Vietnam bans unskippable ads • Hacker News Board

Re: Vietnam bans unskippable ads

#731

Post by codetiger » Wed, Jan 07, 2026, 12:53 PM UTC

jason_s wrote: post #42

I just uninstalled a game from my mobile phone this morning that had heavy ad usage. It was interesting to note the different ad display strategies. From least to most annoying: - display a static ad, have the "x" to close appear soon (3-10 seconds) - display an animated ad, have the "x" to close appear soon (3-10 seconds) - display a static ad, have the "x" to close appear after 20-30 seconds - display an animated a…

My most favorite annoying thing about ads is the 'x' close button. They make it very small almost impossible to be perfect. I end up clicking the ads 50% of the times. Been running PiHole at home network for almost 8yrs happily. The ads come into play only when I am traveling.

Re: Vietnam bans unskippable ads

#732

Post by Hnrobert42 » Wed, Jan 07, 2026, 12:55 PM UTC

phantasmish wrote: post #152

al_borland wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As much as I hate ads, I don’t know that it’s so simple. There are products that do solve legitimate problems people have. Maybe there is less of that now, but in this past this was very true, and advertising helped make people aware that solutions to their problems have been developed. The first washing machine, for example. The problem comes when the advertisement manufacturers problems that didn’t previously exist…

This is what a fucking store is for . They have catalogs. You could ask for one. If they think people will want something they will try to sell it and will tell you about it if you go looking . I see this pro-ads argument all the time and it’s so obviously-stupid that I’m truly baffled. Is this the kind of lie ad folks tell themselves so they can sleep at night?

Not everyone lives close to stores.

Re: Vietnam bans unskippable ads

#733

Post by xigoi » Wed, Jan 07, 2026, 12:59 PM UTC

magicalhippo wrote: post #725

xigoi wrote: post #662

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> How do you solve discoverability, especially of a new type of product or category? I invented this new gadget call "luminexel". People don't know what it is yet, because it's new. How do people find it in a catalog? You make a post on Hacker News titled “Show HN: I made this cool thing called Luminexel, check it out!” Some people will think it’s really cool and tell their friends about it. Eventually it will end up…

> You make a post on Hacker News titled “Show HN: I made this cool thing called Luminexel, check it out!” So, place an ad in other words.

It’s not an ad if you’re not paying someone to forcibly show it to other people.

Re: Vietnam bans unskippable ads

#734

Post by defrost » Wed, Jan 07, 2026, 1:00 PM UTC

Hnrobert42 wrote: post #732

phantasmish wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is what a fucking store is for . They have catalogs. You could ask for one. If they think people will want something they will try to sell it and will tell you about it if you go looking . I see this pro-ads argument all the time and it’s so obviously-stupid that I’m truly baffled. Is this the kind of lie ad folks tell themselves so they can sleep at night?

Not everyone lives close to stores.

Not a counterpoint to the comment re: catalogs .. even less so in this modern age of ordering and shopping online.

I grew up 1,000 km+ from any significant stores and shopping - everything we wanted we got via browsing catalogs, building order lists, and either ordering in via road train or taking a few days off to travel > 2,000 km with car and double axle multi tonne capacity trailer.

Re: Vietnam bans unskippable ads

#735

Post by fainpul » Wed, Jan 07, 2026, 1:01 PM UTC

tombert wrote: post #658

kfarr wrote: post #114

As much as this may have unintended consequences, I can appreciate the motivation. I can't let my kids play iPhone games unless I turn the device into Airplane mode. Almost all these pay to play mobile games have 60 second interstitials after each level that can't be skipped. It's insane. I've taught my kids how to force kill the game and reload to get out. Definitely depressing compared to the PC shareware days I gr…

At this point, I've just decided that I'm going to actually pay for my games on iPhone. Stardew Valley cost me $15 on iPhone a few years ago, which is a lot for an iPhone game, but I don't regret it at all. It's a direct port of the PC version, meaning it's a complete experience, but also not a single ad. No attempts to get me to spam my friends, no prompts for me to buy gems to make my crops grow faster, no need to…

> Organ Trail

Sounds interesting :)

Re: Vietnam bans unskippable ads

#736

Post by trinix912 » Wed, Jan 07, 2026, 1:07 PM UTC

Auracle wrote: post #167

phantasmish wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is what a fucking store is for . They have catalogs. You could ask for one. If they think people will want something they will try to sell it and will tell you about it if you go looking . I see this pro-ads argument all the time and it’s so obviously-stupid that I’m truly baffled. Is this the kind of lie ad folks tell themselves so they can sleep at night?

There are also ads for services. I used to be a photographer, and without my little Facebook/Instagram ads people would have had to largely rely on word of mouth, meaning the more established photographers would absolutely dominate my little rural market even when their photography was worse. Also, I'm not sure we want a world where only the largest corporations get to sell things. That's what would happen if people…

Back then you'd have physical bulletin boards where you could either freely pin your handwritten note/"ad" onto or you'd have someone do it for you. Still technically an ad though.

It's the big players who have the most money for ads, buy up all billboards, internet and TV ads, etc. A small shop can't afford to do that. If ads were completely banned (in all forms including the bulletin boards) then everyone would have to rely on the word of mouth not just small businesses.

I also think that fields like photography are just highly competitive regardless of ads so it's then mostly a networking game.

Re: Vietnam bans unskippable ads

#737

Post by baxtr » Wed, Jan 07, 2026, 1:10 PM UTC

jason_s wrote: post #42

I just uninstalled a game from my mobile phone this morning that had heavy ad usage. It was interesting to note the different ad display strategies. From least to most annoying: - display a static ad, have the "x" to close appear soon (3-10 seconds) - display an animated ad, have the "x" to close appear soon (3-10 seconds) - display a static ad, have the "x" to close appear after 20-30 seconds - display an animated a…

For people with iPhones I recommend an "Apple Arcade" subscription, especially if you have kids. All games included in Arcade are ad free. They have a big enough collection.

Re: Vietnam bans unskippable ads

#738

Post by bilekas » Wed, Jan 07, 2026, 1:16 PM UTC

This is such a good step.

> Online platforms must add visible symbols and guidelines to help users report ads that violate the law and allow them to turn off, deny, or stop seeing inappropriate ads.

The fact that this even needs to be written into law to force companies into taking more responsibility with their advertisments is incredible.

Re: Vietnam bans unskippable ads

#739

Post by sjw987 » Wed, Jan 07, 2026, 1:18 PM UTC

Aloisius wrote: post #352

Panoramix wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have never in my several decades of life seen and ad for anything and thought "I need to get that".

Not even movie advertisements like trailers? Or job ads? Housing ads? I've definitely investigated and eventually purchased things I first learned about through an advertisement. Mind, usually that was from print ads in things like magazines/newspapers, the occasional direct mail ad like the old Fry's electronics mailer or movie trailers. Online ads are overwhelmingly ugly attention grabbers for things I have zero in…

It would be interesting to be able to define if an advertisement is still an advertisement in the sense the OP was referring if it is something sought out.

I myself usually choose to watch trailers for movies, look at job ads and housing ads when I actually want to watch a movie, change job or move house. What pisses me off is the 99% of ads in my life that are just blasted in front of me online and in public.

It's probably silly and the answer is just that they are, but they at least meet two different types of advert to me, personally.

I would partially agree with OP in that I can't believe any adverts I've ever seen have influence a purchase from me. I actually quite often blacklist brands and products for aggressively marketing to me.

Re: Vietnam bans unskippable ads

#740

Post by al_borland » Wed, Jan 07, 2026, 1:20 PM UTC

lm28469 wrote: post #703

al_borland wrote: post #506

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having a problem and having a solution to that problem are two different things. I occasionally get the hiccups. When it happens, it’s a problem. There are many home remedies that exist, but nothing has ever actually worked. I was watching Shark Tank one day, which is basically a bunch of ads, and there was a guy selling the Hiccaway. Several years after seeing this, I decided to give it a shot. I’ve used it 2 or 3 t…

Man if hiccups are a "legitimate problem" then indeed we are fucked... let's pollute everything irl and on the web with ads to solve these "problems"... where do we draw the line ? Because it sounds like we'll have an infinite amount of problems and we certainly don't have an infinite amount of resources btw you can also try looking for solutions on your own, like going to a doctor, searching online ? type "hiccups s…

Humans are wired to have problems. If all your basic problems are solved (shelter, food, etc), you will start inventing problems. This finding and solving of problems has led to all the development in human society, for better or worse.

It has been this finding and solving of problems that led to our standards for what solves a problem increasing as well, for better or worse again.

I think everyone has looked for hiccups solutions at some point in their life, found them not to work, and gave up. That’s why I think this is a decent example. Adults aren’t actively searching for hiccup solutions. They gave up long ago, and most of the time, it isn’t something they think about. But when they happen, they kind of suck. Depending on when they happen, like before a big presentation, they can also be a major problem. People tend to overlook it, because they know there isn’t a real cure.

I’m not arguing for more advertisements or hiccup commercials 24x7. But there is value to some way of creating awareness of new things that are actually useful. Most advertising is trying to manufacture problems or just keep a product you already know about in the front of your mind. This is probably 95% of advertising. My argument is for a way to surface that 5%.