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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

#11

Post by dymk »

llukas wrote: post #10
dymk wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

They’re working on actual hard problems, like combating click fraud attempted by organized crime and actual sophisticated actors, and they’re working regardless of the existence of this extension.

This extension just isn’t effective, and any time working in the ad industry makes that overwhelmingly obvious.

Re: AdNauseam: Browser extension to fight back against tracking by ad networks

#12

Post by ta34729384 »

dymk wrote: post #9
abc-xyz wrote: post #8

Earlier 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…

Sounds like a noble cause then. I imagine keeping these legions employed then is a net benefit to humanity if it pees in GOOGs data pool.

Re: AdNauseam: Browser extension to fight back against tracking by ad networks

#13

Post by abc-xyz »

dymk wrote: post #9
abc-xyz wrote: post #8

Earlier 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…

Fake data that you claim can is trivial to filter out and provides Google/FB/etc with a "nice additional data point to identify and track users running it".. in which case it seems counterproductive to ban it instead of simply making sure it isn't featured/recommended.

You can easily adjust the click rate in AdNauseam's settings (assuming I only click 1 out of 50 ads then it will be completely random if Google's ads are clicked once per 1 or 1000 ad loads because they don't know how many ads were loaded by other providers inbetween), click timing is affected by so many load factors that I'd think it isn't even necessary to sleep a random period before clicking. Other techniques, such as "ad traps" are easily countered by IP changes/Cookie AutoDelete extension.

Re: AdNauseam: Browser extension to fight back against tracking by ad networks

#14

Post by dymk »

abc-xyz wrote: post #13
dymk wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Fake data that you claim can is trivial to filter out and provides Google/FB/etc with a "nice additional data point to identify and track users running it".. in which case it seems counterproductive to ban it instead of simply making sure it isn't featured/recommended. You can easily adjust the click rate in AdNauseam's settings (assuming I only click 1 out of 50 ads then it will be completely random if Google's ads…

You honestly think clearing cookies makes it hard to identify a user/browser pair? Or detect automated clicks?

Does this extension change your IP?

How bad at their job do you think these data scientists are, to make companies like Facebook and Google such great money printing machines?

Re: AdNauseam: Browser extension to fight back against tracking by ad networks

#15

Post by chaz6 »

Apart from actual malware, this is the only browser extension I know of to have been blacklisted by Google. If you want to use it in Chrome you have to jump through hoops. For the record, I approve of AdNauseam. I have every right to browse the internet how I choose. My computer, my control. I am firmly against the corporization of the internet.

Re: AdNauseam: Browser extension to fight back against tracking by ad networks

#16

Post by dgzl »

chaz6 wrote: post #15

Apart from actual malware, this is the only browser extension I know of to have been blacklisted by Google. If you want to use it in Chrome you have to jump through hoops. For the record, I approve of AdNauseam. I have every right to browse the internet how I choose. My computer, my control. I am firmly against the corporization of the internet.

Hell, I'm against advertising.

Re: AdNauseam: Browser extension to fight back against tracking by ad networks

#17

Post by abc-xyz »

dymk wrote: post #14
abc-xyz wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fake data that you claim can is trivial to filter out and provides Google/FB/etc with a "nice additional data point to identify and track users running it".. in which case it seems counterproductive to ban it instead of simply making sure it isn't featured/recommended. You can easily adjust the click rate in AdNauseam's settings (assuming I only click 1 out of 50 ads then it will be completely random if Google's ads…

You honestly think clearing cookies makes it hard to identify a user/browser pair? Or detect automated clicks? Does this extension change your IP? How bad at their job do you think these data scientists are, to make companies like Facebook and Google such great money printing machines?

Yeah, I do think it's very difficult to build a profile of a user that automatically clear cookies when closing a tab and often change IP. I'm not saying it's impossible, but certainly difficult. And it would become even more difficult if we encouraged everybody to take steps to protect their privacy rather than dismiss efforts as useless.

This extension doesn't change my IP nor does it auto clear cookies, but are we not allowed to combine multiple tools? I use VPNs (both my own and from work), I often change location (home, office, hotels, cafes, etc.), have several phones/laptops that use different operating systems/browsers. At the office everybody use the same computer model, are you going to blacklist 50+ peoples potential ad clicks from that IP because I use AdNauseam?

I don't think the data scientists at Facebook/Google/others are bad at their job because of their likely inability to invalidate all AdNauseam clicks, nor do I think the addon, with its current userbase, has the slightest impact on their money printing machine.

Re: AdNauseam: Browser extension to fight back against tracking by ad networks

#18

Post by kurthr »

dymk wrote: post #11
llukas wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

PhD time doesnt cost "nothing" like you said in grandparent post.

They’re working on actual hard problems, like combating click fraud attempted by organized crime and actual sophisticated actors, and they’re working regardless of the existence of this extension. This extension just isn’t effective, and any time working in the ad industry makes that overwhelmingly obvious.

LOL, that's great idea!

Adnausium can just connect us through an anonymizing server so that we can sell our well chosen (by them) clicks to those organized crime and sophisticated actors. Heck, those bad guys would probably be willing to pay me or Adnausium a fractional CPM for the service.

Re: AdNauseam: Browser extension to fight back against tracking by ad networks

#19

Post by bad_user »

This extension apparently simulates clicks on blocked ads. I'm not comfortable doing that.

First of all I don't see the point. I don't click on ads, so there is no profile that advertisers can extract from that.

Having an extension that simulates clicks would only link to my supposed profile shit that I don't want, plus in my experience from when I worked in the ads industry, the user profile often gets compiled from better signals, like actual searches, apps used, websites visited, articles being read, or data freely provided by the user himself, like age, sex or location.

Clicks on ads are misleading because the ads themselves are misleading. It's not a good signal unless it leads to a conversion and a click is just part of the funnel and not a conversion. In fact the only really useful signal is that the user clicks on ads, in general, or in other words you're inviting publishers to serve you more ads.

Also this "fighting back" attitude is not very constructive. If you hate the direction of this industry, consider paying for shit that you consume, instead of pushing for extensions that will inevitably get banned (due to this being essentially fraud) and that are pushing more and more publishers towards native apps and towards DRM, because the open web is a risky platform due to these extensions.

---

For protecting my privacy, besides Firefox's built-in trackers blocking and uBlock Origin, I also use and recommend Privacy Badger ... this is a neat extension that automatically learns about trackers that follow you around the web; it can brake some websites, but it's the best at bypassing protections against ad/tracker blocking.

Re: AdNauseam: Browser extension to fight back against tracking by ad networks

#20

Post by pizzazzaro »

abc-xyz wrote: post #4
danielcampos93 wrote: post #3

Best 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…

When an ad slips through? You might wanna update/augment those filter lists.

That was the best thing about some of the addons to the old adblock plus addon - you could keep your own list, and the average user was entirely unaware of the extent that they were doing so.

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