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Adblocking people and non-adblocking people experience a different web

imlefthanded.com

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Re: Adblocking people and non-adblocking people experience a different web

#511

Post by ericd »

MarkusWandel wrote: post #50

I stopped watching network TV in the 1990s when it reached about 25% ads (i.e. 7.5 minutes of ads in a 30 minute window. May have been only 7 minutes, memory is fuzzy now). The web was a relief. You could actually consume content and tune out the (then primitive, usually just a banner at the top) ads. The web, specifically un-adblocked Youtube, is now at about the same point as where I quit TV. Just not worth the agg…

SponsorBlock is excellent, too, even gets rid of the multi-minute advertorial segments in the middle of videos.

Re: Adblocking people and non-adblocking people experience a different web

#512

Post by matheusmoreira »

reincarnate0x14 wrote: post #17
blakesterz wrote: post #2

In FireFox I have my ad blockers disabled in Private Mode so nothing is getting in the way if I'm testing or some site is being weird. Sometimes it's SHOCKINGLY different how a page looks with the blockers in place. I really can't believe anyone would user a browser without an ad blocker if they knew how things would look while using one. The web is a much better place with a blocker in place. (Yes, I know, we get a…

I feel zero guilt about ad blocking. There was some period of discussion on the subject back in like 2003 but the ad companies went to war against human civilization and there's been no going back. It corrupts and twists everything it touches into a constant hustle for eyeball-cash and an entire generation has now reached adulthood knowing nothing but that hustle touching every bit of media they ever interact with. W…

YES. Every dark pattern in technology today is caused directly or indirectly by advertising. Privacy violations? Advertising. Bloated and unusable websites? Advertising. Addictive social media? Advertising.

Blocking these ads is a moral imperative at this point. I don't feel guilty, I feel proud and I encourage every single person to do it.

Re: Adblocking people and non-adblocking people experience a different web

#513

Post by zo1 »

gzer0 wrote: post #250
armchairhacker wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I type "reddit" after the query and Reddit usually has good recommendations. Yes, advertisers can and do try to invade subreddits posing as "real" users to promote sham products. But I haven't seen this actually working: sometimes Redditors recommend products which are way too expensive (still good quality, but the extra price really isn't worth it), but if someone recommends a genuinely crappy product, they get down…

I used to type “reddit” after my searches to look for genuine and real reviews, but even that is now being gamed. Advertisers and shady affiliate marketing schemes have caught on and nearly every search result I try is now filled with junk, upvote farmed nonsense with fake accounts using similar naming schemes.

This is one downside I will agree is a consequence of tracking technology on the web. There is no way for "genuine" discoverability to hide on the internet anymore. After a while, sites will start noticing that their purchase traffic is coming from Reddit so they'll start targeting it and before you know it, even the bad producers/products are being spammed there.

Re: Adblocking people and non-adblocking people experience a different web

#514

Post by kzrdude »

BoxOfRain wrote: post #193
Workaccount2 wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is exactly the case. Every time someone starts ad-blocking, someone else has to assume that ad watch for them. Of course this isn't 1:1 parity in reality, but the ultimate manifestation of ad blocking is that. Google had a good system a few years ago that I was probably the only sucker who paid them for it (and probably why they stopped it). You could pay a chosen amount monthly, and they would not show you ads…

Aren't the people who use adblockers by definition those who are irritated by advertising enough that they wouldn't buy the products and services being advertised? If anything ad people should love things like uBlock Origin, it means they're not wasting their ad spend on people who aren't going to buy their products anyway.

I think that's wishful thinking. I might even think this about myself, that I don't care about ads. But they still have some effect I think. Sure, I rarely buy stuff online or anywhere, I just don't shop much, but I still get affected by ads.

Some things about our brain we just can't change: we like things we've seen before. Both brands and people. Recognition makes a big difference, for example in arbitrary choices when shopping.

Re: Adblocking people and non-adblocking people experience a different web

#515

Post by ratww »

idiotsecant wrote: post #295
TheIronMark wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Who is saying they expect free content? Anyone using an adblocker is expecting free content.

Remember when the internet was just a bunch of weirdos dialing in and communicating with each other / creating documents about subjects of mutual interest? Who should have been getting paid back then? I feel like there are some IRC channels that owe me some dividends.

The funny thing is that the content published for free by the weirdos from the past was 100x better that the ad-driven SEO crap we have today.

Also, a lot of that content still exists but it is hidden behind the SEO garbage.

Re: Adblocking people and non-adblocking people experience a different web

#516

Post by matheusmoreira »

apricot wrote: post #96
reincarnate0x14 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel zero guilt about ad blocking. There was some period of discussion on the subject back in like 2003 but the ad companies went to war against human civilization and there's been no going back. It corrupts and twists everything it touches into a constant hustle for eyeball-cash and an entire generation has now reached adulthood knowing nothing but that hustle touching every bit of media they ever interact with. W…

> I feel zero guilt about ad blocking. The amount of guilt I feel about ad blocking is equal to the amount of guilt advertisers feel about bothering me with their ads.

That's awesome, never thought about it that way. Completely agree.

Re: Adblocking people and non-adblocking people experience a different web

#517

Post by Enginerrrd »

fartcannon wrote: post #415
rchaud wrote: post #386

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel that there is a generational gap between Youtube users that correlates with whether they will pay for premium or not. People in their late 20s and 30s who remember Youtube as a catch-all location for lo-fi homemmade videos with few ads may not feel that YT premium is worth it, particularly if they already use adblockers, and don't use it much on mobile (where adblocking isn't possible without modded APKs). Thi…

Huh? Firefox on mobile supports ublock origin. Or do you mean the app? Don't use the app.

I don't think it works on iOS. Works perfectly on Android though!

Re: Adblocking people and non-adblocking people experience a different web

#518

Post by cpeterso »

TheRealDunkirk wrote: post #356
ryangittins wrote: post #304

"People are taking the piss out of you everyday. They butt into your life, take a cheap shot at you and then disappear. They leer at you from tall buildings and make you feel small. They make flippant comments from buses that imply you’re not sexy enough and that all the fun is happening somewhere else. They are on TV making your girlfriend feel inadequate. They have access to the most sophisticated technology the wo…

I guess, like the old bully adage, they're also being bullied themselves by the very same thing, but, as also with the adage, that's hardly consolation.

I read that supposedly Google had to rename elements of their website that advertisers use to manage their ad campaigns because the website would break when ad blockers blocked elements mentioning ads. So the people running these ad campaigns were themselves using sad blockers!

Re: Adblocking people and non-adblocking people experience a different web

#520

Post by d1lanka »

blakesterz wrote: post #2

In FireFox I have my ad blockers disabled in Private Mode so nothing is getting in the way if I'm testing or some site is being weird. Sometimes it's SHOCKINGLY different how a page looks with the blockers in place. I really can't believe anyone would user a browser without an ad blocker if they knew how things would look while using one. The web is a much better place with a blocker in place. (Yes, I know, we get a…

I use Brave Browser along with NextDNS.io or a PiHole and 99.99% of ads and trackers are non existant for me
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