Adblocking people and non-adblocking people experience a different web • Hacker News Board

Re: Adblocking people and non-adblocking people experience a different web

#371

Post by mikehollinger » Mon, Jan 31, 2022, 6:52 PM UTC

blakesterz wrote: post #2

In FireFox I have my ad blockers disabled in Private Mode so nothing is getting in the way if I'm testing or some site is being weird. Sometimes it's SHOCKINGLY different how a page looks with the blockers in place. I really can't believe anyone would user a browser without an ad blocker if they knew how things would look while using one. The web is a much better place with a blocker in place. (Yes, I know, we get a…

I had this happen to me when the poker planning widget we were using was offline (can't complain about free services). I googled around then found something, gave it a go on my system, and then gave it to my team. When someone started sharing their screen, I was embarrassed by the amount of highly personal ads that I saw (fat loss, vacation things). I saw none of that. I felt terrible for suggesting it. No one else seemed to notice or care, but - it's amazing.

Re: Adblocking people and non-adblocking people experience a different web

#372

Post by krsrhe » Mon, Jan 31, 2022, 6:53 PM UTC

reincarnate0x14 wrote: post #17

blakesterz wrote: post #2

In FireFox I have my ad blockers disabled in Private Mode so nothing is getting in the way if I'm testing or some site is being weird. Sometimes it's SHOCKINGLY different how a page looks with the blockers in place. I really can't believe anyone would user a browser without an ad blocker if they knew how things would look while using one. The web is a much better place with a blocker in place. (Yes, I know, we get a…

I feel zero guilt about ad blocking. There was some period of discussion on the subject back in like 2003 but the ad companies went to war against human civilization and there's been no going back. It corrupts and twists everything it touches into a constant hustle for eyeball-cash and an entire generation has now reached adulthood knowing nothing but that hustle touching every bit of media they ever interact with. W…

No post body was provided.

Re: Adblocking people and non-adblocking people experience a different web

#373

Post by junaru » Mon, Jan 31, 2022, 6:53 PM UTC

cercatrova wrote: post #186

I have a list of adblockers I use, hope it helps other people here: Desktop: - Pi-Hole (network wide adblocking) - AdGuard (device wide adblocking) Web browsers: - uBlock Origin - uMatrix (not developed anymore but still works, can also use NoScript) - SponsorBlock (blocks in-video sponsor segments, intros, outros, filler tangents, etc in YouTube) Mobile: - Firefox for Android / Kiwi Browser (both have web extension…

> YouTube Vanced

I get why they want to stay anonymous but that website is no different from any other malware site - no source, no authors just some affiliate links. Putting your google credentials in an app like that is not something people should be comfortable with.

Re: Adblocking people and non-adblocking people experience a different web

#374

Post by sebastien_b » Mon, Jan 31, 2022, 6:53 PM UTC

I call it a malware blocker, rather than an adblocker - here's my reasoning:

One day I was on a classifieds site[1], browsing listings, when after a few pages, I was met with a page redirect to one of those scammy support center sites (taking over the browser), advising that my computer had been infected by a virus (obviously hadn't) and I needed to call in to "Apple's Support Center" immediately. This was on Safari (the newer useless extension-neutered version), on what I considered a reputable site. I tested again to make sure it was indeed the site that produced this, and sure enough reproduced it after browsing a few pages of listings.

I advised the site that they likely had a rogue advert in rotation causing this, but as usual, the blame got put on me instead, claiming that it was probably some extension (didn't have any - they're basically useless on Safari now) or it was my ISP, blah blah blah

That's the day I decided to use a real browser ("If it doesn't run uBlock Origin, it's not a real browser"), so I switched to Firefox and installed uBO. This is also when I decided to call such utilities as uBO "malware blockers" rather than "ad blockers".

Websites can try to deflect the blame all they want[2], but in the end if visiting your website results in any attempts to compromise my computer, it's your site doing it as far as I'm concerned.

If the website industry can't regulate itself to prevent such things, then I'm going to do it myself, and I'll push back on any claims that I'm using an "ad" blocker when I'm really guarding against malware attacks.

[1] I'm loathe to name it since I don't recall which site it was specifically, but it was a classifieds-style site, with the reputation of, say, eBay-level recognition.

[2] https://www.imore.com/content-blockers-bad-ads-and-what-were...

Re: Adblocking people and non-adblocking people experience a different web

#375

Post by aksss » Mon, Jan 31, 2022, 6:53 PM UTC

munk-a wrote: post #322

idiotsecant wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sometimes the cost for a quality piece of gear is incremental though, so you buy a harbor freight thingamajig then it breaks so you buy the Milwaukee thingamajigfor twice the price, for a total of 300% of the cost of the original thing. You could have saved 30% in that case by just buying the good thing in the first place.

Alternatively this thingamajig is so rarely used that you buy the harbor freight version and use it a few times a year. It becomes a life long tool and you save a fair bit of the price. The second time you buy a type of tool you definitely need to go for quality, the first time though, are you certain you're actually going to be constantly using that tool?

The only exception to watch out for is when buying a crappy version of x will negatively color your new experiences with an activity. Tools meant for precision but the cheap versions are plastic rattle traps that get out of calibration/alignment from basic use can be extremely frustrating to someone just getting started in an activity. The user may throw their hands up and quit whereas a good quality tool would have made their new hobby more enjoyable/accessible (e.g. no, it’s not you, you’re just fighting a really crappy tool every step of the way). Again, tasks/activities that require repeatable precision come to mind here.

Re: Adblocking people and non-adblocking people experience a different web

#376

Post by secabeen » Mon, Jan 31, 2022, 6:54 PM UTC

brewdad wrote: post #343

bbarn wrote: post #310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Harbor Freight's "low quality" tools will work for a great many average home owners doing some upgrading or light work. We absolutely fall into the trap of wanting the best thing ever, but how many people actually need the top of the line Milwaukee or Makita brand biscuit joiner for the 2 tables they ever make at 200$, vs the Harbor Freight one at 60 that you can probably find a coupon for to make it 45-50? On that n…

I managed to get a 48" flex bit stuck in my wall when I was running ethernet last summer. Since it was the last hole I needed and it only cost me $9 at Harbor Freight, I left it in the wall and called it good. The $90 bit from Home Depot probably would have meant removing a bunch of drywall and then having to patch it. The batteries on my ~20 year old Craftsman cordless drill are finally getting to the point where th…

For a replacement like that, it's probably worth watching for Father's Day and other sales. With cordless tools, you're really buying into a battery accessory system, and it's good to know what tools are available for the battery you select.

Re: Adblocking people and non-adblocking people experience a different web

#377

Post by krsrhe » Mon, Jan 31, 2022, 6:54 PM UTC

blakesterz wrote: post #2

In FireFox I have my ad blockers disabled in Private Mode so nothing is getting in the way if I'm testing or some site is being weird. Sometimes it's SHOCKINGLY different how a page looks with the blockers in place. I really can't believe anyone would user a browser without an ad blocker if they knew how things would look while using one. The web is a much better place with a blocker in place. (Yes, I know, we get a…

No post body was provided.

Re: Adblocking people and non-adblocking people experience a different web

#378

Post by bun_at_work » Mon, Jan 31, 2022, 6:55 PM UTC

TheIronMark wrote: post #172

bun_at_work wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who is saying they expect free content? I'd pay a monthly fee for unmolested search results. I pay for Youtube Premium. I only watch ad-free content that I pay for. I don't want the content for free - the free stuff is usually worse in quality anyway. I just want to be left alone by advertisers. I don't need what they are selling and the reduce my ability to think. The sheer amount of noise they add to the world make…

> Who is saying they expect free content? Anyone using an adblocker is expecting free content.

This is just not true and is particularly obtuse. I am not expecting free content using an adblocker, there is often just no way to avoid ads with some products.

Re: Adblocking people and non-adblocking people experience a different web

#379

Post by lowbloodsugar » Mon, Jan 31, 2022, 6:55 PM UTC

patrickk wrote: post #126

skummetmaelk wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It corrupts and twists everything it touches into a constant hustle for eyeball-cash This cannot be overstated. Everything today is a battle for eye-balls and ad money. The corruption is insane. You can't even buy appliances designed perform their function well. Instead you can buy cheap junk for less than cogs because they make money selling your data to ad companies instead of making money by making products that…

> You can't even buy appliances designed perform their function well You can't research good appliances either online, because the SERPs are stuffed with SEO-ed blogs and sometimes industry magazines, monetized with Amazon affiliates or other networks, with titles like "5 best dishwashers in 2022". Unless you know someone in the industry or offline with knowledge you don't know what to buy. This is noticeable in many…

consumerreports.org does exactly what you want, but you have to pay for it. if you don't want to pay for it, then you get what you pay for. google isn't complacent. google has a large number of paying customers that aren't you. you don't live in a socialist utopia. you live in a world where things cost money. you can pay for the information you want, or someone else can pay for you to have the information they want you to have.

Re: Adblocking people and non-adblocking people experience a different web

#380

Post by clairity » Mon, Jan 31, 2022, 6:57 PM UTC

camgunz wrote: post #174

TheIronMark wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why don't I get paid for my HN posts? That's between you and HN and has nothing to do with my consumption of your comment. > Ads were tried, and it's been an absolute fucking disaster. No one likes ads, but expecting free content is silly.

> No one likes ads, but expecting free content is silly. It's not always possible to buy out of advertising. One of my fave sites anandtech.com has (I guess relatively reasonable) ads, and I can't subscribe or whatever to get rid of them. I'm also generally OK with Adwords v1.0 ads, which had virtually no chance of autoplaying a super loud video, running malware on my machine, breaking the layout of a page as I'm try…

it also doesn't matter whether a business offers subscriptions, because ads can (and will) always inevitably be layered on top as an additional revenue source. see newspapers, radio, tv, and even real estate for prior art in this regard, and cars, appliances, and other internet-connected goods as ongoing evolutions.

ads vs. free content is indeed a very false dichotomy.