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Firms help websites evade ad blockers

bostonglobe.com

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Re: Firms help websites evade ad blockers

#31

I block all ads. Full stop. I also whitelist a trimmed set of websites to allow logins. I disallow HTTP/S referrer, DOM storage, WEBRTC, and whole host of other things. I have not seen an ad in years, I have not suffered malware in years, my bandwidth is my own, not to be used for ad servers to serve up their dreck. The morality surrounding ad blocking is up for debate, but I do not feel guilty because there is no OB…

What's with this hateful attitude?

Re: Firms help websites evade ad blockers

#32
post #20
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I want to ask a question on this subject. Don't websites get paid for(most of?) the ads only when user clicks through? People talk about turning off ad block "to support creators", but aren't you supporting creators only by clicking on ads? Personally, I have probably clicked on at most 3-5 ads in the years before I started using adblocker(by accident). Does it even make sense for me to turn it off if I'm not going t…

> Personally, I have probably clicked on at most 3-5 ads in the years before I started using adblocker(by accident). Does it even make sense for me to turn it off if I'm not going to click on links anyway? You'll end up clicking more than 3-5. I've been using a computer without adbock for the first time this week in the last 6 or something years that I've been using adblock. I've clicked on a lot of ads, they're too…

>Curiously, I'm getting a lot of ads for products that I've already bought

Exactly the same thing happened to me. Prior to the purchase I had been doing a bit of web searches -- first for the family of products I was looking for (i.e. not a specific brand) and based on what I read I decided to learn more about one product specifically. Confident about its quality after having read a lot of reviews, I bought it shortly after I had began looking. Several days later I began seeing ads for the product and they kept targeting me for quite a while since then.

When I need something, I will generally research intensely and make a decision in short time. Sometimes the decision will be to not buy, sometimes to buy later and at other times to buy right away.

When I decide to buy later, ads are useful to remind me or to offer competing products which come out in the meantime since when I'd done my research.

Ads about something I decided I didn't want are mostly annoying.

Ads about something I have are always annoying. The only kind of ads which are worse are those for things which are so irrelevant that I've never even considered them.

Re: Firms help websites evade ad blockers

#33

I block all ads. Full stop. I also whitelist a trimmed set of websites to allow logins. I disallow HTTP/S referrer, DOM storage, WEBRTC, and whole host of other things. I have not seen an ad in years, I have not suffered malware in years, my bandwidth is my own, not to be used for ad servers to serve up their dreck. The morality surrounding ad blocking is up for debate, but I do not feel guilty because there is no OB…

"People are taking the piss out of you everyday. They butt into your life, take a cheap shot at you and then disappear. They leer at you from tall buildings and make you feel small. They make flippant comments from buses that imply you’re not sexy enough and that all the fun is happening somewhere else. They are on TV making your girlfriend feel inadequate. They have access to the most sophisticated technology the world has ever seen and they bully you with it. They are The Advertisers and they are laughing at you. You, however, are forbidden to touch them. Trademarks, intellectual property rights and copyright law mean advertisers can say what they like wherever they like with total impunity. Fuck that. Any advert in a public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours. It’s yours to take, re-arrange and re-use. You can do whatever you like with it. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head. You owe the companies nothing. Less than nothing, you especially don’t owe them any courtesy. They owe you. They have re-arranged the world to put themselves in front of you. They never asked for your permission, don’t even start asking for theirs."

- Banksy

If you don't already know about it, this is pretty interesting http://adnauseam.io/

Re: Firms help websites evade ad blockers

#34
post #31

I block all ads. Full stop. I also whitelist a trimmed set of websites to allow logins. I disallow HTTP/S referrer, DOM storage, WEBRTC, and whole host of other things. I have not seen an ad in years, I have not suffered malware in years, my bandwidth is my own, not to be used for ad servers to serve up their dreck. The morality surrounding ad blocking is up for debate, but I do not feel guilty because there is no OB…

What's with this hateful attitude?

I'm running several non-profit websites where I donate 100% of my ad revenue and people still treat me like I'm the scum of the earth.

Re: Firms help websites evade ad blockers

#35

I block all ads. Full stop. I also whitelist a trimmed set of websites to allow logins. I disallow HTTP/S referrer, DOM storage, WEBRTC, and whole host of other things. I have not seen an ad in years, I have not suffered malware in years, my bandwidth is my own, not to be used for ad servers to serve up their dreck. The morality surrounding ad blocking is up for debate, but I do not feel guilty because there is no OB…

not making any moral judgements, just curious, do you pay for content where possible (via donation or subscription)?

adding one data point, yes I do. I actually think I'd be better off if I only read that which I subscribed to, i.e. less HN linked articles. It'd be a good way to curate content and save time -- if I am not willing to pay out of pocket for something, I shouldn't waste my time reading it.

One baseball analyst, in particular, Joe Sheehan, has been doing some really open stuff about his newsletter, including financials, etc. It's $35 / year. I usually try to buy a couple of gift subscriptions to friends. I also donate an extra $50 because his content is just that damn good, and it would really hurt me to not have his newsletter to enjoy.

(Interestingly, he only does email newsletters, no web content. Seems to be somewhat to mildly successful at it, although I have no doubt his hourly wage is around minimum.)

Re: Firms help websites evade ad blockers

#36
Question for the people who perceive ad blocking as unethical: what is your opinion on reading HN comments without giving an ad impression (clicking on the link)?

Without the content, the discussions about the topics wouldn't be available.

I generally don't read the articles that are linked, just the HN content, as it has higher value to me. (This means I have to try to avoid criticizing the source article based on comments, but I'm generally more of a lurker anyhow.)

Genuinely curious.

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