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AdNauseam: Fight Back Against Advertising Networks and Privacy Abuse

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Re: AdNauseam: Fight Back Against Advertising Networks and Privacy Abuse

#161

Post by megous »

I approach this differently. There are a few use cases I go to the web for. For each use case that is not a free browsing I create an electron app, that never executes any code from the web or uses any external style. It only uses XHR to fetch html pages/json data/other static stuff and then transforms that data and uses it in the custom UI designed for the use case.

For example one use case is collection of news. My app looks almost like a typical RSS feed reader, except that article content is full and interactive. I can inline stupid image galleries that break article flow, I can convert custom video players into a simple tag, I can drop what I don't care for. I can switch between tor/non-tor mode in a secure way that doesn't leak anything and is probably more secure than torbrowser.

I have direct access to any OS programs, so I can easily open m3u8 videos in mpv player on one click or using a keyboard shortcut, or I can download streaming videos locally and convert them to mp4 on the fly, save useful content of the pages to the database, including relevant images, etc.

All JS code is controlled by me, web servers serve me only as data sources.

What is key to make this fun and useful is structuring the app as a unified UI for multiple data sources and to be able to define data sources quickly. Fortunately ES6 generators can be used in a way that makes fetching and transforming data without the need for callbacks, or promises very easy and clear. Adding a new source is usually a matter of minutes.

It is also nice that when improving the UI, I get a new feature for all the websites that I frequent at once.

It allows me to consume content the way I want, without much exposure to tracking. All the website gets from me is an access_log entry, no cookies, nothing.

I'd say I'm quite ahead of the "war" between users and advertising networks.

Re: AdNauseam: Fight Back Against Advertising Networks and Privacy Abuse

#162

Post by sanswork »

literallycancer wrote: post #158
sanswork wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you just follow random links people send you? That seems like a horrible waste of your most precious commodity. YouTube offers a way to pay for an ad free experience. Are you a paying member?

Why would I pay YouTube for an ad free experience, when I already have an ad free experience?

I'm not saying YOU would. I'm saying the people saying they would happily pay for an ad free have the choice to and their choice to use an adblocker instead of paying says a lot about their actual beliefs than their claims on forums.

Re: AdNauseam: Fight Back Against Advertising Networks and Privacy Abuse

#163

Post by unexistance »

hidden_forest wrote: post #15

I block all ads, tracking, beacons, etc. because they are now the single largest vector for malware. I use Firefox largely because it's the most hackable browser. I tweak Firefox to do and not do several things: - I don't allow sites to see my history - I don't allow peerconnect - I don't allow WebRTC (shows private address schemas) - I don't allow much JS - I don't allow fingerprinting beyond pure basics - I don't a…

starting point to those who ask :p

http://12bytes.org/articles/tech/firefoxgecko-configuration-...

Yes, this makes my fingerprint highly unique, no good way around that yet, but I use multiple instance of Firefox for different purposes as mitigation

Re: AdNauseam: Fight Back Against Advertising Networks and Privacy Abuse

#164

Post by ucarion »

sanswork wrote: post #155
lvs wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I pass a street musician, I haven't implicitly signed a contract to pay her for the show -- either in currency or by transferring any other valued commodity. I don't have an obligation to support her business plan, even if I enjoy the music. She may perhaps claim that we entered into an implied contract. Or the musician could post a placard reading her terms-of-service. But in simply walking down the street, like…

Correct you took no action to interface with them besides walking. But if you walk into a room where just a musician is playing(and its advertised that this is whats happening in the room) you have now created a relationship where you've chosen to receive their art. And if they have a poster for their sponsor on the wall behind them you can't complain about it.

Online ads also track you, and are often executed in poor taste. It's as though most of the posters had a camera and bright flashing lights.

Re: AdNauseam: Fight Back Against Advertising Networks and Privacy Abuse

#165

Post by wdr1 »

1propionyl wrote: post #56

Good. I'm done being nice to advertisers. They are actively poisoning the internet in more ways than one. They had their chance to work out better ways to advertise, and they instead redoubled assaults on attention. This is getting installed on all of my browsers on all of my PCs. If your startup is advertising based, find a different model, or do without my business. I have no obligation to help you fund yourself or…

The problem is you're viewing advertisers as a monolith.

Re: AdNauseam: Fight Back Against Advertising Networks and Privacy Abuse

#166

Post by wernercd »

wdr1 wrote: post #165
1propionyl wrote: post #56

Good. I'm done being nice to advertisers. They are actively poisoning the internet in more ways than one. They had their chance to work out better ways to advertise, and they instead redoubled assaults on attention. This is getting installed on all of my browsers on all of my PCs. If your startup is advertising based, find a different model, or do without my business. I have no obligation to help you fund yourself or…

The problem is you're viewing advertisers as a monolith.

And advertisers view us as commodities.

Broad strokes and wide assumptions go both ways.

Re: AdNauseam: Fight Back Against Advertising Networks and Privacy Abuse

#167

Post by rahimiali »

WhitneyLand wrote: post #14

I'm out on this. 1. They say it's legally not click fraud. To me it sounds like regular fraud: "deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right". I'm not concerned with breaking the law I just don't want to act in the spirit of it. 2. This could hurt small startups that are very carefully managing an ad budget. They say the market will adjust, but until it does small startups take…

>This could hurt small startups that are very carefully managing an ad budget.

I'm all for helping fellow startuppers, but no part of me feels that startups that buy ads are an endangered species worth nurturing. The whole ad model leaves the world worse off, and it sucks that startups are left with no option but to participate in it.

Re: AdNauseam: Fight Back Against Advertising Networks and Privacy Abuse

#168

Post by coderdude »

sanswork wrote: post #155
lvs wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I pass a street musician, I haven't implicitly signed a contract to pay her for the show -- either in currency or by transferring any other valued commodity. I don't have an obligation to support her business plan, even if I enjoy the music. She may perhaps claim that we entered into an implied contract. Or the musician could post a placard reading her terms-of-service. But in simply walking down the street, like…

Correct you took no action to interface with them besides walking. But if you walk into a room where just a musician is playing(and its advertised that this is whats happening in the room) you have now created a relationship where you've chosen to receive their art. And if they have a poster for their sponsor on the wall behind them you can't complain about it.

Trying to explain this has failed an innumerable number of times here. Whenever this discussion pops up, there are die-hards who are against all advertising versus those who present a rational argument explaining how the content they willingly consume is supported by those ads. Like wrestling in the mud with a pig, you will come out of this unfulfilled while the other side comes out feeling like the winner. They're just a highly vocal minority.

I'm not a personal fan of ads but when it comes to things I find important enough and have the option, I pay to remove them. The difference however is that the die-hards tend to not accept paying or viewing ads as acceptable. If they did, this wouldn't keep coming up.

Re: AdNauseam: Fight Back Against Advertising Networks and Privacy Abuse

#169

Post by hxegon »

megous wrote: post #161

I approach this differently. There are a few use cases I go to the web for. For each use case that is not a free browsing I create an electron app, that never executes any code from the web or uses any external style. It only uses XHR to fetch html pages/json data/other static stuff and then transforms that data and uses it in the custom UI designed for the use case. For example one use case is collection of news. My…

Do you have a repo up with the code?

Re: AdNauseam: Fight Back Against Advertising Networks and Privacy Abuse

#170

Post by TeMPOraL »

odbol_ wrote: post #142
TeMPOraL wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> People are paying a lot for ebooks, in-game items and other virtual goods. Oh yes. Besides the small money drain Netflix and Spotify are, I've lost count on just how much money I spent buying e-books - legal, official e-books - just because of the convenience factor. > A decent article that makes you think for a bit? Not good enough, chances are they'll follow a popular author and his movement and put some money do…

Hosting might cost peanuts, but literal peanuts cost money. How are those bloggers going to eat?

By having a day job, obviously.

It's actually better this way, because if your writing isn't directly tied to your income, you're not incentivized to write for exposure. This breeds higher quality.

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