Live data from Hacker News

Ad blocker that clicks on the ads

dhowe.github.io

121–130 of 253 posts

Re: Ad blocker that clicks on the ads

#121
post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do ads in a newspaper "hijack the real world"?

No but billboards do. http://bi.gazeta.pl/im/8/7897/z7897718Q,Polski-Outdoor.jpg Anyway, I'm not using adblock for the last few years because internet isn't that bad (at least the sites I visit). Before adblock it was awful and I think it was adblock that made it go away. Thanks to users ability to respond we have balance. So this is good that such extensions exist.

And some cites have outlawed billboards in some areas: as they are blight.

Re: Ad blocker that clicks on the ads

#122
The real solution is for ad companies to agree to allow their ads to be vetted, and hosted on the delivery network's systems.

I had no problem with ads up until the point I went to the official online source for a number of print comics, and had my browser forcibly minimized, with a new window spawned in the bottom right corner of my screen designed to look like a Windows alert, trying to trick me into installing malware.

At that point I installed an Adblocker, and have never looked back.

I don't mind disabling it when reminded (Hulu and the like), for certain sites, but until I can be certain that websites with positive reputations won't deliver such scurrilous ads, it stays on by default.

Re: Ad blocker that clicks on the ads

#123
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…

Out of curiousity, if you were to go to one of your favorite sites that is currently ad supported, and the site admin presented a popup that states "We've detected you're using an ad blocker, we respectfully request not visiting our site." Would you respect the request or ignore it?

I wouldn't respect it. Because they publish a free content, and are taking advantage of many other Internet services, which provides them with free marketing - search engines, aggregators, social sites, etc. I can download their content and then display any subset I want - that is how WWW works. If they want to prevent me doing that, they should implement a pay-wall.

Re: Ad blocker that clicks on the ads

#124

Just remember that while targeting the ad networks, you're hurting the small publishers (who can't solicit independent advertising) more than the likes of Google. At least in the mid-term, Google can keep charging the same rate for the clicks and still take their cut. If anything, this is making the networks more money. In the long term, this devalues a click. The very moment things turn, the publisher will bear the…

    In the long term, this devalues a click. The
    very moment things turn...
Why would you expect a sharp turn? Some fraction of clicks on the internet are already fraudulent, and if people start using this product that fraction goes up. But it doesn't really matter because it's all auctioned.

Let's say I run a billing service and I've placed ads on searches for "billing service". I find that it costs me $X of advertising per incoming visitor, Y% of these convert into customers, and a new customer is worth $Z to me. I'm willing to bid up to $X x Y% on ads. Now lets say a lots of people switch from blocking ads to giving them fake clicks and now half the clicks on my ads are from this extension. Y% drops by half, because half the visitors from this source are now just browser-extension bots, so I'm only willing to bid half as much. But so is everyone else, which means my new 1/2 x $X x Y% bid is still competitive, and there's twice as much traffic to bid for, so it all comes out the same.

Ad networks take click-fraud very seriously because it's important to their reputation, but the market is actually pretty robust to it.

(Plus this browser extension sounds like it would be really easy for the ad networks to filter out.)

Re: Ad blocker that clicks on the ads

#125
post #28

“ Most of you have browsers, and most of those browsers show you advertisements, and I’m very puzzled about why. The advertisements are annoying most of the time, they slow you down, they injure the concentration that you bring to whatever task it is that you’re doing, and there’s no reason why they show you advertisements; my browser doesn’t show me any advertisements. I don’t see any ads when I read The New York Ti…

Hm, so how viable would it be to launch a rebranded Firefox/Chromium that includes Adblock or HttpSwitchboard by default?

Re: Ad blocker that clicks on the ads

#126
More in your face, html5 ads are coming (sigh). If ad blocking gets real popular like an arms race where those that don't block ads suffer the most.

Maybe the days of site/advertiser direct partnership will come back (see strobist/ midwest photo exchange or xlr8yourmac.com and otherworld computing.)

Re: Ad blocker that clicks on the ads

#127
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

You are painting with a broad brush. My sites would be negatively affected by this plugin even though we sell our own ads (no network) and don't target them by fingerprint or IP.

It's also just kind of mean. By design it only messes with the sites that you yourself think are worth visiting.

> It's the seedy side of capitalism. Everyone should get the same price

This rant against price discrimination seems like a tangent. The behavior you're describing is something e-commerce sites sometimes do. It doesn't have much to do with ads and blocking ads won't make hotels.com show everyone the same price.

Re: Ad blocker that clicks on the ads

#128

"AdNauseam serves as a means of amplifying users' discontent with advertising networks that disregard privacy and facilitate bulk surveillance agendas." Is it really a privacy issue to track what ads you click and use that information to target advertisements to you later? I never understand the outrage against targeted ads. You are going to get ads no matter what. That is how "free" content works. Would you rather t…

i) I see an unfamiliar term. I search for it. For the next X weeks I am showered with stupid useless adverts for something that I have zero interest in.

ii) I am[1] a person with alcoholism / gambling addict / person with anorexia / etc. This informs my search habits. Showing alcohol ads is immoral anyway, but showing those ads to a person with alcoholism is sub-optimal for many reasons.

iii) I like gory movies. My 5 year old son enjoys watching some YouTube clips. There's no mechanism to prevent fucking YouTube from showing me ads for gruesome videos even when the clip I'm watching is some child's show.

iv) I am ad-tolerant. But ads just fucking suck and targeted ads suck about the same as random ads. They don't push what I'm interested in, they push what the ad-buyer wants me to be interested in. When I search for "metal detector" I'm not shown ads telling me how to chose a metal detector or why detectors differ. I'm shown ads from metal detector sellers who are peddling some kit of unknown quality at me.

[1] I'm not, but imagine a person that is.

Re: Ad blocker that clicks on the ads

#129
post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not even close with the analogy. Unless the content is behind a paywall, it's "free". Want to make money? Charge access. If your content is THAT compelling, people will line up and hand you money. Using a backhanded revenue machine like ads that track me and violate my "anonymity" is beyond the pale. So, yes. If I arrive on your site and there is no paywall, I will gladly view said content without allowing ads. If th…

You really want to live in a world where every single site is behind a paywall? because that is what you are advocating.

I glady pay for Internet access, cable TV, the cinema, magazines, other content I view. The problem I have is with tracking. Ads should never do anything save show an ad. There should be no attempt to learn about me or track me or sell my data. Magazines I buy don't track me. I ignore ads in the cinema by whiling away that time on my mobile, I FF thru DVRd programs at home. I've paid already. I'm not viewing your dreck.

Re: Ad blocker that clicks on the ads

#130
post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"There is no moral imperative for me to view ads since I've paid to access the Interwebs" When I go to McDonald's, I don't pay for my Big Mac. I already put gas in my car!

Not even close with the analogy. Unless the content is behind a paywall, it's "free". Want to make money? Charge access. If your content is THAT compelling, people will line up and hand you money. Using a backhanded revenue machine like ads that track me and violate my "anonymity" is beyond the pale. So, yes. If I arrive on your site and there is no paywall, I will gladly view said content without allowing ads. If th…

Its extremely naive to believe everyone who needs access to the content in the internet has a credit card to pay for every bit of it that they need.

This kind of behavior will only push the movement even more far away from mainstream popularity, slowly becoming a new form of extremism.

Post reply on HN