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I'm So Tired of Ads

blog.absurdpirate.com

71–80 of 83 posts

Re: I'm So Tired of Ads

#71

Would you be willing to pay a small sum per piece of content? Maybe 10c per video or article? Maybe 1c for a short or something? Assume that it’s anonymous and frictionless (big assumptions, but this is just a thought experiment).

This has been brought up since the first banner ad went up 30 years ago, and rehashed to death on a variety of forums. The fact that no one has implemented a successful product tells me all I need to know. If that isn't convincing enough, consider that Spotify does the same thing with music, and from what I've read, Spotify is the only one making any money with that scheme. Because your "1 cent" is generous: try 0.00…

Spotify rigs their system to benefit the large label companies and anyone with a critical mass so the people that "matter" say 'good enough' and the people with no voice get screwed.

I suspect an honest implementation could actually work - that is, only if all the people that "matter" would not boycott this fair implementation and go off and do their own thing.

Re: I'm So Tired of Ads

#72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

"mind rape". How absurd and inflammatory. The notion of consent here is just ridiculous. Nobody is forcing you to use the Internet, you're happy enough to consume free online services, but then melt down when you see an ad.

> you're happy enough to consume free online services

Of course. If HTTP servers want to send me free web pages, I'm only too happy to consume them. If they send me ads alongside those pages, the ads will be deleted. If they don't like it, they can return 402 Payment Required instead.

Just because somebody handed me a free magazine filled with ads doesn't mean I can't rip out the ad pages and throw them in the trash. I'm allowed to keep only the pages I want and discard the rest.

> melt down when you see an ad

I don't see ads, uBlock Origin does a really good job at filtering them out. Highly recommended.

Re: I'm So Tired of Ads

#73
post #42

Apple's behavior regarding ads is especially annoying to me. I deeply dislike that they allow Uber and Lyft to advertise via iOS notifications. Apple should inflict massive penalties on them for that anti-user behavior. Apple also advertises their own TV shows through notifications, which I view as an even worse breach of etiquette. On top of all that, I avoid the iOS app store as much as possible because it's an adv…

They're supposed to introduce a setting that allow you to disable these promotional pop-ups. But many apps don't, and Apple doesn't seem to enforce it.

It should be an iOS level flip: no promotional messages.

Re: I'm So Tired of Ads

#74
post #16

Even my daughter's dance recital this weekend had them. In between dances they frequently paused to play an ad on the big screen to the right. It was incredible.

This takes place in Belgium:

This reminds me of a time in high-school when I was ~12 and I learned that in the USA they were allowed to have brands in school books, like John buys 12 can of Pepsi, drinks 1 bottle, gives 3 away, how many does he have left.

(note that I was 12 when I learned this, not that this reflects the level of math I learned at the age of 12).

Re: I'm So Tired of Ads

#75
post #10

I use an adblocker and I have for a while now. Every so often I hear a moral argument about why adblockers are bad (ads support free internet, etc) but to be completely honest, I simply don't care anymore. Advertising is in such a malicious state that yes, I'm going to put my own experience quality over whatever collective good there is in watching ads.

What if the advertising services company (Google) and/or its partner (Mozilla) that produce the source code for popular "browsers" remove the ability for users to run "adblockers"

What then

These entities often claim the code is "open source"

Perhaps users will start compiling the browser themselves and keep the code to run user extensions/add-ons

Maybe they will let "AI" agents compile Firefox for them

The www was designed for its users to send "requests" for resources to destinations, i.e., IP addresses, where the resources are served. The requests are very specific, identifying exactly what was requested. The user specifies the destination

It's possible to automate some requests to destinations the user is not aware of, e.g., by letting the specified destination "trigger" them automatically without any input from the user. This can be useful but naturally it requires trust

Unfortunately, so-called "tech" companies have co-opted this design to support a "business model" of data collection, surveillance and advertising services. Users do not send requests for ads. Software from so-called "tech" companies does this automatically "on their behalf" and it _sends requests to destinations that the user never speficied_

When using software created by these companies (and their partners, like Mozilla) the user sends a single (HTTP) request to a single destination and other parties, e.g., browser developers, the website developers, adtech companies, etc., make more requests for resources the user never requested, e.g., ads

This is only possible when using software that designed to do this

There are various tactics these commercial parties use to coax users into using this software that facilitates unwanted advertising and tracking. In theory it's still a choice to use their software. HTTP servers ggenerally do not require specific HTTP clients. For example, I rarely use the software from so-called "tech" companies or their partners for making HTTP requests. I prefer non-graphical software similar to what was released when the www first went public. It gives me more control. I'm not giving up agency to third parties, I'm not allowing software to load arbitrary resources or run arbitrary Javascript, I'm not delegating authority to so-called "tech" companies by using their software

Eventually, these companies might use tactics such as "attestation" to force users to use their software, (pre)installed after company approval on company-controlled hardware

Re: I'm So Tired of Ads

#76
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How far would you push this argument? Is it mind rape to hold up a political sign in a public square, because they are forcing their opinions into other people who happen to be there?

My extreme arguments are generally reserved for businesses who are profiting off the abuse. People demonstrating could definitely fall into the unwanted noise category depending on what you believe, but I'm not going to go extreme on them for it. Besides, demonstrations are easily avoided and ignored. They go to the public square to demonstrate. They don't generally go to your house. Advertisers absolutely would go t…

It's possible that annoyed people are less economically active, with the result that intrusive ads reduce GDP.

Re: I'm So Tired of Ads

#77

I’ve used Adblock aggressively for the last 10 or 15 years. I don’t have a TV, don’t read magazines or the newspaper, don’t listen to the radio. I essentially don’t see or hear ads in my life.

There are still physical printed ads on billboards you can't really avoid, as well as all the branding from anything else you encounter in the streets: cars, bicycle, shops, drink coasters at the bar/pub, etc which are by essence advertising. Also many cultural things are full of product placements, all movies, many songs, event sponsoring, etc. As much as I do to avoid ads (using adblocker, priorizing gemtext caches…

I live in a place with no billboards.

Nobody in this town would wear overt branding.

Re: I'm So Tired of Ads

#78
post #28

If an ad is targeted, it's unwanted personal surveillance. If it's not targeted, it's meaningless crap. If it's from DuckDuckGo, like its search results, it's based on either crude geolocation or recent movies of similar names, bizarrely, when I search for specific technical terms. I have to qualify searches with multiple negations to get anything of interest to someone with more than high school education and intere…

> A word to web devs. I hate your crap.

I would like to say I agree with the proposition of your post and your arguments, but as a web dev please don't mix the state of the web with what the median web dev considers a good UI/UX. We don't make the Jira tickets and if you have worked in a corporate environment you know very well that arguments like "but the UX/accessibility" hold very very little value in the context of most decisions.

Re: I'm So Tired of Ads

#79
post #78
post #28

If an ad is targeted, it's unwanted personal surveillance. If it's not targeted, it's meaningless crap. If it's from DuckDuckGo, like its search results, it's based on either crude geolocation or recent movies of similar names, bizarrely, when I search for specific technical terms. I have to qualify searches with multiple negations to get anything of interest to someone with more than high school education and intere…

> A word to web devs. I hate your crap. I would like to say I agree with the proposition of your post and your arguments, but as a web dev please don't mix the state of the web with what the median web dev considers a good UI/UX. We don't make the Jira tickets and if you have worked in a corporate environment you know very well that arguments like "but the UX/accessibility" hold very very little value in the context…

I know, don't shoot the messenger. Orders are orders. I was kind to bosses except for the four times I left summarily, with a few choice words, or not. They were grasping at straws, a massive ego trip, their boss's ass, or just a move from engineering to (mis)management.

But I ramble. Most stuff ain't worth arguing over.

This time.

Re: I'm So Tired of Ads

#80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My extreme arguments are generally reserved for businesses who are profiting off the abuse. People demonstrating could definitely fall into the unwanted noise category depending on what you believe, but I'm not going to go extreme on them for it. Besides, demonstrations are easily avoided and ignored. They go to the public square to demonstrate. They don't generally go to your house. Advertisers absolutely would go t…

It's possible that annoyed people are less economically active, with the result that intrusive ads reduce GDP.

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