Live data from Hacker News

I Block Ads

coryd.dev

211–220 of 253 posts

Re: I Block Ads

#211
I wonder why so many people feel the urge to justify blocking ads? Did we have the same reaction over a decade ago for installing antivirus software and depriving the poor malware makers of their revenue, or email server admins blocking spam and depriving the spammers of their revenue?

There is no difference between ads and malware - both are code that uses your machine to make it do something undesirable, and often stalk you (modern adtech is often way more powerful than the spyware of the old days) in addition. It is your absolute right to block all malicious code.

Operating systems mostly wisened up to their earlier vulnerabilities and patched most of the avenues malicious code could load itself on your machine. Browsers countered the early abuses of the pop-up window feature by blocking them and nobody complained. Operating systems and browsers should include ad- and spyware-blocking by default just like they block conventional binary viruses.

The only reason the above is no longer possible (despite it being technically - like pop-up window blockers were implemented almost 2 decades ago) is that ad- and spyware-tech has now consumed browsers and operating systems. The business model of IT is no longer to provide valuable functionality to the user in exchange for payment, it's to provide first-party spyware and spam platform, with "functionality" being merely a necessary evil to keep the user coming back (which they'd rather remove if they had another way of convincing you to keep looking at the screen).

Re: I Block Ads

#212
Targeted Advertising serves a valuable role in free markets by giving exposure to innovative and novel products that improve people's lives. Without advertising, there would be no playing field for new products to challenge incumbents. Everybody would end up sticking to products they know without ever knowing about superior alternatives like in some kind of communist dystopia. Food for thought.

Re: I Block Ads

#213

I wonder why so many people feel the urge to justify blocking ads? Did we have the same reaction over a decade ago for installing antivirus software and depriving the poor malware makers of their revenue, or email server admins blocking spam and depriving the spammers of their revenue? There is no difference between ads and malware - both are code that uses your machine to make it do something undesirable, and often…

> I wonder why so many people feel the urge to justify blocking ads?

because the "ad blocking is unethical and stealing!" crowd is really annoying, as I'm sure the pro-ad blocking side is to them

Re: I Block Ads

#214

Advertising based 'free' things cost you far more than a subscription ever would. This is because Advertising Works and it works on you too . You are being manipulated into buying things you wouldn't buy, manipulated into making poor decisions you wouldn't otherwise make. Generations of people lost decades with relatives from smoking and drinking that would not have happened but for advertising. Advertising makes peo…

>Advertising based 'free' things cost you far more than a subscription ever would.

Let's say someone watches 1 YouTube video per month. Is it worth it to buy YouTube premium at $12/month? What if that person makes minimum wage in the US? What if that person makes the global median wage: $227/month? Free advertising-supported things provide web resources that the poor wouldn't otherwise be able to afford.

Disclosure: I work at Google.

Re: I Block Ads

#215

I occasionally tear down ads in public spaces. I'm sure many will disagree with me, but I do think we should be able to move through public spaces without the incessant assault on one's attention and head space. I haven't been caught yet, though I'm sure I someday will, at which point I'll pay the fine and keep doing it anyway.

I find highway billboards and store signage to be a particularly awful display, and I'd be overjoyed for them to be banned entirely. I have often thought about cutting down highway billboards, although I'm not quite intense enough for that.

I imagine there's at minimum 120 volt lines going through those posts, and worse case 240 volt. Cut at your own risk (but I support the sentiment)

Re: I Block Ads

#216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me, specifically, Forbes destroyed the line between bad actors and above board players. Back when sites started to detect ad-blockers, Forbes asked users to disable their blockers, for the usual reasons. Trusting them, beings respectable breed source, I and others whitelisted Forbes, and promptly got hit by malware distributed by ads on their site. Because Forbes could not be bothered to screen the ads on their s…

I should note that Forbes is probably the traditional media outlet that has been most willing to mix advertising and editorial in questionable ways. It has gotten better about its approach in recent years, but it is certainly not perfect.

Product placement and native advertising is rampant across all media.

Re: I Block Ads

#217

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%.

What do you mean by “HN and Reddit content?” I think most of the people here are real (not ad bots) and most of the comments are just their opinions. I mean you can sometimes see folks who are clearly either super-fans or actual paid shills, but if they were the majority, I think people would give up on the sites.

It's wild how often I click the comments on a reddit post and there's a link to buy something within the first full screen display of comments. Most recently it was some random dish towel in the background of a staged couples-prank video.

Re: I Block Ads

#218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The stickers are a good idea. I also wonder if there's a discrete way of permanently damaging a speaker, e.g. with a magnet or something that could fit discretely in the palm of one's hand.

stab them with car keys.

Cameras, my friend. It's going to have to be much more discrete.

Also, they're way ahead of us. They've got those monitors and speakers covered with thick plastic.

Re: I Block Ads

#219
post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you don't want to see ads, why you didn't want to pay a couple of dollars for an app? Or how do you see developers compensated in this case?

Paying doesn't actually solve the problem. Some time ago I bought "Angry Birds classic" app on iOS - it's a paid app that promised to bring back the "old" Angry Birds before it turned to crap. On first launch I was met with a mandatory "privacy" policy I couldn't decline that was asking me to consent to being spied upon. I ended up getting a refund through Apple.

Sure it does, there are definitely exceptions and Angry Birds is among them. And your example is probably from a while back, since you can disable tracking on iOS from 2019 or so.

I intentionally find products where I can pay. I like YouTube, and I gladly pay for it to not see ads. It's a simple transaction, they provide a service - I pay for it. Sure, you can complain about sponsored content and other crap, but overall YouTube premium experience is great. Whenever I want something to play on my phone - I find a cheap game and just spend 2-5 dollars. In some of the free games, I intentionally spend money on cosmetics to support developers. Without this relationship, you are just a non-paying user who brings no value, and you have misaligned incentives with the app developers.

So I don't understand the mental gymnastics of well paid people (given the audience of hackernews) for why they don't want to pay a few dollars. This way you would support people who provide value to you and dictate how the industry should evolve. Instead, we have a Guac-A-Mole game with advertisers and complain every other day on forums.

Re: I Block Ads

#220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quite. Also, here in the US, gas stations have begun to play particularly loud/obnoxious video advertisements at the pump. I cannot stress how angry I am about this. One of the last places where I could just day-dream has now been deemed "up for grabs" by the lowest form of shit-peddler in the modern world. Pause for a second to consider the absurdity of being blasted with advertisements while paying for a product. T…

> Suggestions welcome. So when I was a child, laser tag became a thing you could buy. Little kits that came with 2 or 4 sets of vests and guns that tried to simulate experiences like Q-Zar laser tag, but at home for kids. We had a couple of sets, and one of the frustrating aspects was that firing the guns made a lot of noise - they had little speakers built in that played really, genuinely awful laser noises for abou…

Sounds like we had a similar childhood!

More to the point: this is a good idea. I have half a mind to grab a razor blade and fill up my tank...

Post reply on HN