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Google cracks down on VPN based adblockers

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521–530 of 608 posts

Re: Google cracks down on VPN based adblockers

#521
post #400

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> social media, ad-driven news websites, etc are all things that users place practically zero value on > If you start asking users for actual money they suddenly decide that all these services represent no value and they'll live without them. So what you're saying is if we use ad blocking technology to kill off the advertising business model, we can also kill off social media and its addictive algorithms, clickbaitin…

Quoted post unavailable.

The anti-ad crowd isn't banning anything, while Google is trying to ban ad blockers.

Re: Google cracks down on VPN based adblockers

#522

I categorically reject ads. I want them completely abolished. I will do everything that's in my power to get them out of my machines. If I had just a little bit more courage I would go out at night with cans of spray paint and deface billboards.

> I want them completely abolished. hmm... you do know this is the reason companies like Google + Meta make lots of money, right? I know you don't like ads but... a lot of people obviously are ok with them (otherwise businesses wouldn't find it worth it to advertise on those platforms, in hopes of capturing customers/increasing sales)

> hmm... you do know this is the reason companies like Google + Meta make lots of money, right?

I am not sure why it would be reason for ads.

Re: Google cracks down on VPN based adblockers

#523
Some extremely privileged takes in here which don't consider a basic truth today: the ad supported web allows information to be accessible to a vast number of relatively poor people who would rather spend their limited discretionary income on something other than online content.

It's not good or great or perfect, but the downside of the demise of ads, tracking, ad networks on the web would be a more information impoverished society any way you slice it.

Re: Google cracks down on VPN based adblockers

#524

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Chances are they saw the login as fraud given it went unused via years and the first thing that login did was sign up for YT Premium via a credit card. A potential problem they're trying to prevent might be where money launderers use google accounts to funnel YT Premium money to specific channels via watch time (since Premium pays out a lot more, and pay per minute watched[0]). 0: https://youtu.be/Rh5hL47z2us?t=100

I'm sure they have the best intentions but there's literally no way to appeal it. Why can't they verify the credit card the way every other merchant seems to be able to?

Sounds like there is a way to appeal it. You just have to provide a copy of a photo id.

Re: Google cracks down on VPN based adblockers

#526
post #42

Pi-hole + PiVpn works wonderful (if you can find a rpi that is... ). Been using that setup for a couple of years, very stable.

I run Adguard Home on my router. Even though the name implies you need to run it on a raspberry pi, that's not true.

Same here. It’s incredibly simple to set up and add exclusions and inclusions.

Re: Google cracks down on VPN based adblockers

#527
post #471

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Developer wages would crash through the floor and all the way down to the centre of the Earth if ad blockers really took off without users also accepting micropayments or subscriptions for web services at the same time. Maybe we should be a little bit glad that the main thing keeping massive amounts of money in tech is accepted by users. The key thing that most people in tech don't appear to grok very easily is that…

> The key thing that most people in tech don't appear to grok very easily is that the overwhelming majority of web services like search engines, social media, ad-driven news websites, etc are all things that users place practically zero value on. People accept ads because they're a way of paying for things without really thinking about it. If you start asking users for actual money they suddenly decide that all these…

> Imagine a world where the only content that survives is the one that people value enough to pay for.

Or that the creators value enough to create for free.

Re: Google cracks down on VPN based adblockers

#528

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Developer wages would crash through the floor and all the way down to the centre of the Earth if ad blockers really took off without users also accepting micropayments or subscriptions for web services at the same time. Maybe we should be a little bit glad that the main thing keeping massive amounts of money in tech is accepted by users. The key thing that most people in tech don't appear to grok very easily is that…

> web services like search engines, social media, ad-driven news websites, etc are all things that users place practically zero value on. I wonder if that’s the truth or if it’s this way because there are free alternatives. If one search engine starts charging a monthly fee, users will just go to another one that pays for itself with ads and data. But if the prevalent model for search engines is monthly subscription,…

> But if the prevalent model for search engines is monthly subscription, then people will start paying for it and the value for the user won’t be 0 anymore.

Far more likely ISPs will start providing search engines included in the cost of that service. Old ISPs like AOL and CompuServe did this in the past. Social media will never be something people have to pay for because we've already seen that people will create their own forums for free so we'd just go back to that. Hell, back in the day people paid for additional phone lines and hardware to host their own BBS which users accessed for free and that cost the sysop a hell of a lot more than webhosting these days.

Re: Google cracks down on VPN based adblockers

#529
post #57

Root access and AdAway from F-Droid. I wouldn't even bother using anything else.

Same, but it is more and more annoying to root your phone with all these banking apps blocking rooted phones. And now, with the new security standards (which are good), banks insist on having you install their proprietary app just to authorize payments (which is annoying). I am not talking about Google Pay here (which I can do without). There are workarounds of course, but I am becoming tired of the cat and mouse gam…

> with the new security standards (which are good), banks insist on having you install their proprietary app

since you say this, I assume you are in the EU or UK? I've heard that several EU banks offer a second 2FA method besides the app, such as hardware code generator[1]. In the UK, banks are actually required by the regulator to offer at least one method that doesn't require a mobile phone [2].

You could tell your bank "I can't use a smartphone" and they will probably be able to assist you (or, worst case scenario, you could find a bank that can)

[1] https://www.unicreditbank.hu/en/individual/banking/electroni...

[2] https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/7793...

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