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We're building a dystopia just to make people click on ads [video]

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Re: We're building a dystopia just to make people click on ads [video]

#221

Post by makeitdouble »

no_wizard wrote: post #169
dijit wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The funny thing is that we fought so hard against pop-ups throughout the 90's and 2000's only to re-implement pop-ups in javascript as soon as we could.

I have always wondered what the web would be like if we added the scripting language later and only solidified CSS and HTML for the first 15 years or so. I wonder if things would actually be better overall. I’m not going to argue that having a scripting language for the web was a mistake, it definitely isn’t on the whole, but I think having it come at a more mature point for the web might have helped stave off a lot…

We could look at the print world for reference.

Everything is perfectly static and linear, and instead of popups we get full-page ads, double-full-page ads sometimes, and ad inserts in the rest of the pages, with stealth marketing for the content left.

The fundamental issue is not technology IMHO. Scripting can make it worse, but it wouldn't have been great in the first place.

Re: We're building a dystopia just to make people click on ads [video]

#222

Post by [deleted] »

_cenw wrote: post #32
antfarm wrote: post #28

My way to circumvent most of this: I am using Safari with AdBlock Pro and AdBlock and see zero ads when browsing the web. I spend more time on YouTube than I care to admit, so I got a Premium subscription, bought an extension called UnTrap for YouTube to hide most recommendations and turned off all YouTube history etc. I regularly visit BlueSky, Hacker News and YouTube, but not X, TikTok, Instagram or Facebook. The h…

You are using the inferior way to block ads, which will continue to degrade as advertisers take advantage of Google killing synchronous blocking of web requests with Manifest v2. https://ublockorigin.com/#manifest-v3-section

[deleted]

Re: We're building a dystopia just to make people click on ads [video]

#223

Post by karmakaze »

poetworrier wrote: post #49

I accepted cookies, watched an ad, dismissed a popup for a newsletter to watch a video about ads. That really nails it.

It's also been a long while since clicking "Manage cookie preferences" shows "Opt-out..." pre-checked and "Confirm choices" button, unlike the "Reject all" button also being shown these days. Then unchecking "Opt out..." dynamically shows a "Allow all" button.

Re: We're building a dystopia just to make people click on ads [video]

#224

Post by dang »

Related:

Zeynep Tufekci: We're building a dystopia just to make people click on ads - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29026203 - Oct 2021 (2 comments)

We're building a dystopia just to make people click on ads (2017) [video] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16684860 - March 2018 (170 comments)

We're building a dystopia just to make people click on ads [video] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15891014 - Dec 2017 (50 comments)

We're Building a Dystopia Just to Make People Click on Ads - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15572578 - Oct 2017 (12 comments)

Re: We're building a dystopia just to make people click on ads [video]

#225

Post by AStonesThrow »

antfarm wrote: post #132
AStonesThrow wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have found a really amazing way to block ads on websites. It's by not visiting them in the first place. Imagine how well this could work. It's sort of like abstinence and chastity rather than contraception. "Oh you know I love you, let me just have a little for free, and not worry so much about consequences, baby!" Also I found this amazing hack for YouTube and YT Music. I am nearly hesitant to write it down here,…

Nothing wrong with paying for a commercial service. I rather pay with money than indirectly by losing time and being annoyed in the best case and manipulated in the worst case. With the sites that I choose to not visit (Facebook, X, TikTok, Instagram) this is not possible, as the attempted manipulation of users is an integral part of the business model. Also, your attempt of being funny is not working, neither is you…

> not working

No, my friend, what is reprehensible to me is freeloaders who believe that they can just play cat-and-mouse wars by installing software and then scrape whatever web content they want, without giving the company their due expected revenue.

This is cheating of the cheapest cheapskate order. It's dishonest, it's disingenuous to say "please send me your web content but only the stuff I like". Perhaps you feel a little guilty, and needed to take a dig at my comment tone in turn?

I can understand needing to protect/defend yourself against malice and undue surprises. The web is wild and wooly. I can understand how intrusive and troublesome ads can become. But people with adblockers? They are ruining it for everyone -- raising prices, jacking up the cost to deliver and maintain sites, and in fact, you're to blame for ads becoming more intrusive and more ubiquitous, because how else are they going to get past your damn blockers???

But if you're going to visit a site, and you want to see/read their stuff, then I feel it would be ethical to engage with them on a level playing field. Because how badly do you want their stuff? If the ads turn you off so much, then don't go to the site. I simply find 98% of the Web is not worth my time after this calculus. News sites don't really report news anyway; why should I waste my time.

All this Hacker News ethic of cheating with ad blockers and yt-dlp and posting archive.is links to "help you bypass this evil paywall" is just ripping off companies. It is not a victimless crime. It is not working and it is most definitely not funny!

Re: We're building a dystopia just to make people click on ads [video]

#226

Post by gruez »

mzajc wrote: post #166
Nursie wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s inferior AFAICT because the API is more limited, and it looks an awful lot like the world’s biggest ad company (Google) has arranged that specifically to be less effective for ad and tracker blocking. It’s a good reason to use Firefox.

It's also inferior because the filter lists for requests must be hardcoded and can only be changed through extension updates, which Google (or whoever owns the browser's extension store) can delay or block at their discretion. This also means users can't install their own filters, which was widely used when YouTube began aggressively bypassing adblockers.

>It's also inferior because the filter lists for requests must be hardcoded and can only be changed through extension updates, which Google (or whoever owns the browser's extension store) can delay or block at their discretion.

This thread is about safari, and its declarative ad blocking API doesn't have this issue.

Re: We're building a dystopia just to make people click on ads [video]

#229

Post by gruez »

zargon wrote: post #126
antfarm wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks, but this does not apply to me, not using Chrome is part of my ad blocking strategy.

Safari is limited in the same way as Chrome manifest v3, allowing basically only a URL blacklist. They're crippled compared to uBlock Origin's various other blocking capabilities.

Safari extensions can inject scripts/css as well. That's not as full featured as ubo, but is not "basically only a URL blacklist" either.

Re: We're building a dystopia just to make people click on ads [video]

#230

Post by fracus »

Y-bar wrote: post #120
fracus wrote: post #80

"We're"? Unabated capitalism.

I suppose it means the "general we", as in society at large or at least a dominant section of, as opposed the "specific we".

I think I was annoyed at the generalization when the specific cause was obvious. Using the royal "we" seems like an egregious misappropriation of responsibility given many people specifically vote against unabated capitalism.
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