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Adblocking people and non-adblocking people experience a different web

imlefthanded.com

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

#431

Post by schnevets »

jedberg wrote: post #276

For the longest time I refused to install an adblocker. I worked at a company that made most of its money from ads, and it felt hypocritical to run an ad blocker. Also I wanted to experience the website the same way as the users do. For a long time I told people "my brain is my ad blocker I just ignore it". But after a while I just couldn't stand the web without it anymore. Websites got so bad I couldn't find the con…

I'm very surprised the article went into the technical (web site sizes) instead of the psychological. People using the advertised web cannot visit a page without being bombarded by political surveys ("Are your gas prices higher under Biden? WE WANT TO KNOW"), extraneous goods (Show your love with a "My husband is a Rick and Morty fan born in March whose area code is 212!" t-shirt!), and deceptive practices ("Everyone in your area is saving on real estate taxes with this one weird trick!")

I was shocked when uBlock got flack for arranging an "Acceptable advertising" practice on their filter. It seems very similar to centralized regulations in broadcast to me. Larger, more established firms agree to a set of rules for the benefit of consumer and provider.

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

#432

Post by onemoresoop »

Workaccount2 wrote: post #329
pvarangot wrote: post #279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Netflix productions do content placement. It's pretty sneaky and they do use social media accounts for shenanigans like fake posts on subreddits asking "What was that jacket in TVShow S03E04?" and another account responding with a link. Big brands with recognizable logos also do product placement on those. For fantasy shows they aim to own the merchandise distribution, but for stuff that happens on the real world the…

I hardly see product placement as being even remotely close to what YouTube is doing. Its probably one of the most innocuous forms of advertising. Imagine a YouTube where the worst you can come up with is a guy drinking a coke during his video.

Yes, because it's done in moderation. Imagine if that was ramped up and 90% content was turned into product placement..

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

#433

Post by disgruntledphd2 »

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…

> There was some period of discussion on the subject back in like 1963 but the 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. Who even knows what they'll do with that.

Fixed that for you ;)

Like, I remember growing up absolutely surrounded by advertising. It was on the TV, it was on the radio, it was in newspapers and magazines. Literally every second page in a magazine was ads! It was crazy. I grew up with it (as did many of you).

What were the major level societal consequences of this shift? And when did it begin? Was radio just as bad in the 30's?

Are newspapers where it went wrong? Man, at that point we may as well go the whole way and blame the industrial revolution ;)

More generally, advertising is a consequence of the economic system we've (somewhat) collectively as a species decided we want to achieve our goals. I doubt the first urban dwellers expected the vast new cities to be hives of disease, either, but them's the breaks.

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

#434

Post by samstave »

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…

Uhm.... the perfect example is ublock origin with reddit.com vs. old.reddit.com

Reddit.com is eye fucking cancer.

Old.reddit.com is consumable....

Interestingly, after a 15-year-long account I was "permanently banned" for TOS violations which cannot be determined... Reddit is dead to me. (Ill be deleting (scrambling) millions of comments... I was top mod of a sub /r/ with 1.5 million users, which is now one of the most active /r/s...

If anyone would like to buy my 15+ year old account, make me an offer.

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

#435

Post by disgruntledphd2 »

exhilaration wrote: post #406
bambax wrote: post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but they must still exist -- yet we don't seem to hear them anymore.

I would bet that most Google and Facebook employees use adblockers.

When I worked at one of the above, it was part of the process for reporting an ads bug. First, disable your adblocker.

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

#436

Post by detaro »

simion314 wrote: post #238
detaro wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the "Recommended - Firefox recommends only Add-Ons that meet our standards for security and performance." badge they put on some extensions if not an endorsement? Or the "Adblocker staff picks" on the front page of AMO?

Are those recommendation based on user ratings only? The issue with extensions is they can get hijacked and get malicious. A Mozilla created extension or endorsed would offer the warranty that there is no intentional malicious code in it. After your comment I checked the extensions page, seems there is something claimed about "security" but is too vague IMO. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/add-on-badges?utm_cont…

... no, as the page you link says, the extensions are reviewed by Mozilla employees.

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

#437

Post by WheatM »

warner25 wrote: post #53
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 run Firefox with uBlock Origin, and spend most of my time on pages like HN and other old-school forums that are mostly just text. My wife runs Chrome with all defaults and spends a lot more time in the mainstream web. Whenever she wants to show me something on her laptop, I think to myself, "how can she subject herself to this all day?!" For me, the experience in her browser is like being assaulted. She doesn't wan…

No post body was provided.

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

#438

Post by bluGill »

SamBam wrote: post #194
williamdclt wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only solution I found to that is to bypass google completely and directly go search on Reddit, where real humans have human opinions (sometimes HN, too).

And unfortunately, you're never really sure on Reddit, either. I found I was too willing to put those, what, 5-10 voices telling me to pick a certain brand up on a high pedestal, because they seemed like real people. They didn't sound like advertisers. But, honestly, how hard is it to fake 5-10 accounts to push your product, or buy high-karma accounts? My go-tos are sites like Wirecutter, where it seems like the hit…

I find the best results on reddit when I look for the same company selling only that type of thing. They often moderate the sub on that topic and are very open about being a seller of it, and know their product. Note this is actually selling the product - not to be confused with amazon links. They need to have a real business, and while they moderate the sub they never have links to their store (instead it is search my profile to buy from me).

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

#439

Post by fleddr »

Until a decade ago, I've always tried to be the better person. I did not block ads and for sites that I liked, I even intentionally clicked on ads.

I can tolerate ads. Also 10 on a page. And they can even blink. What I cannot tolerate is malware, personal data theft, and ads destroying the performance of any website. Ads have become a liability and advertisers have made it loud and clear that I'm not a human being, instead a resource to be exploited, and no tactic is below their standards.

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

#440

Post by solarmist »

judge2020 wrote: post #396
sgjohnson wrote: post #332

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have an ethical dilemma about YouTube. I hate ads, I hate Google, and I want to support the creators. For those reasons adblock is a must, and paying for YouTube Premium is not an option (I’m not going to voluntarily give a single penny of my money to Google) Sure, I’ve got CuriosityStream and Nebula subs, but not all content creators use those platforms. It is what it is.

Nebula seems to split profit 50/50[0] while YouTube splits it 55/45 to the channel[1], and Youtube Premium views are regarded as being sometimes 10-20x the payout of an ad-supported view[2]. 0: https://nebula.app/faq#:~:text=How%20do%20the%20creators%20g... 1: https://variety.com/2021/digital/news/youtube-partner-progra... . 2: https://twitter.com/LinusTech/status/1486935690315112455?s=2... and https://www.dailydot.c…

re: [2] I did not know that. This thread has convinced me to seriously look at paying for YouTube.
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