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uBlock Origin is giving up the fight to keep ads off Facebook

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Re: uBlock Origin is giving up the fight to keep ads off Facebook

#751

Post by wookmaster »

polski-g wrote: post #383
jimrandomh wrote: post #282

Eventually, this arms race ends with a computer vision model that looks at the screen, classifies visual elements as ads, and draws a rectangle over anything that looks like an ad. I am significantly less tolerant of ads than average people seem to be. (I think average people are making a horrible mistake about this, and are badly cognitively damaged by ads in ways they don't realize). If my choices are to look at ad…

I want to support things that are useful. So I whitelist Fandom wiki in my ad blocker... Good God it's like an infected IE browser from the early 2000s with 8 toolbars. How do people use the Internet like this? Why isn't there just a single banner ad at the top, like how Altavista used to look?

it’s disgusting how many have done it. Just 60% of the screen is ads even on mobile.

Re: uBlock Origin is giving up the fight to keep ads off Facebook

#752

Post by okamiueru »

ericmay wrote: post #739
okamiueru wrote: post #736

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Debating requires that one engages with the premise. Making up a different one, and then share your thoughts on it, is something different.

Saying twice now “you didn’t engage with my premise” when someone points out a flaw in your premise or otherwise exposes the weakness in your premise.

Edit: removed. Wasn't worth it.

Re: uBlock Origin is giving up the fight to keep ads off Facebook

#753

Post by wookmaster »

stinos wrote: post #579
aanet wrote: post #218

Controversial opinion: This entire thread reads like a game of cat-and-mouse. People trying to block intrusive ads, and FB reaching into the depths of code and making it nearly impossible for anyone to do so en masse. I've been there. Tried to uncheck all the boxes on their ad platform; used all manners of ad blockers, etc; used incognito mode; used Tor; etc. etc. etc. At some point, you realize that the only way to…

you realize that the only way to not get served ads on Facebook -- and thereby not benefit the company itself -- is to get rid of it completely You're probably right when it comes to benefiting the company, but technically - at least for me - using only https://www.facebook.com/?sk=h_chr means no ads/sponsored/whatever. Only the posts I actually want to see, and chronologically so easy to continue where you left off.…

I dont know what they changed but they kept forcing obvious bot troll political posts on my feed and that’s when I finally deleted my account. They were blatantly trying to enrage me with things I don’t follow. Up to that point I wasn’t bothered and could block whatever and just see friends posts.

Re: uBlock Origin is giving up the fight to keep ads off Facebook

#754

Post by damsta »

Unfortunately with agents Meta can easily run hundreds of automated experiments on real browsers with each commit in the uBlock Origin's repo and each change in various filter lists to find clean workarounds and submit PRs with patches. You can try fighting this on the other side with similar approach, but why waste time and tokens, just stop using Facebook.

Re: uBlock Origin is giving up the fight to keep ads off Facebook

#755

Post by dominicrose »

nerdsniper wrote: post #402
Sophira wrote: post #399

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Eventually, this arms race ends with a computer vision model that looks at the screen, classifies visual elements as ads, and draws a rectangle over anything that looks like an ad. That isn't enough for me. I don't just want to not see the ads, I want to stop them being fetched entirely. There are two big problems with ads. * The ad network can build up a very complete profile of what you like, dislike, and general…

> less common to have an ad that will auto-download malware without you clicking it Less common but we just saw a week ago that malware-via-ads is definitely still happening today: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49170001 This one replaced users clipboard contents with a particular bitcoin wallet address. So a few people who happened to be on their way to send some crypto pasted the malicious wallet address inst…

Web browsers let web programmers do what they want. Some things should be native to the browser and not allow any tinkering, like selecting text, copying, etc.

Re: uBlock Origin is giving up the fight to keep ads off Facebook

#756

Post by jccc »

abirch wrote: post #699
gucci-on-fleek wrote: post #686

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I propose a sane rule for all humans: if you see an ad somewhere, or if you suspect a hidden ad ('influencers' trying to promote something), close the tab immediately and never return to that site. But this very site has lots of ads on it. Up until a few days ago, there was an "Apply to YC Fall 2026" link at the bottom of every page, and the front page usually has ads on it too [0]. So it seems tricky to strictly f…

The difficult thing is people don't want to pay for things. Ads are a way to mitigate that so that people/companies can capture some value that they create.

I don’t think this is right. There are plenty examples of people happy to pay for things online.

But people also really like to get things for free. And there’s plenty of interest in exploiting this fact to get something out of those people without them knowing it.

Re: uBlock Origin is giving up the fight to keep ads off Facebook

#757

Post by ganzsz »

seb1204 wrote: post #548
liendolucas wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gold advice. People should get out of there and enjoy more of their free time!

I disabled YouTube app on my phone for the same reason. The shorts stole my time too easily.

What fixed YouTube for me by disabling and removing all history. The only thing that works is the subscriptions tab and search. The only shorts I get are from subscriptions, so I'm through them in a few minutes and have to choose a real video.

Re: uBlock Origin is giving up the fight to keep ads off Facebook

#758

Post by cromka »

damsta wrote: post #754

Unfortunately with agents Meta can easily run hundreds of automated experiments on real browsers with each commit in the uBlock Origin's repo and each change in various filter lists to find clean workarounds and submit PRs with patches. You can try fighting this on the other side with similar approach, but why waste time and tokens, just stop using Facebook.

There's too much money in it for Meta to not throw a serious budget at it that will outweigh any effort the community can make.

Like you said, we shall all just stop using it.

Re: uBlock Origin is giving up the fight to keep ads off Facebook

#759

Post by dspillett »

Gigachad wrote: post #666
dspillett wrote: post #651

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For a lot of people these days actually calling is for emergencies or other time sensitive comms. Even sending a text is seen that way by some, who have no notifications enabled for other messaging apps & similar but do allow their device to buzz them when an SMS/equivalent arrives.

For socially anxious zoomers sure, but it's not a desirable thing. Call your parents.

Back end of GenX here, I remember our first landline being installed. I hate the phone, always have. Video calls are certainly no better. I'm an "in person or in writing" person, hence I have trouble with the modem remote work environment (to the point where I was considering taking a hefty paycut to leave the dev industry even before AI, which is feeling like the final bail of hay, came along).

But I do make the time and effort to call Dad though.

No point calling Mum, dementia has done away with that being anything but stressful for her.

Re: uBlock Origin is giving up the fight to keep ads off Facebook

#760

Post by g8oz »

celestialcheese wrote: post #222
CivBase wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're still using Facebook, it's because you're required to or you're the kind of person who won't be fazed by this.

Marketplace. It's horrible, but the area I live in has mostly abandoned craigslist and if you want to buy/sell used stuff, marketplace is where you have to be.

If the Karrot buy/sell app has launched in your area, I recommend it. Think of it as Kijiji if eBay had not stopped investing in it.
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