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

davidgerard.co.uk

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

#361

Post by fault_lines »

mthoms wrote: post #350
fault_lines wrote: post #344

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 withou…

I simply don't believe that mistakenly saying "links" instead of "URLs" is sensationalist. The author is not engaging in clickbait by substituting that word. A layman understanding of the web will not make a distinction between a URL and a link. The issue is clearly the fact that the browser deceives the user, whether it is changing a link in a page or changing the URL typed in the address bar, these are both equally deceptive from the user's point of view.

Hell, I have a reasonably good knowledge of the terminology and I will regularly ask people to "send me links" or "send me URLs" interchangeably. It's just needlessly pedantic.

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

#362

Post by stjohnswarts »

Ayesh wrote: post #176
meerita wrote: post #15

Being a happy Firefox user and watching all the browser drama from the backyard. I still don't understand why people uses Chrome or Chrome variants claiming privacy things.

I'm all in Firefox too, but Brave is not just a Chrome privacy thing. Brave goes out of its way to make money by ripping off publishers. As a publisher myself, I respect ad blockers. If they block ads, they aren't gonna click the ads in the first place, so it's their choice. I even respect DNT header and not put my pixel tracking for the users. Brave, on the other hand, is doing these sneaky stuff to earn from my eff…

I always whitelist places that I actually use. Turn off pihole and adblockers for those sites in FF

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

#363

Post by UnbugMe »

atombender wrote: post #252
plerpin wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just use Ungoogled Chromium. Why suffer rent seeking crypto shenanigans?

Last I checked, Ungoogled Chromium did not have self-updates, and installing Chrome Extensions was a bit of a chore without a special extension.

Not sure if having to use an extension is a dealbreaker for you but this one allows you to

1) Install extensions from the Chrome web store

2) Update them

https://github.com/NeverDecaf/chromium-web-store

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

#364

Post by alistproducer2 »

stjohnswarts wrote: post #355
alistproducer2 wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same here but edge is offering the same on desktop so im switching. For mobile, brave is my daily driver.

Check out vivaldi. Edge will have various phone home random messages to Microsoft to let them know what you're doing.

Interesting. Ill have to update pihole to put a stop to that

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

#365

Post by dang »

Sevaris wrote: post #347
matsemann wrote: post #331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Your last several comments have broken the HN guidelines. I actually banned you for this, but decided to unban you because your earlier comment history seems fine.

If you wouldn't mind reviewing https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and sticking to the rules from now on, we'd appreciate it.

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

#366

Post by stjohnswarts »

ifdefdebug wrote: post #101
doc_gunthrop wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With Chrome taking the lion's share of the browser user market, you end up with a lot of sites that work well in Chrome but not so well with other browsers. So even if you use Firefox as your main driver, you'll still want to have a Chromium-based browser as a backup. Now the problem for Android users is that, in light of this news, there's now one less (seemingly) viable option if you're using Google Play services.…

> So even if you use Firefox as your main driver, you'll still want to have a Chromium-based browser as a backup. Nope. When something doesnt work in my FF then good bye. I cant be bothered to do extra work like switching browsers for to support their incompetence. It'been rare though.

I'm the same way unless it's a company site. I even changed banks when they "upgraded" their site and it was no longer FF compatible. I figured if they couldn't stick to web standards they might not stick to security standards either. Sometimes I will change the user agent to chrome though in emergency situations and that sometimes fixes things.

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

#367

Post by stjohnswarts »

SSLy wrote: post #93
doc_gunthrop wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With Chrome taking the lion's share of the browser user market, you end up with a lot of sites that work well in Chrome but not so well with other browsers. So even if you use Firefox as your main driver, you'll still want to have a Chromium-based browser as a backup. Now the problem for Android users is that, in light of this news, there's now one less (seemingly) viable option if you're using Google Play services.…

Somehow Samsung Internet and Vivaldi, both closed-source chromium skins available on the Play Store, have always sparked more trust in me than the seemingly open Brave ever did.

Because they don't have convoluted policies. You get what a user might expect rather than a bunch of rigamarole.

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

#368

Post by pyuser583 »

onyva wrote: post #245
SahAssar wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they're not doing anything illegal or dangerous The words "dishonest" and "rent-seeking" come to mind. Also, it seems that using affiliate links without disclosure might actually be illegal.

Brave is really not solving any problem. People that truly want ads removed so they don’t get tracked or bothered, should simply install Firefox. It’s a brilliant browser regardless, and being developed and supported by a non for profit with a proven track record is what makes it trustworthy. Brave can’t compete with that and Eich is not somebody anyone should rally behind in respect to ethical choices, or moral exam…

From a privacy perspective, Safari is pretty good too.

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

#369

Post by josefresco »

Vivaldi is my "third" browser. I have it setup with maximum privacy settings and extensions.

https://vivaldi.com

"Vivaldi is a freeware, cross-platform web browser developed by Vivaldi Technologies, a company founded by Opera Software co-founder and former CEO Jon Stephenson von Tetzchner and Tatsuki Tomita."

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

#370

Post by mthoms »

fault_lines wrote: post #361
mthoms wrote: post #350

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 withou…

I simply don't believe that mistakenly saying "links" instead of "URLs" is sensationalist. The author is not engaging in clickbait by substituting that word. A layman understanding of the web will not make a distinction between a URL and a link. The issue is clearly the fact that the browser deceives the user , whether it is changing a link in a page or changing the URL typed in the address bar, these are both equall…

He's a technical writer (by profession) directing traffic to his blog dedicated to marketing his technical book. Don't be naive, he knows exactly what he's doing.

Furthermore, I responded directly to the OP when he pondered aloud why he would be accused of lying. I explained. Then you jumped on me for being pedantic and posting non-substantive comments? Okay, seriously?

Speaking of which, why did the OP post the comment to HN about Eich calling him a liar, if not to stir up controversy (and traffic)? That's highly unusual. Did you ever consider that Brave is not the only one selling something?

>The issue is clearly the fact that the browser deceives the user, whether it is changing a link in a page or changing the URL typed in the address bar, these are both equally deceptive from the user's point of view

That's simply not true. They are not equally deceptive.... at all. A web browser surreptitiously re-writing third party web-content is next level evil. The implications would be absolutely astronomical.

It's not the same and you know it.

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