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I Block Ads

coryd.dev

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Re: I Block Ads

#41

Post by bee_rider »

jdthedisciple wrote: post #20

In before the "do you also steal from restaurants?"-clowns join the discussion. lmao They're simply the funniest And yes it's the most common "retort" to ad-blocking I always hear.

I think there will be almost no posters here to defend ads, which is really something, given that this is a tech site and a whole lot of the sector is ad-driven.

Hopefully this indicates that there will be room for something better soon.

Or maybe it just indicates that the ad guys have so throughly beat us that they don’t even feel the need to come argue anymore.

Re: I Block Ads

#42

Post by mgbmtl »

chasebank wrote: post #3

Advertising is so completely intertwined with everyday life, it’s impossible to block them. The worst kind of ads, IMO, are the non-intrusive, organic looking articles / news stories placed there by PR. The ultimate brainwash. Most of HN and Reddit content is advertisement whether you realize or not. Front page CNN, outside of weather events and sports, it’s closing in on 100%.

Legislation can be surprisingly efficient, even if not 100% efficient.

There's a borough in my city that decided to ban big billboards. Everyone hated them, they were ugly and everywhere. The advertising lobby sued, it went all the way to the supreme court of Canada, and the city won: advertising was declared a form of visual pollution and therefore banning them was an acceptable infringement to free speech (https://www.scc-csc.ca/case-dossier/info/sum-som-eng.aspx?ca...).

Another example is forcing influencers to disclose when content is sponsored (and apply local advertising laws). If influencers receive money, they are therefore freelancers (in most jurisdictions) and subject to many laws. I have seen them enforced in my jurisdiction.

Re: I Block Ads

#43

Post by submeta »

Whenever I'm sitting in front of a computer that isn't using ad blockers, I'm shocked to see how polluted websites are, practically yelling at me, vying for my attention. How can folks concentrate on an article without ad blockers?

Then there are those ads in YouTube videos and blog articles purporting to offer the reader something valuable when, in fact, they're packed with falsehoods ("xyz changed my life, and if you want to check it out, please click on this affiliate link").

While I can't block ads on the radio, on the internet, I make a point of blocking every ad I can.

There are other ways to reward an author or a website. For instance, I block ads on sites like Haaretz, but I do subscribe to them because I believe quality content deserves compensation.

Re: I Block Ads

#44

Post by [deleted] »

Nextgrid wrote: post #37
judge2020 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you block tracking but not ads? As in, do you let adsense ads show up, which track you? If not, why do you think the site wouldn't think you are blocking ads?

This is a complaint that virtually every single ad out there is actually spyware that tracks you, with the "ad" part being almost like an afterthought.

[deleted]

Re: I Block Ads

#46

Post by alyandon » 

  I block the page visibility API.
I'd love to find out more information on how to prevent web pages from knowing if they are visible or not.

Re: I Block Ads

#47

Post by mawise »

ltbarcly3 wrote: post #31
paulryanrogers wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That depends on the cost of the subscription, the things being advertised, and the audience's will power.

I see what you are saying, but you are not correct on any of these points. 'depends on cost': It can't actually depend, on average. Advertisers keep spending money because they make more back overall than they spend on advertising. Only a small fraction of that increase in income is paid in fees to the platform that is funded by the advertising. To make the same amount of money, the platform would only have to charge…

Ehh, the ad networks want advertiser to believe that but they also do sketchy things like intercepting (and taking credit for) customers who already had an intent to purchase. There was a big story about Uber cutting lots of ad spending with little impact a while ago: https://thehustle.co/01072021-uber-ad-spend/

Re: I Block Ads

#48

Post by jagged-chisel »

judge2020 wrote: post #24
aidenn0 wrote: post #19

I don't block adds, I only block tracking cookies, and yet I am told repeatedly by websites that I am blocking ads on a daily basis, and that they will go out of business if I don't disable my "ad blocker." Meanwhile I am quite content with pages that show me full-width banner ads without tracking me.

How do you block tracking but not ads? As in, do you let adsense ads show up, which track you? If not, why do you think the site wouldn't think you are blocking ads?

Blocking cookies. As in, the cookie gets ignored instead of being stored. No cookie returned to the server on future requests. Of course there’s also “use the cookies for this session and delete them later.”

In any case, “blocking” cookies is not the same as blocking ads.

Re: I Block Ads

#49

Post by anonporridge »

javajosh wrote: post #23

"No communication with me without my consent," is something I want in society, and that is violated by virtually all advertising, everywhere. I wish this was the social norm. The compromise is what the OP did, reactive, only-really-available-to-tech-folk measures. This is unfortunate. Personally, I would not consent to any communication that was paid for . In that case it's money talking, not the person, and this is…

> No communication with me without my consent

That's not practically possible unless you choose to live alone in a controlled box. Even the infrastructure you're forced to interact with is a form of communication that manipulates you into certain behaviors.

But then, maybe that's where we're headed as a society with the explosion of one person households, remote work, and delivery services. It's increasingly possible for the majority of people to actually live a completely solitary life, controlling their information input by restricting it only to a screen.

https://ourworldindata.org/living-alone

Re: I Block Ads

#50

Post by voisin »

cdme wrote: post #34
morning-coffee wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would love to see links to information on how to block some of the particular avenues mentioned. Some I haven't heard of yet. I use a pi-hole and uBlock Origin, but am always up to learn more...

I debated linking solutions I use but didn’t want the post, in that way, to advertise anything.

It would be at the benefit of being more useful for readers.
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