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Apple testing new App Store design that blurs the line between ads and results

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Re: Apple testing new App Store design that blurs the line between ads and results

#101

Post by 3eb7988a1663 »

downrightmike wrote: post #89
3eb7988a1663 wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am suddenly realizing how silly it is that I have put up with this for decades. Are GreaseMonkey or similar tools still around that would let me customize the CSS of sites? I am thinking I should be able to run my own styling to make the ads nearly invisible. Or do the big players do all sorts of tricks to make identifying the ad content so dynamic that it would require constant vigilance to maintain? I have heard…

ublock origin does wonders. I use it to give HN a dark mode

Sure enough, this looks great. Found a blog post where someone did the exact same thing. Unlike the Firefox mechanism of usercontent.css which requires a reboot after every change(?) this works dynamically on a page reload. Now trivial to restyle some content which would otherwise not hit a blocklist.

https://darekkay.com/blog/ublock-website-themes/

Re: Apple testing new App Store design that blurs the line between ads and results

#102

Post by stalfosknight »

bigyabai wrote: post #64
stalfosknight wrote: post #56

Why must Apple do this? They're already rolling in profits that dwarf the national budgets of most countries. And I say this as a shameless Apple fanboy.

Maybe it's time to stop being shameless. The App Store monopoly has a direct impact on the quality of first-party services you consume.

It's a bit silly to call it a monopoly.

No one is forced to choose an iPhone over the many many Android alternatives.

Re: Apple testing new App Store design that blurs the line between ads and results

#103

Post by eastbound »

rudedogg wrote: post #83
2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple's whole selling point is they aren't pulling the same crap that the everyone else is. It's not a defense of Apple to say they're just doing what everyone else has already been doing. Think different?

Yes, this is part of what is supposed to justify the premium prices, is that they can have a different business model. But it seems Tim Cook can’t leave anything on the table. I’m really going to be irritated if we end up with a premium Siri. It’s going to undermine the privacy aspect, the hardware innovation, and everything else they have going for themselves despite missing the boat on AI

Even the CPU. Windows users lose probably 25% of their machine power to ads, telemetry and OEM spyware and spamware, back to Oracle’s Ask Bar in 2005.

Re: Apple testing new App Store design that blurs the line between ads and results

#104

Post by rgovostes »

This makes no difference, because I can’t remember the last time I installed an app other than for the occasional airline.

From 2008-12 it was genuinely exciting to see what new apps were being released every day. Mobile games from that era had cultural impact. I bought $2 apps without a thought.

But Apple incentivized monetization above all else and killed that excitement. Now you can’t find a tip calculator that doesn’t charge a monthly subscription. A popular flight tracker is $60/year (or a $300 purchase). A flash card app costs the same. Apple’s curated list of “essential utilities” includes a birthday countdown that costs $5/wk.

I know every app will cost me hundreds over the span of just a few years for marginal utility so I simply stopped buying them. And I wonder if Apple’s push for more ad revenue is a symptom of that trend.

Re: Apple testing new App Store design that blurs the line between ads and results

#105

Post by echelon »

Marsymars wrote: post #96
echelon wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It ought to be illegal to host ads for registered trademarks (+/- some edit distance). Especially if you have a marketplace monopoly. Especially if you used overwhelming force to turn the "URL Bar" into a search product and then bought up 90% market share where you can tax every single brand on the planet. Google is the most egregious with this with respect to Google Search. It ought to be illegal, frankly. Google An…

> It ought to be illegal to host ads for registered trademarks (+/- some edit distance). This makes me a bit uncomfortable because of how close it comes to infringing on freedom of speech, and how specific a rule it would for search engines (and chat bots) - i.e. there's no real analogy of "can't target trademarked terms" for any ad format other than search engines. I think my preference would be to simply enforce la…

You're not allowed to use Pikachu commercially. Why should Google? They're taking advantage of every trademark to make money.

Googling a trademark should activate a "no bids" mode.

If Google wants to defend this action, then they should explain why they turned the URL bar into a search product and bought up 90% of the real estate. They've been incredibly heavy handed in search, web, and ads.

Re: Apple testing new App Store design that blurs the line between ads and results

#106

Post by whywhywhywhy »

rudedogg wrote: post #83
2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple's whole selling point is they aren't pulling the same crap that the everyone else is. It's not a defense of Apple to say they're just doing what everyone else has already been doing. Think different?

Yes, this is part of what is supposed to justify the premium prices, is that they can have a different business model. But it seems Tim Cook can’t leave anything on the table. I’m really going to be irritated if we end up with a premium Siri. It’s going to undermine the privacy aspect, the hardware innovation, and everything else they have going for themselves despite missing the boat on AI

If they ever actually manage to make Siri competitive you can bet it will be another subscription and bundled with Apple One.

Re: Apple testing new App Store design that blurs the line between ads and results

#107

Post by eastbound »

Marsymars wrote: post #96
echelon wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It ought to be illegal to host ads for registered trademarks (+/- some edit distance). Especially if you have a marketplace monopoly. Especially if you used overwhelming force to turn the "URL Bar" into a search product and then bought up 90% market share where you can tax every single brand on the planet. Google is the most egregious with this with respect to Google Search. It ought to be illegal, frankly. Google An…

> It ought to be illegal to host ads for registered trademarks (+/- some edit distance). This makes me a bit uncomfortable because of how close it comes to infringing on freedom of speech, and how specific a rule it would for search engines (and chat bots) - i.e. there's no real analogy of "can't target trademarked terms" for any ad format other than search engines. I think my preference would be to simply enforce la…

Let’s remember it’s not new: Back in 2005, gannies (and 20yo non-nerds too) would install all sorts of viruses by clicking on popups thinking it’s the real thing. I personally switched to Firefox then Mac which didn’t have this problem. It’s like browsing a torrent website without an adblocker: There is absolutely no way to hit the right button, it’s URL changes between mousedown and mouseup.

Re: Apple testing new App Store design that blurs the line between ads and results

#108

Post by aucisson_masque »

mdasen wrote: post #21

This is what basically everyone else has done over the past decade. Google used to put a different background behind ads in its search ( https://www.fsedigital.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Google... ). It made it really easy to tell what was an ad and skip over it quickly. Now it's a lot harder to quickly notice what's an ad and what isn't. Sites used to have banner ads. Now they show posts that look exactly like t…

> It's shocking that Apple hasn't done this trick yet when everyone else started doing it years ago.

I pay Apple premium price for their phones. If they become as bad as the other, what’s the point to pay so much ?

Re: Apple testing new App Store design that blurs the line between ads and results

#109

Post by tartoran »

bool3max wrote: post #90
mdasen wrote: post #21

This is what basically everyone else has done over the past decade. Google used to put a different background behind ads in its search ( https://www.fsedigital.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Google... ). It made it really easy to tell what was an ad and skip over it quickly. Now it's a lot harder to quickly notice what's an ad and what isn't. Sites used to have banner ads. Now they show posts that look exactly like t…

What’s interesting to me is that no matter how “hidden” the AD indicator may be, my brain always seems to very quickly train itself to swiftly skip such posts when scrolling/browsing. Or I could simply be another clueless victim of advertising. If only I could know the number of sponsored posts I never consciously acknowledge and am influenced by on the daily.

If the vast majority of people recognized ads and skipped them as more technically minded people do, they'd either not do that or step up a notch and make them even harder to spot. The reality is that these dark patterns do work for a large part of the users. We're the lucky few who can stay away though it is taxing and tiring.

Re: Apple testing new App Store design that blurs the line between ads and results

#110

Post by mnsc »

aucisson_masque wrote: post #108
mdasen wrote: post #21

This is what basically everyone else has done over the past decade. Google used to put a different background behind ads in its search ( https://www.fsedigital.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Google... ). It made it really easy to tell what was an ad and skip over it quickly. Now it's a lot harder to quickly notice what's an ad and what isn't. Sites used to have banner ads. Now they show posts that look exactly like t…

> It's shocking that Apple hasn't done this trick yet when everyone else started doing it years ago. I pay Apple premium price for their phones. If they become as bad as the other, what’s the point to pay so much ?

Conspicuous consumption? Like always?
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