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Ads chew through half of mobile data

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Re: Ads chew through half of mobile data

#111
post #81

A lot of web pages only work for me on my iPhone if I use reader mode. Otherwise, the page keeps resetting over and over again. Firefox, but I assume Safari is probably the same, since Apple mandates they all be based on WebKit.

>since Apple mandates they all be based on WebKit. Unless you’re a EU citizen

I haven’t seen anything about this in a while. Do EU builds of Firefox actually exist yet? (Running on gecko)

Re: Ads chew through half of mobile data

#112

A lot of web pages only work for me on my iPhone if I use reader mode. Otherwise, the page keeps resetting over and over again. Firefox, but I assume Safari is probably the same, since Apple mandates they all be based on WebKit.

The same is true for me on Safari. I've tried with and without AdGuard and the experience on plenty of sites that I just want to get a quick tidbit from is awfully painful.

Those sites and their 2974 partners only want to serve your best interests by providing those quick tidbits.

Re: Ads chew through half of mobile data

#113
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Paying with money is better.

People's revealed preferences are very clear, however much they deny it.

Revealed preferences are not reliable in situations where individuals make choices based on factors other than their true preferences, such as... limited information, social pressure, financial pressure (!!), impulsive behavior, addiction, lack of technical knowledge to pursue alternatives (!!), or when their preferences change significantly over time or moment to moment.

Recourse to "people have revealed their preferences" is the last refuge of the defenders of the status quo of deeply corrupted "markets".

Re: Ads chew through half of mobile data

#114
post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Considering we have 25 years of adtech and we presently have multiple effective solutions for adblocking on mobile and desktop, I’d need some additional evidence to be sure that is “ultimately a losing battle”.

So I consider myself to be pretty aggressive compared to the normal user when it comes to adblocking. I use Pihole, pfsense (just some blocking IP lists), ublock origin + custom filters & lists, noscript, and also just have a firm household policy about unavoidable ads. (companies have a "1 strike you're out" policy in my household for anything egregious. Spotify earned a lifetime ban probably over a decade ago. It's…

Well, I couldn't even tell you off the top of my head where I see ads these days on mobile outside of the odd news site that takes up So I can't relate to this battle you paint that's so dire that we should stop using our phones.

Re: Ads chew through half of mobile data

#115

AFAIK, a lot of mobile ad blockers work by proxying your traffic through their servers. There may be more, but the only one I know works totally local is Firefox Focus. You can install it, set it as the ad blocker for iOS Safari and never actually use it as a browser. It’s not 100.0% effective. But, it makes a big difference with minimal hassle.

My solution is a PiHole instance at home, combined with a split tunnel WireGuard connection to route my phone's DNS queries through it while I'm on the go. It's completely app- and platform-agnostic.

Re: Ads chew through half of mobile data

#116
post #57

A solution: AdGuardHome and WireGuard running at home. WireGuard connects on-demand when I leave home. I choose to run it at home because there are cases where services and/or sites block datacenter IPs, and I have complete control over what and how I block, no proxying through any blocking service.

How do you set this up? I have no experience but would like to do something similar.

You can either set each up yourself, or there are a variety of containers available. A chatbot of your choice can likely guide you through it, since it'll depend on your specific network setup and how exactly you'd like it configured.

AdGuardHome is fairly straightforward: https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdGuardHome?tab=readme-ov-fil...

And here is a nice script to install wireguard: https://github.com/angristan/wireguard-install

And you'll likely need to forward the WireGuard port.

Re: Ads chew through half of mobile data

#117
Maybe the ISP should start charging the ad network instead of the user for ad traffic. Then they can start blocking the ads of people who don't pay.

The user, who pays for the service, is getting no value out of the ads and the advertiser is freeloading the ISP's technical infrastructure and userbase.

Re: Ads chew through half of mobile data

#120

A lot of web pages only work for me on my iPhone if I use reader mode. Otherwise, the page keeps resetting over and over again. Firefox, but I assume Safari is probably the same, since Apple mandates they all be based on WebKit.

What web pages are you seeking out? I feel like I read hacker news, the New York Times and some local Reddit channels more or less. Search is so squirrelly and the passion GeoCities pages or Uni home pages are long gone, and blogs are corrupted by insidious sponsor endorsements, let alone ads?

What do you mean? Reddit and Hacker News are link aggregators -- aren't you clicking the links? or are you only reading the comments?

There's a long tail of random websites linked to by sites like this one -- like the one in the OP!

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