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AdNauseam: uBlock Origin fork silently clicking ads on behalf of users

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Re: AdNauseam: uBlock Origin fork silently clicking ads on behalf of users

#121

Post by nradov »

ac29 wrote: post #97
nradov wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stop being vague. Which specific law do you think that might violate. Provide a citation.

The U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Resource Manual Section 941.18 U.S.C. 1343 cites these as the key elements of wire fraud: “1) that the defendant voluntarily and intentionally devised or participated in a scheme to defraud another out of money; 2) that the defendant did so with the intent to defraud; 3) that it was reasonably foreseeable that interstate wire communications would be used; and 4) that interstate…

You have completely misunderstood the wire fraud statute. It isn't even remotely applicable here. Come on. Read the case law.

Re: AdNauseam: uBlock Origin fork silently clicking ads on behalf of users

#122

Post by j33zusjuice »

badloginagain wrote: post #52
aeyes wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“click fraud”? That is very very far fetched. I’m just following links your website serves me. If you don’t like it you don’t have to serve your ads to me.

How "far fetched" this is from click fraud is the central argument, and I can easily see a range of arguments from both sides. On one hand, distributing and marketing a tool that is explicitly designed to harm trackers can be seen- ie lobbied- as fraud. On the other, this isn't a targeted campaign of misclicking, this is essentially random noise on a user by user basis. At scale though, this fucks with a whole lotta…

Except a few walled gardens, like search and social media (FB and Google do not share much of your data with advertisers, and nearly none with other adtech companies), ads are bought through real-time bidding. And the bid is paid regardless of how you respond to the ad.

The majority of ads are bought this way, so your click does not harm the advertisers whose ad would otherwise have been blocked. This could impact the relative value of the publisher’s website, but the industry in general is not overly inhibited by ad-blocking, so I don’t think this extension would have much impact in any sense.

Re: AdNauseam: uBlock Origin fork silently clicking ads on behalf of users

#123

Post by j33zusjuice »

andrewflnr wrote: post #81
aeyes wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“click fraud”? That is very very far fetched. I’m just following links your website serves me. If you don’t like it you don’t have to serve your ads to me.

It's only far fetched if you look at it rationally. Whereas if ads pay your salary, it's obviously click fraud. GP is describing an angle that some people might take for personal benefit, not an actual argument.

It’s not obvious even if ads pay your salary. Adtech is mostly real-time bidding, and the bid is for the impression, not the conversion. Adtech wins either way.

Re: AdNauseam: uBlock Origin fork silently clicking ads on behalf of users

#124

Post by napolux »

ben0x539 wrote: post #34
3np wrote: post #3

Past discussions: AdNauseam – clicking ads so you don't have to - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34886300 - Feb 2023 (69 comments) AdNauseam – clicking ads so you don't have to - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25043165 - Nov 2020 (11 comments) AdNauseam: Browser extension to fight back against tracking by ad networks - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20048216 - May 2019 (63 comments) AdNauseam – clic…

man people really post about this browser addon ad nauseam

booom.gif

Re: AdNauseam: uBlock Origin fork silently clicking ads on behalf of users

#125

Post by tempaccount1234 »

rpbiwer2 wrote: post #98
jethro_tell wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, don't use Gmail, or use a domain that you can move to any provider and keep a backup of you're email. If you put yourself in a place where someone can take everything from you than it's a real risk that they might.

> use a domain that you can move to any provider and keep a backup of you're email. And which ones are those? Once I've selected the right provider, how do I reliably implement my backups? > If you put yourself in a place where someone can take everything from you than it's a real risk that they might. I'll just go ahead and stop using every major software product created in the last decade. Despite my sarcasm you're…

Two things. With an email software like Thunderbird you can download a local copy of your mail and backup that. And you should own the domain name of your private email address, even if you forward it to gmail. Because that way, if gmail locks you out or you just don’t like them any more, you’ll be happy that no one has to update your email address.

Re: AdNauseam: uBlock Origin fork silently clicking ads on behalf of users

#126

Post by hdjjhhvvhga »

godelski wrote: post #116
jethro_tell wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, don't use Gmail, or use a domain that you can move to any provider and keep a backup of you're email. If you put yourself in a place where someone can take everything from you than it's a real risk that they might.

While you're at it, why not just not use the internet? And let's ditch the cellphone too because a lot of tracking is happening through them. > If you put yourself in a place where someone can take everything from you than it's a real risk that they might. You're exactly right, but absolutely wrong. We've had this conversation about creep for a few decades but it still happened. It is technically possible to live in…

> [0] https://gizmodo.com/i-cut-the-big-five-tech-giants-from-my-l...

> Background noise in general disappears this week because YouTube, Apple Music, and our Echo are all banned—as are Netflix, Spotify, and Hulu, because they rely on AWS and the Google Cloud to get their content to users.

Now, if you eliminate AWS, Azure and Google Cloud from your life, you could turn on the Airplane mode as well as the public cloud powers up a large part of today's web, either directly or as a dependency. But there is a ton of difference between using Google's services and visiting a website powered by GCP.

Re: AdNauseam: uBlock Origin fork silently clicking ads on behalf of users

#127

Post by MasterYoda »

I have never really understood AdNauseam. I understand it clicks all ads so there would be no useful tracking profile that way.

But if you have an adblocker and tracking protection like in uBlock Origin and Firefox, it feels it then does not make any sense. You would just send alot of data to trackers, even if its just garbage, and it would just waste your broad band. It clicks on things that would be blocked with an adblocker.

My question is, make AdNauseam any sense when you block ads and trackers (use uBO and Firefox (Strict Enhanced Tracking Protection)? Or is it just useful if you want to have ads, but not want to be profiled by trackers?

Re: AdNauseam: uBlock Origin fork silently clicking ads on behalf of users

#128

Post by demaga »

MasterYoda wrote: post #127

I have never really understood AdNauseam. I understand it clicks all ads so there would be no useful tracking profile that way. But if you have an adblocker and tracking protection like in uBlock Origin and Firefox, it feels it then does not make any sense. You would just send alot of data to trackers, even if its just garbage, and it would just waste your broad band. It clicks on things that would be blocked with an…

Why would you want ads but not personalized ones? It doesn't make any sense to me too

Re: AdNauseam: uBlock Origin fork silently clicking ads on behalf of users

#129

Post by chii »

rpbiwer2 wrote: post #98
jethro_tell wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, don't use Gmail, or use a domain that you can move to any provider and keep a backup of you're email. If you put yourself in a place where someone can take everything from you than it's a real risk that they might.

> use a domain that you can move to any provider and keep a backup of you're email. And which ones are those? Once I've selected the right provider, how do I reliably implement my backups? > If you put yourself in a place where someone can take everything from you than it's a real risk that they might. I'll just go ahead and stop using every major software product created in the last decade. Despite my sarcasm you're…

> little progress towards solving it.

The reason progress isn't made is _because_ the casual experience is so good. Gmail works very well, at least the average (read: compliant) user. Therefore, the system is designed so that it works well for said average user, and so they do not have any incentive to pay for a more "difficult" to use product, which enhances an aspect that they don't care (or know to care) about. That is, until they get hit by an issue (after all, you're average until you're not). But since their numbers are still overwhelmingly small, there's also no political arena for which this can become legislated to make it work.

Re: AdNauseam: uBlock Origin fork silently clicking ads on behalf of users

#130

Post by Timshel »

neilv wrote: post #20

As someone who's been interested in tracker defeating since that became a thing around 25 years ago, I'm just a little concerned that something like this AdNauseum -- if ever adopted significantly -- could invite blowback that also hits more conventional tracker blocking, or other current liberties. Not making certain HTTP requests seems to be protected right now. However, click fraud, with which this might be confla…

We are already there with chrome between the fact that you can't install this without dev mode and the recent "Web Environment Integrity" ...
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