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The Brave web browser is hijacking links, and inserting affiliate codes

davidgerard.co.uk

341–350 of 394 posts

Re: The Brave web browser is hijacking links, and inserting affiliate codes

#342
Most comments here are blowing things way out of proportion. Links are in no way getting modified by the browser. The issue is that when someone types binance.us(or a few other brave affiliate sites) in the address bar, the top recommended link comes to be one with the referral link appended. When enter is hit that link is automatically selected(normal chromium behaviour) and page opens with the url with referral code. This sure is problematic. As Brendan has said[1] it sure was not the right way to do it. Again, the links in pages are in no way modified as people are trying to portray.

[1] https://twitter.com/BrendanEich/status/1269317625915400192

Re: The Brave web browser is hijacking links, and inserting affiliate codes

#343

I'm surprised people are surprised by this. Brave have said from the beginning that this is how their business model works. What I'm even more surprised about is that Brave has gotten any traction at all, as there is really no reason to use it instead of a normal browser with regular ad blockers.

I think the main benefit is precisely that it comes with blocking of ads and trackers by default. I use Firefox myself (mostly because I love Container Tabs), but usually recommend Brave to less techy people as it requires zero post-install configuration.

Re: The Brave web browser is hijacking links, and inserting affiliate codes

#344
post #333

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Regardless of whether the terminology is technically correct, it's easily understood what the meaning is. Modifying links and modifying typed URLs are equally bad, so your claim that it is sensationalist doesn't make sense. Your post is pure pedantry that does not make any substantive contribution.

>Modifying links and modifying typed URLs are equally bad Sorry, but you're plainly wrong. "Modifying links" implies another victim in the scheme: The party who authored the link in the first place. It implies that a third party is being deprived of their affiliate revenue because the link they wrote was "hijacked". That's not what happened. No one is having anything stolen . If that distinction is not important to y…

They are equally bad because in both cases the user is taken to a place that they did not intend to go. They are not bad because something is getting "stolen", they are bad because the user is no longer in control. That is a significantly more concerning aspect than someone not receiving affiliate revenue, which to be completely honest, I couldn't care less about.

Re: The Brave web browser is hijacking links, and inserting affiliate codes

#345

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but Brave on Android has no extension support, so still better.

I'm not okay with how Mozilla behaves regarding add-ons. As in, they have all this addon support, but it's not in any way a priority for them so they've basically taken it all away. So I won't support them or use their browser until they do.

FF fanboys can go get fucked. As long as Mozilla doesn't care about addons, I don't give a shit about Mozilla and I won't use their browser. Simple as that. You can go fuck yourself too. Nothing but ass munching pieces of shit who downvote everything over nothing around here. Fuck's sake. I hate all of you motherfuckers.

Re: The Brave web browser is hijacking links, and inserting affiliate codes

#346
post #100

I'm surprised people are surprised by this. Brave have said from the beginning that this is how their business model works. What I'm even more surprised about is that Brave has gotten any traction at all, as there is really no reason to use it instead of a normal browser with regular ad blockers.

I use it on iOS because its an easy solution for ad-blocking. Is there a good ad-blocker for Safari on iOS?

[deleted]

Re: The Brave web browser is hijacking links, and inserting affiliate codes

#347

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the things that annoys me on a daily basis is how FF handles the address bar. In Brave, if I click on the address bar. It gives me a button to copy the link. If I have a link copied, there's a paste button. If I use FF, I have to go through the whole monkey dance of clicking on the address bar, tap holding the address until the copy menu shows up, then I can copy. Then there's absolutely infuriating stuff like…

Just longclick the address bar without clicking it first, it then gives you the choice to copy, and even paste&go in one click. You could always make it not to hide when scrolling. I btw use gestures to switch tabs via an extension, works great.

No reason to downvote me, asshat.

You could always go fuck yourself. I don't want it to be shown when I'm scrolling. It takes up a fuckload of space. I do want it to fucking show up again when I need it, and not when I scroll up and down a dozen fucking times before it shows up. Assholes.

Re: The Brave web browser is hijacking links, and inserting affiliate codes

#348

From the same browser that brought you “Hey we’ll just start taking donations for everyone whose ads we block, and we won’t put any effort into contacting anyone to tell them about this - and if they do find out, the process to start getting those donations is a giant pain in the ass!” I’m tempted to add some browser sniffing to my site just so I can block this scammy thing. I don’t even have ads on my comics any mor…

How is this a worse situation for you than having users with ublock origin visit your site?

Users blocking ads know damn well they are not giving me anything. Some of them might decide to back my Patreon because of this, some of them will back my future Kickstarter because of this.

Users running Brave and buying their crypto will assume they are supporting me, even if all Brave has done to tell me they’re holding crypto for me was to send email to an address at my domain that doesn’t actually exist.

Re: The Brave web browser is hijacking links, and inserting affiliate codes

#349
post #333

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Modifying links and modifying typed URLs are equally bad Sorry, but you're plainly wrong. "Modifying links" implies another victim in the scheme: The party who authored the link in the first place. It implies that a third party is being deprived of their affiliate revenue because the link they wrote was "hijacked". That's not what happened. No one is having anything stolen . If that distinction is not important to y…

They are equally bad because in both cases the user is taken to a place that they did not intend to go . They are not bad because something is getting "stolen", they are bad because the user is no longer in control. That is a significantly more concerning aspect than someone not receiving affiliate revenue, which to be completely honest, I couldn't care less about.

[deleted]

Re: The Brave web browser is hijacking links, and inserting affiliate codes

#350
post #333

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Modifying links and modifying typed URLs are equally bad Sorry, but you're plainly wrong. "Modifying links" implies another victim in the scheme: The party who authored the link in the first place. It implies that a third party is being deprived of their affiliate revenue because the link they wrote was "hijacked". That's not what happened. No one is having anything stolen . If that distinction is not important to y…

They are equally bad because in both cases the user is taken to a place that they did not intend to go . They are not bad because something is getting "stolen", they are bad because the user is no longer in control. That is a significantly more concerning aspect than someone not receiving affiliate revenue, which to be completely honest, I couldn't care less about.

So a third party also being wronged does not change anything because... you don't like the third party? Classy.

Do you have an actual argument or is that it?

Edit: This has got to be the first time I've seen an HN'er defend someone adding a clickbait title to their submission. A submission that points to their own marketing website. The guy is selling a book. Don't be so naive.

The accusation stands on its own without sensationalizing it.

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