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Google cracks down on VPN based adblockers

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Re: Google cracks down on VPN based adblockers

#311

Post by Larrikin »

inglor wrote: post #46
Larrikin wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The experience is so awful when I browse on my iPad, instead of my Android phone with Firefox+UBlock. I really don't understand how most people can stand to browse with all the ads. The modern web is so much worse than the pop up ads of the old web.

What's wrong with Firefox Focus as a Safari content blocker? I barely see ads on my iPhone and websites breaking because I have an ad blocker is more common than seeing ads.

Firefox Focus only seems to block some ads and isn't configurable to block the many ads and web annoyances that get through.

I also find it annoying that I lose access to my entire Firefox ecosystem on my computer and phone since the focus of the app is actually on anonymous browsing versus blocking ads. If I send tabs to my iPad they still open up in regular Firefox. Firefox Focus only slightly makes the web useable, while giving up most of the browser conveniences.

Re: Google cracks down on VPN based adblockers

#312

Post by NavinF »

BbzzbB wrote: post #150
unicornporn wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I really don't understand how most people can stand to browse with all the ads People don't browse, they app.

Even then, most apps are just thinly veiled webapps for which the site (with Firefox and uBlock) provides the same or superior experience, ad-free.

Er no, most iOS apps are not thinly veiled webapps. Have you ever used iOS?

Re: Google cracks down on VPN based adblockers

#313

Post by raxxorraxor »

Terretta wrote: post #207
Larrikin wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The experience is so awful when I browse on my iPad, instead of my Android phone with Firefox+UBlock. I really don't understand how most people can stand to browse with all the ads. The modern web is so much worse than the pop up ads of the old web.

> The experience is so awful when I browse on my iPad, instead of my Android phone with Firefox+UBlock. I really don't understand how most people can stand to browse with all the ads. Most people don’t. Most people who use anything for iOS tend to use things like: - 1Blocker - super full featured, including custom script and css rules. business model is paid software, not ‘acceptable ads’ paying them for placement or…

Are you sure about this? Apple isn't really a protégé of heavy customization, especially anything relating to iOS.

Re: Google cracks down on VPN based adblockers

#314

Post by adolph »

firecall wrote: post #149
quitit wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's incredible how fast websites load with this combination. I recall reading that despite the internet being faster, actual website performance has never really improved meaningfully. Whatever speed gains we've achieved have simply been eaten by larger and more complex tracking scripts. Google themselves are a significant contributor to this problem, for many websites, Google's scripts are the core source of slowne…

Since ADSL1 the web has felt much the same. Of course there was flash to deal with rhen too. Now back when we had 56K Modems was when it really was unusable! I don't how sites think i want to read an article and warxh a totally unrelated video at the same time. I'm really starting to miss old style magazines lately. Click bait and fake headlines about the next iphone have ruinwd the web.

We didn't know what a good thing we had with 36.6 and Lynx or Gopher

Re: Google cracks down on VPN based adblockers

#315

Post by aaaaaaaaaaab »

PaulKeeble wrote: post #148
t0bia_s wrote: post #50

Pi-hole in home network, AdAway on all smartphones, uBlock Origin an all Firefox browsers. I'm shocked when browsing web on different devices. I always recommend to at least install uBlock Origin to users of those devices. Most of them never heard about ad-blocking and they are very, very happy with new web browsing experience. 99% of theme do not want go back. 1% don't care.

I noticed sometime last year Samsung put out an update for my Tablet that overrode my DNS delivered by DHCP and used Google's DNS directly. It was immediately obvious due to the amount of ads I haven't seen for years at this point due to running a pihole. Most of the solutions either involve software VPNs in the device to restore function or rooting it. Its terrible that any device would ignore and have no way to use…

Just block Google's DNS servers at the router level.

(Although the best solution would probably be to ditch Samsung crap)

Re: Google cracks down on VPN based adblockers

#316

Post by endisneigh »

trasz wrote: post #251
sofixa wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you propose sites/YouTube channels monetise themselves (for sustenance or profit)?

Same as now: Patreon. YouTube monetisation model is pretty useless except for Google itself.

Lol, YouTube has minted many millionaires.

Re: Google cracks down on VPN based adblockers

#317

Post by chrisfinazzo »

Bedon292 wrote: post #276
jrm4 wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whoa. Customized adblocking DNS servers? This is definitely striking me as one of those "why didn't I think of that" and "why don't we already have a lot of this?" Any ideas? Seems like you could go wild with this and do something like "Tor"ify, or "torrentify" or dare I say "blockchain" it? Someone can probably school me on why this is harder than it sounds.

AdGuard Home is another option along with the PiHole another commented mentioned. I have that running at home forcing all port 53 traffic to it via the firewall. So ads are blocked on all devices on the network. So easy I sometimes forget I have it running and then I browse on mobile away from home and get bombarded with ads and am reminded why I do it. They do also have their own paid DNS service, but I haven't atte…

For this reason alone, I am seriously tempted by PiHole's companion, PiVPN. Browsing without this protection just seems crazy to me.

Re: Google cracks down on VPN based adblockers

#318

Post by EricE »

Terretta wrote: post #207
Larrikin wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The experience is so awful when I browse on my iPad, instead of my Android phone with Firefox+UBlock. I really don't understand how most people can stand to browse with all the ads. The modern web is so much worse than the pop up ads of the old web.

> The experience is so awful when I browse on my iPad, instead of my Android phone with Firefox+UBlock. I really don't understand how most people can stand to browse with all the ads. Most people don’t. Most people who use anything for iOS tend to use things like: - 1Blocker - super full featured, including custom script and css rules. business model is paid software, not ‘acceptable ads’ paying them for placement or…

Yup - 1Blocker is amazing and a mandatory install on an iOS device I use or provision.

Re: Google cracks down on VPN based adblockers

#319

Post by raxxorraxor »

ignoramous wrote: post #61

I co-develop a FOSS VPN-based (tcp/udp) firewall for Android. The original policy is documented here: https://web.archive.org/web/20220818100735/https://support.g... What the post misses is Google has exceptions for: - Parental control and enterprise management apps. - App usage tracking. - Device security apps (for example, anti-virus, mobile device management, firewall). - Network related tools (for example, remote…

I think having exceptions for that is an extremely severe security flaw. Kudos to you for developing something like this, but honestly even with a solid firewall leveraging VPN I would not trust crapware like Android or iOS with anything substantial. We have reached ridiculous levels of paternalism from pretty crappy companies.

Re: Google cracks down on VPN based adblockers

#320

Post by ohgodplsno »

cft wrote: post #249
denton-scratch wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Getting money for running websites is also non-mandatory? Your business problems aren't our concern. If you're financing your business by stealing personal information from users and selling it to data brokers, then you're a crook. Crooks tend to have high hosting expenses.

"Our" as in Robespierre's Committee of Public Safety concern? What do you know about hosting expenses? I have been running a website that you know and use with 100m users since 2004!

The CSP has never been Robespierre's "property" and took decisions as a, well, committee.

And yes, your expenses aren't our problem. Don't run a website if you can't pay for it.

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