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You block ads in your browser, why not in your city?

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Re: You block ads in your browser, why not in your city?

#611

Post by Nextgrid »

Aerroon wrote: post #302
Nextgrid wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Annoying consent flows aren't compliant, at least not with the GDPR. A compliant consent flow should make it as easy to accept as it is to decline, so pre-ticked checkboxes or hiding/burying the decline option doesn't comply. Incompetent regulators that are asleep at the wheel and still haven't done anything to punish this (GDPR went into effect in 2018) are definitely a problem though.

Even if the regulators attacked more websites it wouldn't matter. You'd just have more and more websites that block European users. You can't expect websites to give you a pop up that asks whether they can monetize your visit or not. Everyone's going to click "refuse" because ads are annoying. As a consequence your website makes no money. At that point why run the website at all? Regulators don't want to regulate too…

> You'd just have more and more websites that block European users.

Great! It frees up space for more respectful alternatives.

However ads are universally disliked and the problems the current ad model brings (privacy, spam/scams/malware, inappropriate/illegal content, etc) are generally universal too, so it's just a matter of time before similar regulation is enacted outside of Europe too.

> because it would ruin all the freely available websites.

Laws against theft/robbery/carjacking ruin free/below-market-rate car rental websites too, yet nobody is complaining about those because society has decided that theft is bad even if it would technically open up new business opportunities that wouldn't otherwise be possible. Why should this be any different?

Re: You block ads in your browser, why not in your city?

#612

Post by Nextgrid »

shukantpal wrote: post #285
Nextgrid wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that the ad-free experience often costs orders of magnitude above what the ad view would earn them. Let's take newspapers for example, ad view on a single page load would maybe earn them 10c, but if I wanted to pay I'd need to subscribe to a monthly commitment of ~15£/month (for the WSJ) and still have no guarantee my data won't be used maliciously (there is no way to pay anonymously) nor whether cance…

The subscription doesn't have a limit on how many times you use the app, however. If you read 150 pages a month (~5 a day), then the math is equal.

True, but there are hundreds of news websites out there and even if there was just one you'd still have to read it 5 times a day to make the subscription worthwhile.

I don't read news near enough to make a single subscription worthwhile, and even if I did I would read multiple sources meaning I'd need multiple subscriptions - that's completely unsustainable.

Re: You block ads in your browser, why not in your city?

#613

Post by Nextgrid »

IvanK_net wrote: post #207
Nextgrid wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not liking the cost implies knowing the cost in advance. Does your website disclose that it's ad-supported, which data will be collected and how it will be used (which is required if your are based in the EU or offer service to EU-based customers) and whether you take responsibility for any ill effects from executing the ad code? Because otherwise it can be argued you are also "stealing" people's computing resources…

"Theft implies that you are deprived of the item once it's stolen - this is not the case here." Yeah, exactly. If I write a book, and one person buys it, and a billion people copy it from that person (and I sell just one copy in total), there is nothing wrong, because I still have my book. I am glad that most of people dont think this way, because we would not have any books in our world.

> I am glad that most of people dont think this way, because we would not have any books in our world.

Piracy has been around for decades, may be making a resurgence thanks to the balkanization of media streaming services and yet we still have movies, music & TV.

Re: You block ads in your browser, why not in your city?

#614

Post by shukantpal »

Fnoord wrote: post #602
shukantpal wrote: post #598

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So if I browse a website and get distracted by all the ads, it is my own fault? At a certain point, yes - if the ad doesn’t take a major portion of your screen and is non-interactive. You are not a victim - there are reasonable boundaries of being “annoyed”. > This has a social function, its a two way benefit. Advertising isn't. Its a one-way communication. Not really. You could’ve easily claimed “I don’t GAF who y…

> At a certain point, yes - if the ad doesn’t take a major portion of your screen and is non-interactive. You are not a victim - there are reasonable boundaries of being “annoyed”. That's a too liberal definition. Consider our boundaries getting broken. I am not talking about one ad banner on the a website. I am talking about skyscrapers, pop-ups (actually banned by default on modern browsers), multiple flashy GIFs a…

> I am talking about skyscrapers, pop-ups (actually banned by default on modern browsers), multiple flashy GIFs as banner (like in the 90s), sounds in ads (working on a tab you're not even on!).

The issue was about the real world anyway; in the case of a website, you were the one who request the website be displayed on your computer (that's what the browser does).

In the real world, however, ads are simple banners like the Google text Ads.

> I'm glad we don't have that nonsense dishonesty here in my country.

It's not dishonest even if your interpretation were true, because both parties know it's just another form of greeting.

Re: You block ads in your browser, why not in your city?

#615

Post by tasty_freeze »

specialist wrote: post #605
tasty_freeze wrote: post #402

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Austin, TX long ago passed a law that said a billboard can be used to advertise only for the business on the parcel of land where the billboard is physically located. Thus, a car repair shop could have a billboard advertising themselves, but they are not allowed to lease it out to advertise, say, a tanning salon that is not on the same site. At the time it was passed, any existing billboards were granted an exemption…

Because corporations are people and so therefore have exceptional claim to Freedom Speeches™ denied us mere humans (natural persons). The 5-4 podcast about the SCOTUS covers these (and other) pro-corporation decisions. https://www.fivefourpod.com Basically the ELI5 treatment for those of us completely ignorant of the law. Highest recommendation.

Thanks -- I was just searching "best podcasts of 2021".

Re: You block ads in your browser, why not in your city?

#616

Post by dwaltrip »

brokenkebab wrote: post #591
dwaltrip wrote: post #326

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ads making a city more beautiful…? How about some landscaping and art instead?

For starters, let's read as written: I didn't say beautuful. Second: ok, replace ads with landscaping. One note though: ads pay for themselves, will it work with landscaping?

> For starters, let's read as written: I didn't say beautuful.

Fair, I didn’t mean to put words in your mouth. But I would argue that “less monotonous or plain” is not that different from “more beautiful”. I doubt you want random variety. People want variety that is interesting and nice-looking.

> One note though: ads pay for themselves, will it work with landscaping?

I’m willing to enough taxes such that we can make the places where live nice. I think most people would agree. And we mostly already do this.

Parks, tree-lined streets, modest landscaping and art, all of these things make life better and more enjoyable. They also help people feel contentment, reduce anxiety, etc.

It may be economically beneficial as well, as people may be healthier and more productive by living in a city with these types of spaces. I remember seeing some research that supports this idea. One example was patients at hospitals having better outcomes when the hospital environment was more made pleasant and beautiful (I believe it was from a Kurzgesagt video on beauty).

Re: You block ads in your browser, why not in your city?

#617

Post by dionidium »

matheusmoreira wrote: post #529
dymk wrote: post #521

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course speech is advertising. In what meaningful way is what you're doing not advertising your own views, opinions, and values, same as any company might do so with a billboard?

As I said, I didn't pay money to bring this comment to you whether you wanted it or not. You came here looking for comments. You weren't advertised to, you simply got exactly what you wanted. Discussing a topic in a place where people congregate for that specific purpose is not the same thing as spamming entire cities with audiovisual pollution that nobody wants much less asked for.

> You weren't advertised to, you simply got exactly what you wanted.

I was actually hoping you'd agree with me :)

Re: You block ads in your browser, why not in your city?

#618

Post by smolder »

matheusmoreira wrote: post #577
smolder wrote: post #572

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They should be illegal no matter what? How would commerce function? How would one make a new business known? I hate ads too, but I don't think your extreme stance stands a chance at popularity.

Word of mouth? Designated market places? Who knows? In the end it doesn't really matter. As long as it's not advertising. Businesses aren't entitled to attention. They aren't entitled to being known. They aren't entitled to success. They aren't even entitled to existence. I simply don't understand how some business's concerns can possibly override everything else. Are we supposed to live in some cyberpunk hell with n…

I don't think you have thought this through. Businesses are peoples livelihoods. You have a lot of problems to solve with an intervention like you're suggesting. Based on the "I don't care, figure it out" attitude, I'm guessing you are still pretty young and can't see very far past your face with issues this complex. Not aiming to be rude, but this kind of half-baked, largely emotional argument detracts from the value of discussions, and drives away thoughtful commentators.

Re: You block ads in your browser, why not in your city?

#619

Post by shukantpal »

b3morales wrote: post #386
shukantpal wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We don't have to treat each other as humans, either, by that logic.

Are you saying that the only reason to treat other humans well is because the law says you must? I would say that is precisely backwards: one should treat other humans well, for a variety of reasons. We write that down in law as a shared agreement. But the law is not itself the reason -- it springs from the reasons.

Well the OP's post was based on rejecting all those "reasons" you're talking about. Those reasons can also apply to other things like not doing theft, not burning down other people's properties, etc.

Re: You block ads in your browser, why not in your city?

#620

Post by midasuni »

throwawaycities wrote: post #588
midasuni wrote: post #534

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The main problem on the road in town is parked cars obstructing it. They closed the parking spaces for covid so people could walk along it without being squished and things were far far better. Sadly they have reintroduced the ability to litter the road with your car and it’s gone back to being rubbish. I don’t go to that part of town any more.

>I don’t go to that part of town any more. You specifically brought up the road in front of your house. I find your claim you don’t go to your house anymore because of cars entirely disingenuous.

I mentioned two roads. One which doesn’t allow parking and is great (in front of my house, not designed for motor vehicles, takes about 50 cars a day), one which is town which was great when parking wasn’t allowed but is now rubbish.
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