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Mozilla and independent researchers publish guidelines for an ad archive API

blog.mozilla.org

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Re: Mozilla and independent researchers publish guidelines for an ad archive API

#21

Post by est31 »

dao- wrote: post #8
megous wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> just block anything that is not actual content At this point the reverse approach (whitelist) becomes easier. Just pluck out the content, ignore the rest, and write your own simple UI. Most websites can be modeled quite easily as category->article(->comment) with some additional data. Writing UI for that is quite trivial. It can be done in browser via extensions/userscripts (without a database), or you can fetch th…

> At this point the reverse approach (whitelist) becomes easier. Just pluck out the content, ignore the rest, and write your own simple UI. This basically exists already. It's called Reader View in Firefox.

And outline.com

Re: Mozilla and independent researchers publish guidelines for an ad archive API

#23

Post by gambler »

kyrra wrote: post #2

To view this request through a different lens, in what ways could this information be used maliciously? The immediate thought that comes to mind for me is a political party during opposition research on their competitors.

>in what ways could this information be used maliciously?

Depends on who can get access to it and how. If there are organizations that get privileged access to such API it will give them knowledge that is easily translatable into political power. For example, if you know whom your political opponent targets with ads, but they don't know the same about you, it wold give you a tremendous edge in a campaign.

Also, it depends on how good this info is protected against data-mining for undermining someone's privacy.

From the article:

"The number of impressions that an ad received within specific geographic and demographic criteria (e.g. within a political district, in a certain age range), broken down by paid vs. organic reach."

I can see this being used to undermine someone's campaign by showing their ads are reaching "bad" audience. Eventually someone will figure out a way to make bots to "watch" ads and skew these numbers.

Re: Mozilla and independent researchers publish guidelines for an ad archive API

#24

Post by kylek »

stirfrykitty wrote: post #4

Or, best method is to block all ads, beacons, 3rd party cookies, and trackers. Keep it simple, just block anything that is not actual content. Everyone knows online ads are now the major vector for malware online along with bad apps. Pi-hole, uBlock Origin, Privacy badger, Decentraleyes, Tracking Token Stripper, Neat URL, and No Coin. Set browser to block all HTTP/S referers, disable geo, css links history, fingerpri…

I recently set up a Pi-hole. I've always been pretty extreme in my blocking extensions (everything you listed and more, plus things like first party isolation) and I was flabbergasted to see Pi-hole blocking 10-15% of my requests. Highly recommended!

Re: Mozilla and independent researchers publish guidelines for an ad archive API

#25

Post by stirfrykitty »

kylek wrote: post #24
stirfrykitty wrote: post #4

Or, best method is to block all ads, beacons, 3rd party cookies, and trackers. Keep it simple, just block anything that is not actual content. Everyone knows online ads are now the major vector for malware online along with bad apps. Pi-hole, uBlock Origin, Privacy badger, Decentraleyes, Tracking Token Stripper, Neat URL, and No Coin. Set browser to block all HTTP/S referers, disable geo, css links history, fingerpri…

I recently set up a Pi-hole. I've always been pretty extreme in my blocking extensions (everything you listed and more, plus things like first party isolation) and I was flabbergasted to see Pi-hole blocking 10-15% of my requests. Highly recommended!

Always good to see other people enjoying success with the Pi-hole. I've set up so many of them for people. It really does work.

Re: Mozilla and independent researchers publish guidelines for an ad archive API

#26

Post by nickelcitymario »

borntyping wrote: post #9

"Just block ads" isn't a useful answer here - this is about being able to see who is advertising to the people who aren't using ad-blockers (which is most users on the internet), and being able to do research into who is paying for advert and who they are targeting. As long as the advertising industry still has a presence on the internet, this information will be important.

Preach.

It's not about blocking ads. It's about exposing people who would abuse ads.

It's like saying: "The solution to human trafficking is for everyone to stop having sex. If no one has sex, no one will pay for trafficking."

As an aside: I would not want to live in an advertising-free world, if only because advertising pays for so much of the shit I would otherwise have to pay for myself. Online ads have entered into crazy town, so it's good that we're now exploring ways of reeling that back in. But I genuinely don't know how enjoyable an ad-free world would be once the revenue generated by those ads also disappears.

Re: Mozilla and independent researchers publish guidelines for an ad archive API

#27

Post by terryschiavo22 »

btown wrote: post #12

I've taken a liking to the term "the New York Times rule" - write and act as if your message, statement, or a detailed account of your actions could be published at any time on the front page of the New York Times: https://businessethicsblog.com/2010/12/08/business-ethics-an... . The most concerning political advertising thrives in the shadows: it whispers messages to audiences that are false (easier to counter in th…

It sounds like you're saying, "Act as if Big Brother is always watching".

Re: Mozilla and independent researchers publish guidelines for an ad archive API

#28

Post by [deleted] »

dao- wrote: post #18
treis wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But mozilla/firefox is actually in a position to block all ads. They just need to make a browser better than Chrome.

Mozilla could block all ads for Firefox users, except that this would be somewhat insane, see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19563427 Mozilla can't block ads for non-Firefox users, nor does it aim for establishing a Web browser monopoly, so the original problem still exists.

[deleted]

Re: Mozilla and independent researchers publish guidelines for an ad archive API

#29

Post by treis »

dao- wrote: post #18
treis wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But mozilla/firefox is actually in a position to block all ads. They just need to make a browser better than Chrome.

Mozilla could block all ads for Firefox users, except that this would be somewhat insane, see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19563427 Mozilla can't block ads for non-Firefox users, nor does it aim for establishing a Web browser monopoly, so the original problem still exists.

>Mozilla could block all ads for Firefox users, except that this would be somewhat insane, see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19563427

If Firefox had the 65% market share that Chrome does now no sane website would block them.

>Mozilla can't block ads for non-Firefox users, nor does it aim for establishing a Web browser monopoly, so the original problem still exists.

Firefox should be aiming to be the dominant web browser. If they did that instead of spending their effort dicking around on unrelated projects and poking Google they could actually solve the problems they complain about.

Re: Mozilla and independent researchers publish guidelines for an ad archive API

#30

Post by cpeterso »

stirfrykitty wrote: post #16
dao- wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Firefox is going to enable tracking protection by default, which is already risky and would currently make many websites with anti-adblocking measures block Firefox by default. Blocking _all_ ads would surely make content providers revolt against Firefox to the point where its viability as a mainstream Web browser would be at risk.

Which is where something like the Pi-hole comes in handy. Defense in depth is the only way to go with this stuff. Like most IT people, I use multiple browsers. I want everything blocked with every browser, not just Firefox (my default). Let's say the advertisers and websites do start giving grief to end users who are proactively protective. I have an idea that I believe can be done, but I'm at a loss with my current…

"AdNauseam" is a Firefox add-on that blocks ads but also virtually clicks each blocked ad in the background, polluting trackers' profile of your browsing habits. I haven't used this add-on but some reviews say that its ad blocking doesn't work as expected.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/adnauseam/

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