AdNauseam: Browser extension to fight back against tracking by ad networks
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Re: AdNauseam: Browser extension to fight back against tracking by ad networks
#2I used this for some time and it's great; built atop ublock origin and does exactly what it purports to. The only downside is that it is used by such a comparatively small market-share that it's harder to blend in, but I imagine modern browser fingerprinting negates this concern anyway. Also it's (tellingly) banned from the Chrome store last I used Chrome, and you had to install it via a zip file. There is (or at least was) a user-hostile nag each time you start Chrome (or Chromium) about allowing an unidentified extension but I guess that's now moot if Chrome now doesn't permit sanctioned ad-blockers.
Re: AdNauseam: Browser extension to fight back against tracking by ad networks
#3Best part is it tells you how much ad spend you have caused. It’s crazy how quickly the number reaches 4 figures.
Re: AdNauseam: Browser extension to fight back against tracking by ad networks
#4Best part is it tells you how much ad spend you have caused. It’s crazy how quickly the number reaches 4 figures.
Before anyone feels bad about this: the extension will, by default, not click on non-tracking ads.
I've used it for over a year (also on $XXXX estimated cost figures on 3 different devices) with several thousands of ads clicked. My ad vault contains everything from porn, electronics, job boards, ads in languages I do not understand, gambling, gaming, and all sorts of crap I have zero interest in. I pretty much never see ads while surfing the net, and when I do then it's the ads that would also slip through uBlock Origin and other ad blocking extensions.
Re: AdNauseam: Browser extension to fight back against tracking by ad networks
#5[deleted]
Re: AdNauseam: Browser extension to fight back against tracking by ad networks
#6Best part is it tells you how much ad spend you have caused. It’s crazy how quickly the number reaches 4 figures.
The fake clicks that this generates is one of the most trivial to filter out for even the most simple ad systems. It’s costing ad companies and advertisers approximately zero dollars.
It’s a nice additional data point to identify and track the users running it, though.
Re: AdNauseam: Browser extension to fight back against tracking by ad networks
#7Best part is it tells you how much ad spend you have caused. It’s crazy how quickly the number reaches 4 figures.
I like everything else about AdNauseam but that number is kind of like the percent daily value number on food packaging. It requires making so many assumptions that you can be pretty sure that number is not useful for any meaningful decisionmaking. It's probably within 1-2 orders of magnitude of the truth, depending on where the ads were, how they were bought, what middleware was involved, etc.
Re: AdNauseam: Browser extension to fight back against tracking by ad networks
#8Best part is it tells you how much ad spend you have caused. It’s crazy how quickly the number reaches 4 figures.
The fake clicks that this generates is one of the most trivial to filter out for even the most simple ad systems. It’s costing ad companies and advertisers approximately zero dollars. It’s a nice additional data point to identify and track the users running it, though.
1. If it's so trivial and costs ad companies nothing, then why would Google go out of their way to ban the extension when it's essentially just an ad blocker that clicks on the ads in the background?
2. How would you filter out AdNauseam ad clicks with genuine ad clicks?
Re: AdNauseam: Browser extension to fight back against tracking by ad networks
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
The fake clicks that this generates is one of the most trivial to filter out for even the most simple ad systems. It’s costing ad companies and advertisers approximately zero dollars. It’s a nice additional data point to identify and track the users running it, though.
1. If it's so trivial and costs ad companies nothing, then why would Google go out of their way to ban the extension when it's essentially just an ad blocker that clicks on the ads in the background? 2. How would you filter out AdNauseam ad clicks with genuine ad clicks?
It’s banned because it’s made by people intentionally trying to not just subvert, but inject fake data into Google’s core business model. It’s like asking “why doesn’t Apple allow Cydia in the App Store?”
AdNauseam clicks occur far more often than normal ad clicks, aren’t associated with other ad load events, timing is all similar, ads are clicked regardless of predicted relevancy. There’s dozens of obvious, and hundreds of non obvious, ways to detect if a particular user is a bot or not. Literally legions is PhDs study this attack vector and work at Google and Facebook.
Re: AdNauseam: Browser extension to fight back against tracking by ad networks
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
1. If it's so trivial and costs ad companies nothing, then why would Google go out of their way to ban the extension when it's essentially just an ad blocker that clicks on the ads in the background? 2. How would you filter out AdNauseam ad clicks with genuine ad clicks?
It’s banned because it’s made by people intentionally trying to not just subvert, but inject fake data into Google’s core business model. It’s like asking “why doesn’t Apple allow Cydia in the App Store?” AdNauseam clicks occur far more often than normal ad clicks, aren’t associated with other ad load events, timing is all similar, ads are clicked regardless of predicted relevancy. There’s dozens of obvious, and hund…
PhD time doesnt cost "nothing" like you said in grandparent post.