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Adblock Plus “typo correction” feature adds affiliate IDs to links

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Re: Adblock Plus “typo correction” feature adds affiliate IDs to links

#151

Post by abraxasz »

bad_user wrote: post #45

I cannot verify the claims, but I'll state the reasons once again about why I'm not using ad blockers: 1) free websites and web services need revenue and as long as the ads are tasteful, I don't mind them 2) I actually want websites to annoy me with lots of stupid ads, as I want to stop using such websites, because I want to reward publishers that don't do that Ad blockers are trying to fix a symptom of the disease a…

I do acknowledge a moral conflict when using add blockers, for the first reason you give. But ads and trackers have gotten out of hands, to the point where most of the chrome extensions I have installed deal with that type of things:

- Adblock - DoNotTrackMe - Disconnect

in addition to

- Quick Javascript Switcher (if I really get pissed)

Re: Adblock Plus “typo correction” feature adds affiliate IDs to links

#152

Post by dfc »

MichaelGG wrote: post #149
dfc wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly this? WTF? The "this" response was bad enough as it was. Now we are lowering the SNR even more by prepending "Exactly"?

s/Exactly this/I agree Or eliminate it. He provided a small comment afterwards, and the replies to that comment are good. Not what I'd call noise. Your comment and my response however...

I thought that "this" meant I agree. What additional information is conveyed by adding "Exactly"? Now when I encounter "This" I am going to be confused as to whether the author is agreeing in whole or in part with the parent comment.

Re: Adblock Plus “typo correction” feature adds affiliate IDs to links

#153

Post by ljoshua »

mdip wrote: post #96
bad_user wrote: post #45

I cannot verify the claims, but I'll state the reasons once again about why I'm not using ad blockers: 1) free websites and web services need revenue and as long as the ads are tasteful, I don't mind them 2) I actually want websites to annoy me with lots of stupid ads, as I want to stop using such websites, because I want to reward publishers that don't do that Ad blockers are trying to fix a symptom of the disease a…

I agree with both of those principals, but I continue to run an ad filtering proxy on my home network. I don't do this because ads annoy me (of course they do, but for the above reasons, it feels wrong). I do this because a few years ago, certain less technical members of my family received a nasty bit of malware/rootkit combo delivered -- as best I could discern -- via a song lyric look up site. Another laptop picke…

Out of curiosity, how did the experience go for the non-technical Ubuntu user? Did it work out well?

Re: Adblock Plus “typo correction” feature adds affiliate IDs to links

#154

Post by sciurus »

jimm wrote: post #115
ianlevesque wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly this. Everyone needs to offer the option to pay in some way. If we could pay for a bundle of all sites even better.

If you're old enough to remember the start of cable TV, one of the promises was that it would have few/no commercials, because you're paying for it. I'd trust very few web sites to stay ad-free if they switched to a pay model. The money is just too good for them.

See Hulu, which says they still have ads in order to lower the subscription price.

http://www.hulu.com/support/article/20356372

Re: Adblock Plus “typo correction” feature adds affiliate IDs to links

#156

Post by foobarqux »

bad_user wrote: post #45

I cannot verify the claims, but I'll state the reasons once again about why I'm not using ad blockers: 1) free websites and web services need revenue and as long as the ads are tasteful, I don't mind them 2) I actually want websites to annoy me with lots of stupid ads, as I want to stop using such websites, because I want to reward publishers that don't do that Ad blockers are trying to fix a symptom of the disease a…

The reason everyone should have ad blockers is to be free from exploitative coercion.

If someone could attach electrodes on your cranium and "reprogram" it so that it would permanently increase your propensity to buy product X by 10% in exchange for viewing an article on a website would you do it? Would you justify doing it by statements like "free websites and web services need revenue and I don't really mind the electrodes"?

Re: Adblock Plus “typo correction” feature adds affiliate IDs to links

#157

Post by foobarqux »

cletus wrote: post #86

The essence of this is you need to decide the answer to two questions: 1. What are your personal ethics? 2. Who do you trust? To put (1) in context, the content on the Internet is largely provided free but is ad-supported. When it comes to display advertising, it's sold almost entirely on a CPM basis (it may be resold on an eCPC or eCPA basis). It is at best only partially sold on an intent basis (meaning it's entici…

The defense of advertising is the desire not be coerced.

Re: Adblock Plus “typo correction” feature adds affiliate IDs to links

#158

Post by pi18n »

bad_user wrote: post #45

I cannot verify the claims, but I'll state the reasons once again about why I'm not using ad blockers: 1) free websites and web services need revenue and as long as the ads are tasteful, I don't mind them 2) I actually want websites to annoy me with lots of stupid ads, as I want to stop using such websites, because I want to reward publishers that don't do that Ad blockers are trying to fix a symptom of the disease a…

I block all advertisements because the majority I've seen are manipulative and push us to constantly be purchasing shit we don't need by making us afraid we aren't good enough. Or they're just nakedly bold; "come spend your real dollars on this online game featuring this witch's breasts".

If websites have a problem with this they can just respond 402 to all my requests and I won't cry to anyone.

Some advertisers are just honest people trying to make money and I hope word-of-mouth will cover those. But for the rest of it, let's just say my life is much better without TV, radio, or magazines.

Re: Adblock Plus “typo correction” feature adds affiliate IDs to links

#160

Post by nowarninglabel »

fhd2 wrote: post #140

(Edit: The headline used to be "Adblock Plus is changing Amazon refs", but it has been fixed. I commented on the new one below [6].) I'm a developer at Eyeo, working on Adblock Plus. Adblock Plus is not changing Amazon links. TFA is ripe with FUD, but it doesn't even go this far. Maybe this was a major misunderstanding of the typo correction feature [1], which is opt-in, only implemented in Firefox and merely correct…

Thank you for stepping in with some info before the pitchforks come out. Combining your statements with the fact that the js itself shows Amazon URL rewrites are only happening for people who have opted-in to the typo correction feature makes this seem much ado about nothing. The company could have been more transparent to begin with, but you guys have done a lot to improve the online advertising experience.
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