Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because non-paying customers have the potential to become paying ones.
Plenty of businesses don't give away free samples, and survive fine.
Obviously Spotify sees value in offering a free tier to their service.
Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers
691–700 of 963 posts
Re: Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers
#692Just to be sure, this is only for free accounts, right? Having a paid account suspended because a friend runs a pi hole would be pretty annoying.
I'm wondering the same thing. I've paid for a premium account, and run a pi-hole on my home network. The way I interpret the language in the terms of service (IANAL) is that the act of blocking an ad is forbidden, but not the running of the ad-blocker itself. Since a premium accounts are not delivered ads in the first place, I would hope that this means paying users will be unaffected.
I am very interested to hear a more qualified interpretation of the situation.
Re: Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers
#693> All types of ad blockers, bots and fraudulent streaming activities are not permitted.
I feel like the bigger issue here is Spotify's conflating the use of "ad blockers" with other (clearly illegal) activities like "fraudulent streaming". If you don't allow ad blockers on your service, fine. But lumping them in the same sentence with criminal activities...seems like a very slippery slope.
Hey Spotify: Instead of just throwing gasoline on the fire, why don't you spend some of that venture capital to address the underlying issues here, namely: Why are people running ad blockers in the first place? Are they concerned about privacy or malvertising? Are your ads obnoxious? The only reason we're in this boat is because the modern internet is pretty darn unusable without an ad blocker - consumers are sending a clear message with their use of ad blockers. Wake up and do something to help fix the problem.
As it stands, all you've done is throw down the gauntlet. Now, ad blockers will probably just get more sophisticated to work around your detection systems, and round and round we'll go.
As for me, I'm done. I've deleted my Spotify account and will spend my time/money supporting other services that are trying to improve the advertising situation on the internet instead of telling users to suck it up, turn off their ad blocker, and support a crappy ad ecosystem that's especially predatory toward our less-technical friends and family members.
And hey - if you want to see an example of how to do internet advertising right, check out https://carbonads.net. There's no reason Spotify couldn't pioneer the audio equivalent of what the awesome folks at Carbon have done. Props (and a whitelist in my ad blocker) to them.
Re: Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers
#694They allow advertisers to run JS on your device, and ads are a trendy way to deliver malware. People are using ad blockers not just to hide annoyances and to improve performance, but to protect themselves from bad actors. https://spotifyforbrands.com/en-US/ad-experiences/ > JavaScript or iFrame Tags: All third-party tags and tracking URLs need to be in https format. I was on the fence about this because there is a le…
> People are using ad blockers not just to hide annoyances and to improve performance, but to protect themselves from bad actors. We are talking about people who use ad-blockers to get a “premium” experience while using free, unpaid accounts. Basically leeches undermining everyone else. I see no issue with Spotify terminating these accounts. Even as someone using an ad-blocker. Because I pay for the freaking service…
I agree with what you are saying. If you don't want ads (and whatever that means to you) then pay the money.
However, they do seem to include ads in their podcasts for all users. So it's not quite that simple.
Re: Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers
#695They allow advertisers to run JS on your device, and ads are a trendy way to deliver malware. People are using ad blockers not just to hide annoyances and to improve performance, but to protect themselves from bad actors. https://spotifyforbrands.com/en-US/ad-experiences/ > JavaScript or iFrame Tags: All third-party tags and tracking URLs need to be in https format. I was on the fence about this because there is a le…
Between the dwindling Netflix catalog and increasingly hostile subscription service experience on Spotify, I have found myself flying the black flag again. I still have subscriptions to both, but I will be cancelling them this year. I don't want their shitty analytics payloads, I don't want their shitty anti-adblocker tech. I don't want their shitty tactics of deleting random songs off my playlists. I just want the c…
So... I had a Spotify family subscription for me and my wife (2 persons... of course living under the same roof). Suddenly my wife lost her spotify premium functionality and asked me if I had cancelled.
Turns out Spotify invalidated her as part of my family plan and asked me to add her again. Cool.... I go to the config to add her and Spotify asks for her address and does not let me add her when putting her/my address... I don't remember what address did I enter when I opened spotify more than 5 years ago, and the stupid thing does not let you see your address (like, 1 field in a database, how hard is that?)
https://community.spotify.com/t5/Accounts/How-can-I-check-my...
Needless to say, I cancelled Spotify Family premium and went to Google Play Family plan. Great deal if you tell me.
Re: Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers
#696Earlier quoted context omitted.
Between the dwindling Netflix catalog and increasingly hostile subscription service experience on Spotify, I have found myself flying the black flag again. I still have subscriptions to both, but I will be cancelling them this year. I don't want their shitty analytics payloads, I don't want their shitty anti-adblocker tech. I don't want their shitty tactics of deleting random songs off my playlists. I just want the c…
I'm curious; what's the hostile subscription service experience you've encountered with Spotify?
See my previous comment:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19118498
That felt pretty hostile when it happened to me.
Re: Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers
#697Earlier quoted context omitted.
iTunes can do that too if you use iCloud Music.
iTunes Match combined with Apple Music gives me everything. Family sub for $14 month and $25 year for match to keep all my music even dodgy mp3s safe from bitrot is well worth it. I move dozens of times a year, I no longer have to haul books and cds, I for one welcome my digital overlord.
Apple music includes match
Re: Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers
#698Earlier quoted context omitted.
Inert, no-cookie ads are the compromise position between total blocking and allowing arbitrary code execution and tracking.
Then you can't target the ads to those who most likely will buy, then each impression is worth less in most ad marketplaces. I don't think you will be able to suggest a solution if you ignore the true desires of the buyers and sellers of ads.
TV and newspaper only supported very granular targeting and the world didn't end despite that. You can still target based on context assuming the embedding site provides that information ahead of time.
Re: Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers
#699Good. Spotify has a pretty cheap paid option that removes all of that. To those who justify wanting the paid service for nothing by saying Spotify won't "take responsibility" or "assume liability" for their ads or those ads "might deliver malware" or are "intrusive" as a weak rationalization, you present a false dichotomy. There are at least three options: 1. Pay for the service 2. Suffer through the ads 3. Don't use…
For me it feels like death by a thousand paper cuts. $10 to spotify, $10 to neflix (or whatever they charge now), $10 to some other streaming service, etc.
Re: Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers
#700Earlier quoted context omitted.
Best I'm aware, radios offer unlimited music broadcasting all day long and are doing just fine without subscribers. I've never used Spotify, but if its free, supported by ads option means serving web-based stuff, then it might want to look into getting rid of that and serving audio ads every few songs instead. Ad Blockers wouldn't be a problem in that scenario, and Podcasters have long shown that the what essentially…
> Best I'm aware, radios offer unlimited music broadcasting all day long and are doing just fine without subscribers. Unlimited broadcasting of the same set of songs in rotation that they choose for you. That's supposed to be a huge selling point of the streaming services is to offer a larger selection than what corporate radio limits what's broadcast.
Regardless. If radios can get away with throwing an ad every few songs, why can't Spotify et al?