising to the people who aren&amp;#x27;t using ad-blockers (which is most users on the internet), and being able to do research into who is paying for advert and who they are targeting. As long as the advertising industry still has a presence on the internet, this information will be important.</text></comment>
<story><title>Mozilla and independent researchers publish guidelines for an ad archive API</title><url>https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2019/03/27/facebook-and-google-this-is-what-an-effective-ad-archive-api-looks-like/</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>btown</author><text>I&amp;#x27;ve taken a liking to the term &amp;quot;the New York Times rule&amp;quot; - write and act as if your message, statement, or a detailed account of your actions could be published at any time on the front page of the New York Times: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;businessethicsblog.com&amp;#x2F;2010&amp;#x2F;12&amp;#x2F;08&amp;#x2F;business-ethics-and-the-new-york-times-rule&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;businessethicsblog.com&amp;#x2F;2010&amp;#x2F;12&amp;#x2F;08&amp;#x2F;business-ethics-an...&lt;/a&gt; .&lt;p&gt;The most concerning political advertising thrives in the shadows: it whispers messages to audiences that are false (easier to counter in the light of day) or prejudiced (and thus should have consequences to whatever groups post them). Radical transparency during campaigns may not stop these types of things, but at the very least it enables a response.&lt;p&gt;That said, it&amp;#x27;s worth thinking deeply about the arms race that might ensue - when every PAC can see every advertisement every other PAC is investing in, does that make the race into even more of a &amp;quot;whoever has the most money wins&amp;quot; situation even more than the post-Citizens United dystopia we find ourselves in now?</text></comment>