Yep, since 1998.
Poll: Do you use an adblocker?
181–190 of 218 posts
Re: Poll: Do you use an adblocker?
#182Earlier quoted context omitted.
At best, it's a stretch to go from in-your-face, unsolicited advertisements to "promotional vehicle" which we all use willingly. In addition, there is a value associated with this website that you just don't get from ads.
The ads usually intend to add value. They just often aren't very good. I don't think advertising is inherently evil (though I respect that some may disagree), I think the problem is that we're still in the early days of Internet advertising. The technique isn't quite there yet.
"The ads usually intend to add value."
Maybe in the advertiers' and their bosses' deluded minds.
I'd estimate that 90% of ads I saw were lying either directly or by omission. They don't add value, they try to trick you in to buying crap you don't need, that's often no better (or even worse) than the competition, products that can even be harmful (like various prescription drugs that you'd often be better off not taking in the first place).
The people that peddle this crap are slime. But I'm not at all surprised that a large contingent of HN members would defend them and try to justify their miserable, lying, parasitic existence. After all, many of them own companies which depend on advertising. So they try to apply some moral balm and pretend that they're "adding value".
Re: Poll: Do you use an adblocker?
#183I use AdBlock and Ghostery. Ghostery is super useful. It throws out so much crap that I am not interested in. On sites like techcrunch, engadget or thenextweb it usually cuts the number of requests in half. Rant: It is sure getting out of hand in a big way: it is not uncommon for tech news sites to send you 1.5 MB of crap surrounding a simple 200 word story. I am getting so tired of that. Specially on mobile. My iPad…
Privoxy is pretty good. I run it (usually a single centralised instance) on any LAN I am allowed to. Any network installs for people (e.g. family/friends) I set up a Linux server and Privoxy is in there (with judicious bypassing because it IS too aggressive for some sites out of the box).
See, this is what happens when your ads are just that wrong side of obnoxious and you piss off the 1% - they might just have the power to make sure ANOTHER 10% don't see your crappy ad, either. And that 10% thank me for it. Every so often they get to see what a festering cesspool the internet is without a filtering proxy between them and it, and by God they thank me.
Re: Poll: Do you use an adblocker?
#184Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's no shortage of free, non ad-supported content out there. I would gladly ditch whatever ad-supported content there is, if that's what it took to get rid of ads. There are only a handful of industries (like movies and tv shows) which take a fair bit of money to create high quality content (though overwhelming majority of the time the money's wasted on utter garbage). Books, stories, news, and music can be creat…
From what I can see, there is a shortage of free, non ad-supported news of the level of the NY Times. The only two venues I can think of that qualify are the BBC and NPR - both take government subsidy, and one does do infrequent pleas for money. Then there are some of the webcomics I like, which has no alternative. If I want to read Penny Arcade, substituting another comic won't help. So do you not read the NY Times,…
There's definitely some good content in the mainstream media, like the NY Times, Washington Post, Independent, Guardian, Spiegel, Japan Times, etc. But there's also a lot of propaganda and slanted journalism (witness all the disgusting cheerleading for the pro-war side during the lead up to the Iraq war).
Advertisers, corporations, and the government have a corrupting influence on the media. I'd much rather the media be 100% listener-supported, like Pacifica Radio is. Then there'll be a lot less conflict of interest.
Re: Poll: Do you use an adblocker?
#185need 3rd choice: use Flash blocker; which blocks a lot of ads but not all, as nice side effect
Re: Poll: Do you use an adblocker?
#186Earlier quoted context omitted.
From what I can see, there is a shortage of free, non ad-supported news of the level of the NY Times. The only two venues I can think of that qualify are the BBC and NPR - both take government subsidy, and one does do infrequent pleas for money. Then there are some of the webcomics I like, which has no alternative. If I want to read Penny Arcade, substituting another comic won't help. So do you not read the NY Times,…
There's definitely some good content in the mainstream media, like the NY Times, Washington Post, Independent, Guardian, Spiegel, Japan Times, etc. But there's also a lot of propaganda and slanted journalism (witness all the disgusting cheerleading for the pro-war side during the lead up to the Iraq war). Advertisers, corporations, and the government have a corrupting influence on the media. I'd much rather the media…
Okay, that's how you would like things to be, but I'm still curious about what you do now.
Re: Poll: Do you use an adblocker?
#187The three main reasons I block ads: 1.) Speeds up the web dramatically 2.) Increases privacy (Ad networks track users across sites) 3.) Improves security (Ad networks have been known to serve malware) I also dislike looking at them, but if it weren't for the above three problems, I'd probably skip the ad blocker and just ignore them.
Same for me but in the order: Privacy, Speed, Security. I don't mind seeing them too much either. I have zero sympathies for websites that whine about ad-blockers when they don't care about my privacy.
Re: Poll: Do you use an adblocker?
#188I use AdBlock and Ghostery. Ghostery is super useful. It throws out so much crap that I am not interested in. On sites like techcrunch, engadget or thenextweb it usually cuts the number of requests in half. Rant: It is sure getting out of hand in a big way: it is not uncommon for tech news sites to send you 1.5 MB of crap surrounding a simple 200 word story. I am getting so tired of that. Specially on mobile. My iPad…
I wouldn't touch Ghostery with a long pole. Their parent company - Evidon - is suspicious. The FAQ on the site is choke-full of weasel words and wishy-washy statements on how they are not an "ad company" but rather an "ad assurance company". Skimpy on actual details too. They have changed their About summary now, but not long ago it basically said that they are in business of delivering better advertisement experienc…
What a bizarre conspiracy theory.
I know some of the people at Evidon rather well. They provide a mechanism that allows individuals to opt-out of behaviorally-targeted advertising via an icon in the advertisement. In other words, the company makes it easier for individuals not to be tracked.
You might not be paying Evidon directly - the ad networks that use their tools do that - but that doesn't mean you're the product. 'Keeping the FTC off your ass' is the product. Since the FTC is a pain, that product's worth a fair amount of money.
As far as I know, all Ghostery collects (if you opt-in) is which trackers appear on which page. It's a simple way for large organizations too screwed up to know which tags are on which pages (in other words, most large organizations) figure out if they're complying with the FTC regulations.
Re: Poll: Do you use an adblocker?
#189Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am totally mystified as to how that workflow would improve my life. It sounds like a lot of work for no gain. Can you explain to me what you find attractive about it or think I would find attractive about it?
I guess it was a joke related to your A/B testing.
Yep, visual A/B testing.
But seriously, does this mean there isn't even any point in trying to find a way to give people who use ad blocking something which would almost never be blocked, and yet could still be considered advertising if not blatantly so?
Are users of ad blocking just a complete and total void from an advertising perspective?
For example I know reddit sometimes has games in their ad banner, that's a way to encourage people to turn off add blocking.
And some TV advertisers are designing adds which still look good at Tivo fast forward speed.
Re: Poll: Do you use an adblocker?
#190Do you really care if people actually see they ad - or do you really only care that the provider thinks people see the ad? In other words, would it be okay if the ad blocker was set up to download the ad but simply not show it? Where are your ethics now?