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AdNauseam Banned from the Google Web Store

adnauseam.io

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Re: AdNauseam Banned from the Google Web Store

#51

Post by m-p-3 »

Spoom wrote: post #22
AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #19

I find it interesting that this particular Adblocker is being removed, while countless others remain. I suspect that other adblockers like, say, ABP or UBO, are less damaging to the agent fingerprint than an adblocker that clicks everything.

AdNauseam silently clicks the ads as you mention, so they're actively messing with Google's ad statistics. If I was Google, I would consider it an attack too.

Yup, basically an distributed attack on their ad networks. Hopefully they'll also release a Mozilla Firefox add-on.

Re: AdNauseam Banned from the Google Web Store

#52

Post by GlickWick »

square90 wrote: post #44

The Firefox extension review turned this up: "If you have a YouTube channel (s) and your logged in to that channel it will get your channel suspended for Violation of TOU #4 Section H" [1] Has anyone else confirmed this behavior on YouTube? 1. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/adnauseam/rev...

Of course this could happen. This plugin automates clicking ads on a page, which does directly violate exactly what that section of the TOU is saying.

Re: AdNauseam Banned from the Google Web Store

#53

Post by _ofdw »

blauditore wrote: post #39
iUsedToCode wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's supposed to mess up the stats and inject uncertainty into ad analysis. They are trying to bring down the price of ads on the internet, thus making them unprofitable. I hope they succeed.

I find it a bit harsh to be so hostile towards online ads. After all, it's has been a significant source of income for innovative companies or services that couldn't exist otherwise, because users are notoriously reluctant to pay for virtual goods. Yes, tracking and overly intrusive fullpage popups are real issues, but not all ads are inherently evil.

I can't name a single online service that is supported by ads and that I couldn't live without.

>not all ads are inherently evil.

All advertising is manipulation. Advertisers are bad and should feel bad.

Re: AdNauseam Banned from the Google Web Store

#54

Post by [deleted] »

ben0x539 wrote: post #42
Spoom wrote: post #29

At the risk of downvotes: Is anyone really surprised? AdNauseam is silently clicking ads. This directly costs Google money . Google happens to control the extension web store for their own browser. Removing it from the store really isn't that bad. Uninstalling it from existing browsers as malware? A little more malicious, but I would still consider it self defense. There is even a method to install it directly[1] whi…

People should still be giving Google shit for decisions like that, even if they're not surprised.

[deleted]

Re: AdNauseam Banned from the Google Web Store

#55

Post by FilterSweep »

pricechild wrote: post #15

There's related discussion on this here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13325507 Not only is it apparently banned from the store, but also it's being removed from existing user's machines, on top of not allowing new installs. Edit: Going to quote my thread from that discussion as this announcement confirms they were banned over the single use policy... > Other ad blockers "block ads" and "block annoying eu cook…

Hey man, I think your discussion points finally reached the real reason why "single use policy" applies differently for Office Online than it does to AdNauseum. AdNauseam team are intelligent and they probably realize it as well. In their self-description:

> AdNauseam, a not-for-profit, research-based privacy tool, hides and clicks every tracking ad that it identifies in order to resist the opaque collection, analysis and monetization of private user data, and to challenge the intrusive and unethical business model that currently dominates the web.

Ital. gives you the justification Google could use to block the product. "Disrupting Ad Networks" is the single purpose, but while "Ad Blockers" are a simple nuisance to Ad Networks and 3rd party revenue streams, "Ad Obfuscators" poses a threat to affiliate marketers and resellers who may interact through Google's channels.

(In my opinion.....) Is AdNauseum justified in their work? ABSOLUTELY YES. But there are other hands at play. This also explains why Google is working so hard to block updating or new installs of it.

Re: AdNauseam Banned from the Google Web Store

#56

Post by GlickWick »

xkcd-sucks wrote: post #37
everyone wrote: post #10

Who uses Chrome anyway? .. Question: I'm not a web dev, Ive never heard of this. I currently use adblock plus and privacy badger. Does this do what they do? Would it be a good idea to install them all? If not which solution do you think is the most hardcore in terms of privacy. thanks!

I use it at work, where I don't expect tons of privacy to begin with. Google keeps trying to recruit me based on my search data...

They're just recruiting based on specific search terms. It's not your search data or related to your browser. If you find a search term that pops up the recruiting message, you can send it to your friends and they'll be able to get it to appear as well.

It's pretty pointless anyways.

Re: AdNauseam Banned from the Google Web Store

#58

Post by siegecraft »

downandout wrote: post #48

It's pretty simple: this has to be wreaking havoc with Adsense - depleting ad budgets, artificially inflating CTRs, and giving website owners revenue they didn't earn. This extension also exposes website owners to unfair Adsense bans for generating high numbers of invalid clicks, which can cost them two months of revenue that is almost always withheld when Google bans a site. So by using this you could be costing som…

Were there really enough people using this to cause such an impact?

Re: AdNauseam Banned from the Google Web Store

#59

Post by tyingq »

mcintyre1994 wrote: post #47
tyingq wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I assume AdNauseam's random clicking is viewed as click fraud[1] by Google. Then, I'm guessing click fraud falls under the "Interfering with Third-party Ads and Websites" section[2] of the developer policy. [1] https://support.google.com/adsense/answer/16737?hl=en [2] https://developer.chrome.com/webstore/program_policies (ctrl-f, then search for "Interfering with Third-party Ads and Websites") Edit: Hmm, below is co…

A policy of not "Interfering with Apps, Third-party Ads, or Device Functionality" in the Chrome Store sounds like it'd outrule every adblocker. The description of that rule also doesn't seem to apply: "Ads associated with your app must not interfere with other apps, ads, or the operation of the device, including system or device buttons and ports." It's specifically under the ads section of the policy. I'm not sure t…

I was just trying to guess their underlying reason.

I can see, however, a view that "not loading" an ad doesn't qualify as "interfering" with it...but clicking on it for the purpose of disruption is considered "interfering".

Also, I updated the link to point at chrome extension policy vs app store policy. The wording is similar.

Re: AdNauseam Banned from the Google Web Store

#60

Post by snowwolf »

losteric wrote: post #40
diggan wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Earlier this week, on Jan 1st 2017, we were informed by our users that Google had banned AdNauseam from its Chrome Web Store. We’ve since learned that Google now also disallows users from manually installing and updating AdNauseam, thus locking users out of their own saved data, all with no prior notice or warning.

I'm not sure why you're quoting that? I literally just installed the plugin. Google has blocked installing AdNauseam from the Chrome store and installing the .crx file manually. Manually installing the developer package is completely unhampered.

Restart your browser and you will see the extension is no longer installed. This is deliberate on the part of Chrome (Firefox does this too) - It is to prevent malicious extensions from using the developer mode as a backdoor to install themselves.

On each restart, you will need to re-add the extension from source.

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