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Show HN: Adblock for Podcasts

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Re: Show HN: Adblock for Podcasts

#13

Post by askl »

interblag wrote: post #8

This is interesting as a technical PoC but also feels a bit unethical. The moral case for ad blocking on the web seems pretty clear: online advertising is built on massive exploitation of user privacy, has horrible UX, and is often implemented so poorly that it tanks pageload performance. In short, I understand why people use ad blockers on the web. Podcasts though? In RSS-based podcasting, which is what this tool ta…

Does it matter if I actually listen to the ad if there isn't anything that's tracking if I do? It shouldn't hurt the podcasters revenue.

I'm not getting a hellofresh subscription anyways even if I hear an ad for it.

Re: Show HN: Adblock for Podcasts

#15

Post by asymmetric »

interblag wrote: post #8

This is interesting as a technical PoC but also feels a bit unethical. The moral case for ad blocking on the web seems pretty clear: online advertising is built on massive exploitation of user privacy, has horrible UX, and is often implemented so poorly that it tanks pageload performance. In short, I understand why people use ad blockers on the web. Podcasts though? In RSS-based podcasting, which is what this tool ta…

> with limited tracking, targeted broadly at the category of people who might listen to a particular podcast

Not so fast. Many podcasts are served by intermediaries. The same intermediary can then observe and collect an individual's listener preferences and create a more targeted profile.

The iOS podcast app Overcast shows you all the intermediary platforms a podcast goes through.

E.g. 99pi goes through Chartable, with Overcast flagging that it "may follow individual-listener behaviour across multiple shows or the web, often to track responses to ads.'

Re: Show HN: Adblock for Podcasts

#16

Post by jjayj »

panarky wrote: post #9
interblag wrote: post #8

This is interesting as a technical PoC but also feels a bit unethical. The moral case for ad blocking on the web seems pretty clear: online advertising is built on massive exploitation of user privacy, has horrible UX, and is often implemented so poorly that it tanks pageload performance. In short, I understand why people use ad blockers on the web. Podcasts though? In RSS-based podcasting, which is what this tool ta…

Is it unethical to fast-forward through ads? How about if I turn the volume down during ads, is that morally wrong? Maybe I play ads at regular speed and volume, but I think about something other than the ads while they play, is that wrong? Perhaps a truly ethical consumer would listen intently to every ad, rewinding every time their mind wanders, pausing the audio every few seconds to take copious notes.

This is a space in which I still haven't fully formed an opinion (as I typed this response I realized I have an opinion, I'm just not totally sure what it is) so I welcome discussion. I hate advertising too, and use e.g. Sponsor Block, but I recognize that the majority of the modern internet would not exist without ads.

> if I turn the volume down during ads, is that morally wrong?

30 years ago, was it morally wrong to go to the bathroom during an ad break? (IMO: no)

> I think about something other than the ads while they play, is that wrong?

30 years ago, was it wrong to chat with friends during a commercial break? (IMO: no)

That being said, _skipping_ the ads entirely doesn't seem (to me) equivalent to these examples.

I cannot explain why I feel this way. I _think_ I still believe in _unobtrusive_ advertising - 5 to 15 seconds of ads before a 10 minute video.

If the author of our favorite podcast can't get any product placement in, why will they continue producing the podcast? (Maybe in a utopia they would create the podcast because that's what they love to do - but maybe in a utopia they would prefer not to cast, and instead listen to someone else?)

Idk. Some thought vomit here that maybe HN folks can help me work through.

Re: Show HN: Adblock for Podcasts

#18

Post by jjayj »

askl wrote: post #13
interblag wrote: post #8

This is interesting as a technical PoC but also feels a bit unethical. The moral case for ad blocking on the web seems pretty clear: online advertising is built on massive exploitation of user privacy, has horrible UX, and is often implemented so poorly that it tanks pageload performance. In short, I understand why people use ad blockers on the web. Podcasts though? In RSS-based podcasting, which is what this tool ta…

Does it matter if I actually listen to the ad if there isn't anything that's tracking if I do? It shouldn't hurt the podcasters revenue. I'm not getting a hellofresh subscription anyways even if I hear an ad for it.

My completely ignorant and uninformed opinion:

If the vast majority of folks started skipping ads, and ads thus no longer had reasonable conversion rates, companies would stop investing in podcast ads and many podcasts would stop being produced.

Re: Show HN: Adblock for Podcasts

#19

Post by pixxel »

portaouflop wrote: post #10
interblag wrote: post #8

This is interesting as a technical PoC but also feels a bit unethical. The moral case for ad blocking on the web seems pretty clear: online advertising is built on massive exploitation of user privacy, has horrible UX, and is often implemented so poorly that it tanks pageload performance. In short, I understand why people use ad blockers on the web. Podcasts though? In RSS-based podcasting, which is what this tool ta…

I get your point but removing advertising is never unethical.

Advertising doesn’t work on me. I fast-forward through ads. I never sit and listen to them. Ever. Am I unethical?
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