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Annoying news and ads from Google app

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  Annoying news and ads from Google app Stan Brown <the_stan_brown@fastmail.fm> - 2024-12-08 07:16 -0800
    Re: Annoying news and ads from Google app Stan Brown <the_stan_brown@fastmail.fm> - 2024-12-08 07:35 -0800
      Re: Annoying news and ads from Google app Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2024-12-08 18:09 +0000
        Re: Annoying news and ads from Google app "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2024-12-08 22:27 +0100
          Re: Annoying news and ads from Google app Andrew <andys@nospam.com> - 2024-12-09 00:12 +0000
            Re: Annoying news and ads from Google app Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2024-12-09 09:02 +0000
              Re: Annoying news and ads from Google app Andrew <andys@nospam.com> - 2024-12-09 22:21 +0000
            Re: Annoying news and ads from Google app "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2024-12-09 14:56 +0100
              Re: Annoying news and ads from Google app Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2024-12-09 14:37 +0000
                Re: Annoying news and ads from Google app AJL <noemail@none.com> - 2024-12-09 15:32 +0000
                  Re: Annoying news and ads from Google app Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2024-12-09 15:53 +0000
                    Re: Annoying news and ads from Google app AJL <noemail@none.com> - 2024-12-09 17:24 +0000
                      Re: Annoying news and ads from Google app Andrew <andys@nospam.com> - 2024-12-09 22:22 +0000
                        Re: Annoying news and ads from Google app Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2024-12-09 22:42 +0000
                          Re: Annoying news and ads from Google app Andrew <andys@nospam.com> - 2024-12-09 23:06 +0000
                            Re: Annoying news and ads from Google app Steve Hayes <hayesstw@telkomsa.net> - 2024-12-10 05:17 +0200
                          Re: Annoying news and ads from Google app AJL <noemail@none.com> - 2024-12-09 16:55 -0700
                        Re: Annoying news and ads from Google app AJL <noemail@none.com> - 2024-12-09 16:55 -0700
                          Re: Annoying news and ads from Google app Andrew <andys@nospam.com> - 2024-12-10 05:37 +0000
                            Re: Annoying news and ads from Google app AJL <noemail@none.com> - 2024-12-09 23:46 -0700
                              Re: Annoying news and ads from Google app "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2024-12-10 13:08 +0100
                                Re: Annoying news and ads from Google app AJL <noemail@none.com> - 2024-12-10 08:51 -0700
                              Re: Annoying news and ads from Google app Andrew <andys@nospam.com> - 2024-12-11 01:47 +0000
                      Re: Annoying news and ads from Google app Frank Slootweg <this@ddress.is.invalid> - 2024-12-10 13:37 +0000
                        Re: Annoying news and ads from Google app AJL <noemail@none.com> - 2024-12-10 08:51 -0700
                Re: Annoying news and ads from Google app "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2024-12-09 16:50 +0100
      Re: Annoying news and ads from Google app Nil <rednoise9@rednoise9.invalid> - 2024-12-08 13:26 -0500
        Re: Annoying news and ads from Google app Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2024-12-08 18:54 +0000
          Re: Annoying news and ads from Google app Nil <rednoise9@rednoise9.invalid> - 2024-12-08 19:27 -0500
            Re: Annoying news and ads from Google app Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2024-12-09 09:18 +0000
          Re: Annoying news and ads from Google app Andrew <andys@nospam.com> - 2024-12-09 02:31 +0000
      Re: Annoying news and ads from Google app Jörg Lorenz <hugybear@gmx.net> - 2024-12-08 22:37 +0100

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#145069 — Annoying news and ads from Google app

Pixel 8a, Android 15

More than once, I've swiped left or right on a screen and been dumped 
into a page with the Google header and a bunch of ads and clickbait 
news items, none of which I want. It appears to be the Google app, 
not Chrome, though I'm not 100% sure of that. 

Is there some way to turn that off? In particular, would Settings » 
Apps » Google » Disable do it, and if so are there any bad 
consequences, for instance losing Google's automatic backups? (After 
my phone was stolen a week ago, Google saved my bacon by downloading 
everything to my new phone, even call history and texts.)

More general question: what in fact is the Google app _for_? All the 
things I use: Calendar, Messages, Phone, Contacts -- are separate 
apps.

Except for this annoyance, I like the Googleverse on the Pixel much 
better than the mishmash of Samsung versions of Google apps on my old 
Galaxy A54 5G A. For instance, Samsung's app for photos wouldn't show 
anything I had taken on my earlier phone, and Google's wouldn't show 
anything else.

-- 
Stan Brown, Tehachapi, California, USA         https://BrownMath.com/
Shikata ga nai...

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#145070

On Sun, 8 Dec 2024 07:16:45 -0800, Stan Brown wrote:
> 
> Pixel 8a, Android 15
> 
> More than once, I've swiped left or right on a screen and been dumped 
> into a page with the Google header and a bunch of ads and clickbait 
> news items, none of which I want. It appears to be the Google app, 
> not Chrome, though I'm not 100% sure of that. 
> 
> Is there some way to turn that off?

Sorry, I should have Googled (!) before posting. It's called 
Discover, and it can be turned off in the Google app's own Settings 
menu.

https://www.androidpolice.com/disable-google-discover-android/

-- 
Stan Brown, Tehachapi, California, USA         https://BrownMath.com/
Shikata ga nai...

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#145073

Stan Brown wrote:

>> More than once, I've swiped left or right on a screen and been dumped
>> into a page with the Google header and a bunch of ads and clickbait
>> news items
> 
> Sorry, I should have Googled (!) before posting. It's called
> Discover

It would be more useful if it showed news articles before they get 36 
hours out of date and avoided showing new stories behind paywalls.

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#145077

On 2024-12-08 19:09, Andy Burns wrote:
> Stan Brown wrote:
> 
>>> More than once, I've swiped left or right on a screen and been dumped
>>> into a page with the Google header and a bunch of ads and clickbait
>>> news items
>>
>> Sorry, I should have Googled (!) before posting. It's called
>> Discover
> 
> It would be more useful if it showed news articles before they get 36 
> hours out of date and avoided showing new stories behind paywalls.

When I hit a pay wall after an item in discover, I hit the three dot 
menu, then "report this" as "other".

-- 
Cheers, Carlos.

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#145083

Carlos E.R. wrote on Sun, 8 Dec 2024 22:27:59 +0100 :

>>>> More than once, I've swiped left or right on a screen and been dumped
>>>> into a page with the Google header and a bunch of ads and clickbait
>>>> news items
>>>
>>> Sorry, I should have Googled (!) before posting. It's called
>>> Discover
>> 
>> It would be more useful if it showed news articles before they get 36 
>> hours out of date and avoided showing new stories behind paywalls.
> 
> When I hit a pay wall after an item in discover, I hit the three dot 
> menu, then "report this" as "other".

Thank God I've never seen any of this ad stuff but may I ask what app 
people are using that brings up these full-page ads on their Android phone?

When the OP says "Google app" in the subject line, is that the Google
Search App (I don't have it so I can't confirm with a package name).

Andy - is that the app the OP is talking about serving him ads?
What does it do (it's not on my phone so I can't test it out for him)?

Searching in Muntashirakon App Manager, I see an uninstalled app named
 "Google" com.google.android.googlequicearch... (it's truncated)

Is that the app that the OP is using? 

My phone works perfectly fine with that app uninstalled from the user
partition so I'm curious what it does for the OP that he really needs.

Also are they using a "private DNS" such as the one that I'm using:
 Samsung A32-5G Android 13 
 Settings > Connections > More connection settings > Private DNS
 (o)Private DNS provider hostname = adblock.dns.mullvad.net

Also, there's no advertising ID on my phone. Is there one on yours?
 Developer options = on
 Settings > Google > Ads (the advertising ID does not exist)

Otherwise, why have I never seen an ad on my phone even as I have almost 
900 apps on my phone and my bootloader version isn't rootable.

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#145089

Andrew wrote:

> Thank God I've never seen any of this ad stuff but may I ask what app 
> people are using that brings up these full-page ads on their Android phone?

It never shows me adverts, let alone full-page ones, some of the news 
stories are thinly veiled promo stuff scraped from news websites or 
paywalled articles from the same.  It acts as an extra "page" to the 
left of the home screen.

> When the OP says "Google app" in the subject line, is that the Google
> Search App (I don't have it so I can't confirm with a package name).

I can reach a similar app by launching "Google" from the app drawer, 
it's not identical, it also has a search bar and some buttons to do lens 
image search, lens translate, song ident and lens homework question search.

> Andy - is that the app the OP is talking about serving him ads?
> What does it do (it's not on my phone so I can't test it out for him)?
> 
> Searching in Muntashirakon App Manager, I see an uninstalled app named
> "Google" com.google.android.googlequicearch... (it's truncated)

Yes, that is the name of the non-home screen version mentioned above, 
the full name is com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox

It looks like a mega-launcher for every Google activity going, if you've 
got the APK look at the massive list of activities/services/providers etc

My android launcher is the standard "Pixel Launcher", but it shows some 
history in the app name com.google.android.apps.nexuslauncher

Here's a "long" screenshot from the app version (not the launcher version)

<http://andyburns.uk/misc/googlequicksearchbox.png>

It does have an option to "use without an account"

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#145127

Andy Burns wrote on Mon, 9 Dec 2024 09:02:46 +0000 :

> the full name is com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox
> 
> It looks like a mega-launcher for every Google activity going

Thanks for all that confirmation as I was faithfully trying to understand
the OP's original problem and the answers provided thereafter.

You helped me understand the issue better, where with respect to the
specific package <com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox>, I can see how
it could be useful for those who wish to make one-tap homescreen shortcuts
to (some of the many) Google Activities that it seems to call up.

For those who don't know what we're talking about, with Muntashirakon App
Manager you can make a shortcut to any public Activity in an app.

Since the <com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox> lists those (presumably
public) Activities, you can use Muntashirakon with that app to call them up
with a one-tap homescreen shortcut.

Thanks Andy for helping clarify the OP's situation. Much appreciated.

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#145091

On 2024-12-09 01:12, Andrew wrote:
> Carlos E.R. wrote on Sun, 8 Dec 2024 22:27:59 +0100 :
> 
>>>>> More than once, I've swiped left or right on a screen and been dumped
>>>>> into a page with the Google header and a bunch of ads and clickbait
>>>>> news items
>>>>
>>>> Sorry, I should have Googled (!) before posting. It's called
>>>> Discover
>>>
>>> It would be more useful if it showed news articles before they get 36 
>>> hours out of date and avoided showing new stories behind paywalls.
>>
>> When I hit a pay wall after an item in discover, I hit the three dot 
>> menu, then "report this" as "other".
> 
> Thank God I've never seen any of this ad stuff but may I ask what app 
> people are using that brings up these full-page ads on their Android phone?
> 
> When the OP says "Google app" in the subject line, is that the Google
> Search App (I don't have it so I can't confirm with a package name).

I am talking of "Discover".

-- 
Cheers, Carlos.

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#145093

Carlos E.R. wrote:

> I am talking of "Discover".

I don't have anything by that name ...

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#145094

On 12/9/24 7:37 AM, Andy Burns wrote:
>Carlos E.R. wrote:
>
>> I am talking of "Discover".
>
>I don't have anything by that name ...

I have "Discover" on the search page of many of my Chrome browser apps on my
 various Android tablets. Some of my past toys had Discover built in.
 Swiping right on the home screen would access it. I have found many
 interesting articles there. Since they're scraped, the original ads come
 with them...

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#145096

AJL wrote:

> Andy Burns wrote:
>>> Carlos E.R. wrote:
>>
>>> I am talking of "Discover".
>>
>> I don't have anything by that name ...
> 
> I have "Discover" on the search page of many of my Chrome browser 

OK yes, normally I use firefox/fenix, but if I use Chrome I get a set of 
similar scraped results under a Discover heading ...

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#145097

On 12/9/24 8:53 AM, Andy Burns wrote:
>AJL wrote:
>
>> Andy Burns wrote:
>>>> Carlos E.R. wrote:
>>>
>>>> I am talking of "Discover".
>>>
>>> I don't have anything by that name ...
>> 
>> I have "Discover" on the search page of many of my Chrome browser 
>
>OK yes, normally I use firefox/fenix, but if I use Chrome I get a set of 
>similar scraped results under a Discover heading ...

Out of curiosity I installed the Google app on my Fire 8+ tablet (Android
 fork OS) and the Discovery search page looks pretty much the same as the
 Chrome browser. Google claims to make the articles interesting to me by
 monitoring my usage. Scary for the paranoid, huh.

Interestingly I haven't yet figured out how to get Discovery on this Chrome
 tablet I'm posting with. It has a desktop Chrome browser with no Discovery
 on the search page and when I try to download the Google app it says it
 won't work on this device. C'mon Google. Ah well I'll try again after
 lunch...

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#145128

AJL wrote on Mon, 9 Dec 2024 17:24:42 -0000 (UTC) :

> Google claims to make the articles interesting to me by
>  monitoring my usage. Scary for the paranoid, huh.

On that topic alone of Google monitoring your reading to figure out what it 
is that you like to read and then presenting you with similar offerings.... 

I have a free Amazon Vine account which allows me to order from Amazon 
three items a day of up to $100 each without cost, shipping or taxes.

For *that* account, Amazon also monitors my purchases, and then it offers 
me free stuff (up to $100 per item, 3 a day) that fits my buying patterns. 

Surprisingly, that's a kind of monitoring & offering that I actually like!

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#145129

Andrew wrote:

> AJL wrote:
> 
>> Google claims to make the articles interesting to me by
>>  monitoring my usage. Scary for the paranoid, huh.
> 
> On that topic alone of Google monitoring your reading to figure out what 
> it is that you like to read and then presenting you with similar 
> offerings....
I told my launcher pane to not use my google account, and refused all 
cookies, that way it game me more news stories, from more sources (not 
just .uk) including cat vids and stuff ...

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#145130

Andy Burns wrote on Mon, 9 Dec 2024 22:42:25 +0000 :

>> On that topic alone of Google monitoring your reading to figure out what 
>> it is that you like to read and then presenting you with similar 
>> offerings....
> I told my launcher pane to not use my google account, and refused all 
> cookies, that way it game me more news stories, from more sources (not 
> just .uk) including cat vids and stuff ...

I do the same (conceptually) when, on a PC, I use a privacy-based web
browser to read the Google News web page which collates articles for me.
 <https://news.google.com/home?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en>

Since it asks me every time to accept or reject cookies, I reject them.
Then it gives me whatever it thinks is a generic page for people in the US.

For World News, I have a similar bookmark which serves news alphabetically.
 <https://www.google.com/search?q=world+news+today>

Interestingly, the good stuff (such as BBC & CNN) show up early (due to the
accident of alphabetics); but then the utterly fantastically atrocious
garbage is soon listed thereafter (e.g., Al Jazeera & Hindustan Times).

Obviously I pick some (e.g., the BBC) yet I ignore others (Al Jazeera).

With those two pages alone, I pick through today's news WITHOUT anyone
correlating my reading choices so as to "Discover" what it is I like.

Everything you do, every second of the day, is one of planned privacy.

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#145133

On Mon, 9 Dec 2024 23:06:56 -0000 (UTC), Andrew <andys@nospam.com>
wrote:

>Andy Burns wrote on Mon, 9 Dec 2024 22:42:25 +0000 :
>
>>> On that topic alone of Google monitoring your reading to figure out what 
>>> it is that you like to read and then presenting you with similar 
>>> offerings....
>> I told my launcher pane to not use my google account, and refused all 
>> cookies, that way it game me more news stories, from more sources (not 
>> just .uk) including cat vids and stuff ...
>
>I do the same (conceptually) when, on a PC, I use a privacy-based web
>browser to read the Google News web page which collates articles for me.
> <https://news.google.com/home?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en>
>
>Since it asks me every time to accept or reject cookies, I reject them.
>Then it gives me whatever it thinks is a generic page for people in the US.
>
>For World News, I have a similar bookmark which serves news alphabetically.
> <https://www.google.com/search?q=world+news+today>
>
>Interestingly, the good stuff (such as BBC & CNN) show up early (due to the
>accident of alphabetics); but then the utterly fantastically atrocious
>garbage is soon listed thereafter (e.g., Al Jazeera & Hindustan Times).
>
>Obviously I pick some (e.g., the BBC) yet I ignore others (Al Jazeera).

Well, if you choose to pick the garbage, that's up to you. 


-- 
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web:  http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://khanya.wordpress.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

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#145132

On 12/9/2024 3:42 PM, Andy Burns wrote:
> Andrew wrote:
>
>> AJL wrote:
>>
>>> Google claims to make the articles interesting to me by
>>> monitoring my usage. Scary for the paranoid, huh.
>>
>> On that topic alone of Google monitoring your reading to figure
>> out what it is that you like to read and then presenting you with
>> similar offerings....

> I told my launcher pane to not use my google account, and refused
> all cookies, that way it game me more news stories, from more sources
> (not just .uk) including cat vids and stuff ...

I've always enjoyed the Discover selection so Google does a good job
picking stuff for me. I also read other aggregators like Flipboard,
Yahoo News, Slashdot, The Register, and Smartnews. With my Chrome stuff
I use a read only extension to get rid of the ads, popups and moving
stuff. Likewise the Reading mode app on my Android stuff...

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#145131

On 12/9/2024 3:22 PM, Andrew wrote:
> AJL wrote on Mon, 9 Dec 2024 17:24:42 -0000 (UTC) :
>
>> Google claims to make the articles interesting to me by monitoring
>> my usage. Scary for the paranoid, huh.
>
> On that topic alone of Google monitoring your reading to figure out
> what it is that you like to read and then presenting you with
> similar offerings.... I have a free Amazon Vine account which allows
> me to order from Amazon three items a day of up to $100 each without
> cost, shipping or taxes. For *that* account, Amazon also monitors my
> purchases, and then it offers me free stuff (up to $100 per item, 3 a
> day) that fits my buying patterns. Surprisingly, that's a kind of
> monitoring & offering that I actually like!

How many reviews do you do a month?

My Amazon story is kinda funny (and sad). I ordered a Google Pixel
tablet ($400US) about 2 months ago. I received a toy football. Yep, you
heard me right...a toy football...in a box with a 'battery inside'
warning. I returned the football the next day (almost 2 months ago now)
and have been trying for a refund ever since. The lady on the phone
today promised the charge back would now occur in 5 to 10 days. We'll see...

Why don't I just dispute the charge with my credit card you ask? Cause
Amazon would then probably cancel me and unfortunately I can't live
without Amazon. Sad, huh. For example I needed a new part for my shower
last week. Do I drive down to the store, hunt for a parking spot, fight
the crowds, and look for the part, only to find that it may not be
there? Nope. I just whipped out an (on topic Android) tablet toy, 
brought up the Amazon app, ordered the part and it was on my porch the 
next morning. I just can't go back to my prior life...

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#145134

AJL wrote on Mon, 9 Dec 2024 16:55:14 -0700 :

> How many reviews do you do a month?

I order three items a day, every day, from Amazon Vine, which is about 90
reviews per month. Amazon has rated me as one of their best reviewers.

But remember, this is all free stuff (up to $100 each) that NEEDS reviews.

They don't give you free stuff that doesn't need a review.

> My Amazon story is kinda funny (and sad). I ordered a Google Pixel
> tablet ($400US) about 2 months ago. I received a toy football. Yep, you
> heard me right...a toy football...in a box with a 'battery inside'
> warning. I returned the football the next day (almost 2 months ago now)
> and have been trying for a refund ever since. The lady on the phone
> today promised the charge back would now occur in 5 to 10 days. We'll see.

Funny thing about Amazon Vine is you can't return anything. It's yours.
 <https://amazon.com/vine/about>

Once in a while we get a broken vase or something like that where they
simply take it off our list of things to review. But that's it.

You can't return anything.
 
> Why don't I just dispute the charge with my credit card you ask? Cause
> Amazon would then probably cancel me and unfortunately I can't live
> without Amazon. Sad, huh. For example I needed a new part for my shower
> last week. Do I drive down to the store, hunt for a parking spot, fight
> the crowds, and look for the part, only to find that it may not be
> there? Nope. I just whipped out an (on topic Android) tablet toy, 
> brought up the Amazon app, ordered the part and it was on my porch the 
> next morning. I just can't go back to my prior life...

Are you on Amazon (amazon.com) or Amazon Vine (amazon.com/vine)?

Amazon is where people order stuff using money.
Amazon Vine is where people order stuff for free.

Here's more information about getting 3 items a day for free from Amazon.
Each item can be up to $100 so that's up to $300 per day if you max out.
In one year, for example, that's $300x365 = about a hundred-thousand bucks!
 <https://duckduckgo.com/&q=what+is+amazon+vine>

I'm only Silver but if I get gold, then it's 8 items a day of any price.
Completely free of initial cost, sales tax, and shipping.

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#145135

On 12/9/2024 10:37 PM, Andrew wrote:
> AJL wrote on Mon, 9 Dec 2024 16:55:14 -0700 :

>> How many reviews do you do a month?

> I order three items a day, every day, from Amazon Vine, which is
> about 90 reviews per month. Amazon has rated me as one of their best
> reviewers.

Do you get to choose what stuff you review or does Amazon? If you order
it, it sounds like you do.

> But remember, this is all free stuff (up to $100 each) that NEEDS
> reviews. They don't give you free stuff that doesn't need a review.

But that sounds like Amazon decides what to send you?

> Funny thing about Amazon Vine is you can't return anything. It's
> yours. <https://amazon.com/vine/about>

What do you do with the stuff you don't need? Yard sale?

> Are you on Amazon (amazon.com) or Amazon Vine (amazon.com/vine)?

I'm on plain old Amazon. I didn't even know that Amazon Vine existed. I
had to Google it.

> Here's more information about getting 3 items a day for free from
> Amazon.

Dunno where I'd put all that extra stuff. I've been retired 32 years now
and would hate going back to work.

> Each item can be up to $100 so that's up to $300 per day if you max
> out. In one year, for example, that's $300x365 = about a
> hundred-thousand bucks!
> <https://duckduckgo.com/&q=what+is+amazon+vine>

Sounds lucrative. Also sounds like a lot of work.

> I'm only Silver but if I get gold, then it's 8 items a day of any
> price. Completely free of initial cost, sales tax, and shipping.

Is it even possible use 8 items long enough to review them each day?
Perhaps I'm missing something...

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