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Many major websites are taking silent anti-ad-blocking measures

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Re: Many major websites are taking silent anti-ad-blocking measures

#41

Post by userbinator »

LeoPanthera wrote: post #31

Oh, the irony. https://i.imgur.com/uplpnxv.png

I have JavaScript off and I don't get that... I suppose JS off doesn't count as an ad-blocker, despite how effective it is.

(I know there are many more sites these days rendering simple static content with JS, possibly in an attempt to defeat/confuse others like me --- but my solution for them is either Google's text-only cache, or the Back button. Chances are I can find the same or even better content elsewhere; forcing me to jump through hoops ensures I'm not coming back.)

Re: Many major websites are taking silent anti-ad-blocking measures

#42

Post by leeoniya »

the irony on full display (at the linked article) in chrome devtools / record perf timeline and network log.

incognito: 4.4mb, 7000ms scripting, 365 requests, onload: 7600ms

with uMatrix (no third party shit): 612kb, 190ms of scripting, 56 requests, onload: 500ms

this is on a 300MBit connection

Re: Many major websites are taking silent anti-ad-blocking measures

#43

Post by zipwitch »

krapp wrote: post #14
alkonaut wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any site that doesn’t control the content of their ads deserve to be starved out of business as fast as possible by ad blockers. That is: I don’t mind ads, I just don’t accept “adtech”.

Advertisers tend not to be willing to give that much control to whatever medium they're advertising in. More often than not, they can dictate terms because they drive revenue.

And they then use that leverage to attack the readers/viewers. Speaking for myself, I will see the internet wither and die before I'll accept that as a valid model for anything.

Re: Many major websites are taking silent anti-ad-blocking measures

#44

Post by jacques_chester »

CaptSpify wrote: post #38
makecheck wrote: post #2

Interesting how the response of sites with terrible user experiences caused by ad tech is not to say “oh, how can we change our ads so people will accept them?” but rather to find ways to make their user experiences even more horrible, e.g. popping up new unwanted interruptions accusing you of having an ad-blocker. Hey big web sites, here is the solution, and I won’t even charge you for it: stop making terrible user…

Although I agree with your first point, I think this is a symptom of a much larger problem that we are ignoring: We have a serious economic problem in which we can't fund things that we want and need. Instead of making advertising "less bad", we should be looking into alternative ways to fund sites and services. Advertising in it's current form simply needs to go.

My bet is microsubscription, but that's only because it's something I've been working on (Robojar). Part of my motivation has been to make the best parts of the early web economically viable.

For a few years it was normal to have relatively successful small sites with good writing and regular readers. They've largely been driven out by the economics of clickbait. I'd like to help that come back by breaking the rigid nexus between traffic and revenue.

Adblock/flattr are doing something very similar. Google Contributor was, but seems to have morphed into a prepaid micropayment scheme. Patreon splits the middle.

I still think the model where a single subscription fee is distributed amongst participating sites/services/apps approximately according to usage is the best overall model.

Re: Many major websites are taking silent anti-ad-blocking measures

#45

Post by etatoby »

orbitingpluto wrote: post #39

Okay, here's a crazy idea for advertisers. Tie the advertisement to the type of content that the user is already there to read about. Then you can serve ads from the content web server and make it indistinguishable from content, completely unobtrusive, completely noninvasive, and maybe even welcome.

This.

As a positive example, I like how many YouTube channels take 30 seconds out of a 10 minute video to talk about some company's product that might be of interest to their audience.

Not an annoying video ad that has nothing to do with what I'm reading / watching, just the host talking about a product or service that their audience has a chance to be interested in.

Re: Many major websites are taking silent anti-ad-blocking measures

#46

Post by user5994461 »

jasonkostempski wrote: post #26
sixtypoundhound wrote: post #20

If you're in a niche with decent prospects for contextual advertising, there's an easy way around most ad-blockers. Set up a small piece of editorial content and embed some affiliate links into it.

If I came to a site, liked what it was about, noticed it didn't get any hits by uBO and saw an affiliate link with text (no images hosted elsewhere) like "Do you need AAA batteries and would like to support our site? Click Here", it's very likely I would click the link if I will need the thing any time soon. It doesn't have to be related to the content of the page or fit the genre of the site, it doesn't need to try…

To be fair, some contextual amazon recommendations would probably fare better than most stupid ads.

Re: Many major websites are taking silent anti-ad-blocking measures

#48

Post by godzillabrennus »

I was reading the news with Safari on iOS 11.2 with a new iPhone X recently. As I was browsing different sites I noticed I was getting redirected to those scammy "You've won a cruise" style websites. I had no idea ads were so out of control. I've been using ad blocking technology for 10+ years and never see it first hand. It's pretty crazy that website operators have to create such a terrible user experience to survive these days.

Re: Many major websites are taking silent anti-ad-blocking measures

#49

Post by nimbius »

Ads are inherently psychologically abusive, targeting your insecurities and exploiting sex and basic instinct to move product. There needs to be a fundamental shift from the old tv and radio model of advertisers targeting everyone through inescapable ham fisted and manipulative ads, to a system that is all but dormant until I query it for a service.

Show me nothing, nothing at all, until I make the effort to ask the question "what products are available for $need?"

If I'm on a website and begin searching, give the site the ad revenue.

Re: Many major websites are taking silent anti-ad-blocking measures

#50

Post by tylerhou »

nimbius wrote: post #49

Ads are inherently psychologically abusive, targeting your insecurities and exploiting sex and basic instinct to move product. There needs to be a fundamental shift from the old tv and radio model of advertisers targeting everyone through inescapable ham fisted and manipulative ads, to a system that is all but dormant until I query it for a service. Show me nothing, nothing at all, until I make the effort to ask the…

> Ads are inherently psychologically abusive, targeting your insecurities and exploiting sex and basic instinct to move product.

This is a pretty wild claim. Most ads I see are relatively tame (like the “Build on AWS” and iPhone X ads I see around San Francisco), and I don’t see them “exploiting sex or basic instinct.”

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