Wordle is secretly filled with ad tracking software reveals fan

metro.co.uk:

Fans have discovered that The New York Times has added a ‘dozen’ different ad tracking apps to Wordle, when there used to be none.

When The New York Times bought Wordle for a ‘low’ seven figure sum they must’ve had some plan in mind to make their money back, and part of that plan seem to be filling the game with ad tracking software.

Originally, Wordle was completely free and the only thing on its website was the game itself but since The New York Times took over, and changed the web address, they’ve started adding trackers from both the main New York Times website and ones that send your data to third party companies such as Google and Oracle.

That means that not only do Google and others know you’re using Wordle, and where you were when you did, but you’re now more likely to get served with ads related to The New York Times and whatever it thinks people who enjoy word puzzles are into.

Ad trackers are a completely normal part of any major website, including this one, but one of the original appeals of Wordle is that it was completely non-profit, with no hidden extras.

There’s no warning on the Wordle site that ad trackers have been added and no-one would know if tech-savvy fans hadn’t gone through the programming code of the website to check for them.

Although most people have accepted ad trackers as a standard part of internet life there have been criticisms that they’re used by the police and government agencies to track people’s movements online, often without needing a warrant.

When Wordle was its own little thing it was very much the exception to the rule by not having them, but it’s still sad to see that they’re the first thing The New York Times added (and that rude and/or obscure words were the first thing they took