I now assume that all ads on Apple news are scams

Post by bigyabai » Fri, Feb 06, 2026, 5:39 PM UTC

hed wrote: post #169

pbronez wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought the same until my kids started playing iPad games. Apple Arcade is way better than the baseline of aggressive ads and micro transactions.

Exactly. It's a way to get games that aren't going to immediately ask for other games to be bought or make you watch ridiculous ads to keep playing.

Post by dddddaviddddd » Fri, Feb 06, 2026, 5:41 PM UTC

elashri wrote: post #68

We should assume that all ads in general are scams. The noise to signal ratio is too large to care. Word of mouth and maybe trusted communities like HN is the only way to reliably discover new things.

Post by rightbyte » Fri, Feb 06, 2026, 5:43 PM UTC

matheusmoreira wrote: post #226

rightbyte wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could read obvious shilling here pretending to like or pay and use the boringest B2B SaaS products way back too. Trying to get a proper grasp of consensus on open forums is hopeless.

I wouldn't say it's entirely hopeless. Just gotta know who's behind the posts. Checking for conflicts of interest is essential. HN is valuable due the fact many notable hackers post here. Makes it easier to know who we are interacting with, what they stand for and who they work for. Invite only communities like lobsters are even better in that regard. Less random accounts adding noise. Some degree of elitism is a goo…

Post by al_borland » Fri, Feb 06, 2026, 5:48 PM UTC

WarmWash wrote: post #113

elashri wrote: post #68

We should assume that all ads in general are scams. The noise to signal ratio is too large to care. Word of mouth and maybe trusted communities like HN is the only way to reliably discover new things.

Generally if all the ads you see are scammy, it means you probably are using some form of tracking/privacy protection. When an ad network has a strong profile on you, legitimate companies pay good money for those ad slots. When they don't really know who you are, only bottom feeders bid on the ad slots you see. In a way, it almost acts as retribution for not submitting to the anti-privacy machine.

Post by browningstreet » Fri, Feb 06, 2026, 5:52 PM UTC

ksec wrote: post #110

speak_plainly wrote: post #54

Apple News and News+ represent everything wrong with modern Apple: a ham-fisted approach to simplicity that ignores the end user. It is their most mediocre service, jarringly jamming cheap clickbait next to serious journalism in a layout that makes no sense. The technical execution is just as lazy. While some magazines are tailored, many are just flat, low-res PDFs that look terrible on the high-end Retina screens Ap…

Ever since Apple moved to Services Strategy in 2014 it has been like this. Services were not there so they could provide a better experience for its " customers ". I use the word " customer " here which is what Apple / Steve Jobs used to call their loyal fans, and not user . But to further growth their Revenue pie because they foresee iPhone one day will stagnant. You now have Apple Fitness+, Apple TV, News, Music, A…