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Ad blocker that clicks on the ads

dhowe.github.io

41–50 of 253 posts

Re: Ad blocker that clicks on the ads

#41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure if you've used google to advertise with before but they will work out that this user is clicking maliciously and discard them. The whole point is they won't get revenue from this unless you visit very few sites.

So does that make it better or worse than just blocking adds?

Worse, as ad networks can--and do--block publishers for click fraud.

Re: Ad blocker that clicks on the ads

#42
post #19

I realize this won't be popular, but I really have no feelings for ad networks. - They allow shoddy security on their servers - They track users against their will - Info on me is sold w/o my knowledge or consent - Ads are a poor business model since they can be blocked - There is no moral imperative for me to view ads since I've paid to access the Interwebs I block all ads, tracking cookies, beacons, all of it... I…

I don't pretend to know what will come next, only that the UX and beauty of anything I do on a phone or a browser is severely diminished by the presence of ads. I will go to great lengths to make them go away.

For these reasons and more, it strikes me as likely that advertising as a business model has a limited shelf life. It will exist only so long as there is no better alternative and not one moment longer.

Re: Ad blocker that clicks on the ads

#43
post #19

I realize this won't be popular, but I really have no feelings for ad networks. - They allow shoddy security on their servers - They track users against their will - Info on me is sold w/o my knowledge or consent - Ads are a poor business model since they can be blocked - There is no moral imperative for me to view ads since I've paid to access the Interwebs I block all ads, tracking cookies, beacons, all of it... I…

Agreed.

People forget, we half-stumbled into this ad supported content idea. The only thing keeping it that way is inertia. I think we've finally started to feel the limits -- it means being tracked 24-7.

Enough already. We can do better than this.

Re: Ad blocker that clicks on the ads

#44
post #14

As someone who runs an ad-supported site, I would really prefer if you just blocked my ads and did not register fake clicks on them.

Totally agree. There's something quite mean spirited about this.

There is something also mean-spirited about tracking users. Yeah, yeah, I've heard it's all anonymous, but I've been in the IT industry for a very long time, and I know for a fact they can identify the users with enough time. Because all of this is bought and sold behind the scenes.

I would be OK with ads that went straight to the site selling an item with no tracking other than click-thru stats but not using the IP address, not fingerprinting the browsers, etc.

It's sick that sites show one price to mobile users and another to desktop users. I've seen this by testing it myself. It's a sham. It's the seedy side of capitalism. Everyone should get the same price. Another reason to block ads, since allowing them means you're buying into the way they do business.

Nothing mean-spirited about blocking a very strong vector for malware, which we all know ad networks have become. I have a moral imperative to protect machines under my control, so we block all ads, disallow all tracking, use Disconnect, Ad Block Plus, and HTTPS Everywhere, along with other in-place tools to allow users a clean Internet experience. Let's not even mention how much bandwidth is saved by adblocking... That alone makes it worth it.

Re: Ad blocker that clicks on the ads

#45
post #19

I realize this won't be popular, but I really have no feelings for ad networks. - They allow shoddy security on their servers - They track users against their will - Info on me is sold w/o my knowledge or consent - Ads are a poor business model since they can be blocked - There is no moral imperative for me to view ads since I've paid to access the Interwebs I block all ads, tracking cookies, beacons, all of it... I…

Strongly agree. Ads (and even ads placed by primary distributors and authors) hijacked the internet without permission from browsers/surfers and routinely have additional negative consequences. The reader doesn't need permission to defend themselves.

Re: Ad blocker that clicks on the ads

#46
post #30
post #8

Bad idea, ads are also a way to support the site/service you are using. Automatic ad clicks can get that site banned (i.e. Adsense will surely do that) so that's a sure way to kill the site. Google for instance wouldn't have existed without ads. Lots of people on HN saved millennia with help from Stackoverflow (ad supported) and so on. I'm now "ad-aware" so I know how to differentiate content from ads, but I will cli…

There's a big difference between Google's AdWords and other advertising (including Google's AdSense). I universally oppose all advertisements (in the seconds sense), I even think that billboards in public should be banned. Advertisement like that is just pollution of the mind. However, However, I don't consider AdWords or bulletin board ads "advertisement" in the same sense of the word, because it's just showing you…

[deleted]

Re: Ad blocker that clicks on the ads

#47
post #14

As someone who runs an ad-supported site, I would really prefer if you just blocked my ads and did not register fake clicks on them.

Of course, but that's kind of a point of this extension. It doesn't only want to block ads, but actively fight against them. (or as I understood it, against those ads which do user tracking).

Re: Ad blocker that clicks on the ads

#48
The only reason I have installed ABP is google's youtube ads. All the other websites are suffering because of google's politics with youtube, since I encouraged all of my friends to do the same thing, just to watch youtube quietly.

I would really like to use this project, though, on websites with paywalled articles, not on others, but I would never bother creating or maintaining a black/white list. So I might just go ahead and install it.. :P

Re: Ad blocker that clicks on the ads

#49
post #14

As someone who runs an ad-supported site, I would really prefer if you just blocked my ads and did not register fake clicks on them.

And there are also many donation-supported sites out there.

Ads are, to me, unsolicited. You can maybe imply that by visiting your site I'm requesting them, but that'd be twisting it. Whereas donation is more user-initiated and/or site requested.

Re: Ad blocker that clicks on the ads

#50
post #34
post #10

I don't understand this, they say it prevents tracking but, actually, this helps ad companies track you since they will now know you will click their ads whenever you are visiting a certain site. With ad blockers that prevent the HTTP request, those third party sites aren't able to track you. The publisher can always track you but that won't be shared with their advertisers or networks. Disclaimer: I work in the adte…

Doesn't the ad network get that information already when you load the ad?

They don't get any information if you use the hosts file to send all the requests for their (sub)domains straight to localhost or even /dev/null
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