i don't. ads don't bother me that much unless it is too intrusive. if all of us block ads, it means we need to pay for a lot of sites/apps that we are currently getting for free. I don't think it is a good idea. Not everyone is rich.
Ask HN: Does anybody not use an adblocker?
111–120 of 159 posts
Re: Ask HN: Does anybody not use an adblocker?
#112Earlier quoted context omitted.
Can you outline how you're doing system-wide as blocking? That's news to me!
Pi-Hole + VPN usually works without issue for me.
I've seen posts about running pihole on an rpi or ubuntu.
Are there any advantages to paying a monthly fee to do this when it can be easily done from inside your LAN?
Re: Ask HN: Does anybody not use an adblocker?
#113Earlier quoted context omitted.
I work in digital media and I utterly and entirely recommend EVERYONE use ad/analytics/tracking blockers and browsers which limit user-level data collection and tracking. As someone who works in the field and actively builds end-arounds to systems that thwart our ability to easily track your behaviors online, it's in your best interest to do so. Sure, you don't have to do any of this, but seeing any particular ad is…
> seeing any particular ad is the least of your problems I run a blocker. But for a general user not hitting shadier corners of the web and careful what they click on - What are the larger problems people discuss, and how are they relevant in the day-to-day?
If you disable your ad-blocker, you'll notice that scam and malware/virus ads are everywhere, they're not relegated to the shady corners. Instagram, Facebook and newspapers are for example absolutely infested with pure scam advertising.
Re: Ask HN: Does anybody not use an adblocker?
#114I don't use. I don't care about ads, I'm more concerned about 3'rd party requests so I block them via uMatrix extension.
Re: Ask HN: Does anybody not use an adblocker?
#115I don't. I think adblocking is a form of petty theft. If something has too much ads, I don't use it or pay for the ad-free version. I pay for YouTube Premium. Also adblocking does reduce some experiences. Some sites will tell you to disable it, and that's more irritating than the ad banners. I had conversation with my daughter on how games used to have no ads but now they're chock full of ads, but TV has no ads now b…
How it is petty theft when I did not consent to be advertised to in the first place?
Re: Ask HN: Does anybody not use an adblocker?
#116Earlier quoted context omitted.
Pi-Hole + VPN usually works without issue for me.
I've seen posts about running pihole on an rpi or ubuntu. Are there any advantages to paying a monthly fee to do this when it can be easily done from inside your LAN?
Some folks dislike exposing parts (or any) part of their internal network.
Re: Ask HN: Does anybody not use an adblocker?
#117I do use adblockers, so much so that I basically only use android because of all the system-wide adblocking capabilities, including youtube ads. I occasionally switch off adblockers to see what the rest of the world sees. Within seconds I am shocked every single time. Some sites I use are unusable without adblockers. The youtube experience is attrocious without adblockers. Amazon products are impossible to find witho…
Can you outline how you're doing system-wide as blocking? That's news to me!
## If you are rooted:
Install AdAway and use the root method; this will modify the system hosts file and redirect the requests to domains that are used to serve ads to 127.0.0.1.
Some apps refuse to function if they can't fetch ads, so AdAway has a webserver that listens on 127.0.0.1 that serves a blank webpage to those apps. Follow the directions in AdAway to install the CA certificate in your device.
## If you aren't rooted:
Go to Settings and search "Private DNS", set this to dns.adguard.com, this is AdGuard's DNS, and it blocks requests to ad sites (not sure how, but it may not return an IP address or return a bogus one). This method will work on any device as long as you can change the DNS that the device uses (including iPhones).
Re: Ask HN: Does anybody not use an adblocker?
#118Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's a few notable differences between android and iOS as far as adblocking is concerned: 1) Android lets you install other browsers and use them as default. Some of these, like Firefox or Brave or Vivaldi, include adblocking software that works everywhere, even YouTube. Whereas on iOS, even if you install chrome, it's just a reskinned safari because Apple refuses third parties proper access to the system. https:/…
1) iOS let’s let’s you use a different browser as default. Safari also allows extensions which provide excellent adblocking. 3) this can also be done on iOS.
1) No it doesn't. Any other browser on iOS is just a reskinned safari, because Apple doesn't allow other render engines.
3) Cool.
Re: Ask HN: Does anybody not use an adblocker?
#119Earlier quoted context omitted.
I work in digital media and I utterly and entirely recommend EVERYONE use ad/analytics/tracking blockers and browsers which limit user-level data collection and tracking. As someone who works in the field and actively builds end-arounds to systems that thwart our ability to easily track your behaviors online, it's in your best interest to do so. Sure, you don't have to do any of this, but seeing any particular ad is…
> seeing any particular ad is the least of your problems I run a blocker. But for a general user not hitting shadier corners of the web and careful what they click on - What are the larger problems people discuss, and how are they relevant in the day-to-day?
I would say Facebook receiving private health data presents a large problem. https://themarkup.org/pixel-hunt/2022/06/16/facebook-is-rece...
Re: Ask HN: Does anybody not use an adblocker?
#120I use two browsers. In one I have adblocker. In another one I don't use it.
I use it on the browser from where I browse YouTube, news portals, etc. On the browser that I use 99% for work I don't use it since I want to see (yes, strange I know) ads in my Twitter feed or work related portals that I visit. This way I support those portals (at least I hope that they get paid for showing me ads).