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Adblocking people and non-adblocking people experience a different web

imlefthanded.com

751–760 of 844 posts

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

#751

I've used adblockers since they were invented and rarely experience the unfiltered internet. In recent years, though, I've wondered if it might actually be better to turn that all off. Are we adblockers just getting a more purified stream of clickbait "news" and enraging social media posts, without the ads there to remind us that it's all trash? I suspect so.

Yep. Most of the things you find with a Google search are obvious SEO trash even if you don't see the ads. The quality of the content reminds you that it's all trash.

Exactly.

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

#752
post #436

Earlier quoted context omitted.

... no, as the page you link says, the extensions are reviewed by Mozilla employees.

>no, as the page you link says, the extensions are reviewed by Mozilla employees. What this review means? Do you have a link? Is it reviewed by a security developer hired by Mozilla or some community person?

Firefox has a help page about their Recommended Extensions program:

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/recommended-extensions-...

It's exactly what you're asking for, a badge showing that Mozilla "staff security experts" have carefully reviewed the extension to ensure that it is free of malicious or unsafe code. The extension must also be effective at what it does, offer a good user experience, and be regularly updated.

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

#753
post #129

Youtube, especially, turns into a whole different experience. Ad in front of every video makes it impossible to quickly browse and sort through videos. I might watch just a few seconds and then go to the next one. When ads are enabled, the experience is so painful that I'm not likely to use Youtube this way any more. I have to watch an ad before I've made the decision if I want to watch the video.

It sounds like this has only gotten worse since I asked HN about it almost two years ago.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23769291

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

#754
post #539

Yeah, why would you not be entitled to that content for no commercial consideration… Frankly I don’t understand the ethical position of people who use ad-blockers.

The publisher offered the content to the viewer at no cost, so why would the viewer be obligated to provide commercial consideration? It's not illegal or immoral to consume only part of the content that is provided. This applies to print, radio, and TV, and there's no reason it shouldn't apply to the internet.

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

#755
post #585

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I find it intriguing that only in the digital age have we sort of decided that the creator of something doesn't get to dictate the terms of its use. Except that's not true. Mark Twain and Shakespeare cannot tell you you're interpreting their works incorrectly. JK Rowlings cannot stop you from making paper mache out of her books. I can timeshift and spaceshift content with tape recorders, VCRs, TiVo and more.

That may have been a poor choice of words on my part. I am struggling to come up with a better choice. I guess the analog would be “Ms Rowlings, I think the price of your book is too high, so I am going to pay you whatever price I want to. You don’t get a choice” Someone spent time and energy to create something, and decided that annoying ads are the price of their labor. People seem to think they now deserve the lab…

Then tying it to the digital age was a strange choice. People have infringed in copyrights since before electricity, operating manual printing presses to do so.

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

#756

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Consumer Reports does a great job at giving honest reviews. They go through multiple steps to ensure manufacturers don't know they're purchasing their products as well (to avoid getting beefed up 'review units'). And no, their service is not supported by ads - You have to pay for a subscription. Consumer Reports needs to be mentioned more IMO. Because even on reddit, there are companies that offer advanced stealth-li…

I use CR, but they do miss the target sometimes. They extrapolate a lot between models, sometimes farther than I think is justified by saying they are 'similar'. And occasionally they make really boneheaded recommendations that I just don't understand. On their recommendation I bought a Samsung washer and dryer pair, which both broke within the first 12 months. A bit of research on the appliance forum, and it turns o…

So they're definitely not perfect - but it seems like they do far, far more research than the average online source, and are far more reliable, more consistently reliable, and have a much wider array of tested devices (as opposed to a blogger who might test a bunch of products in one specific category).

We can do better than CR - but right now, afaict they're the best we have.

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

#757

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Someone just convinced you to voluntarily watch more ads.

I sympathize with small creators and sites that rely on these kinds of money and are not obtrusive. It's just a test though. I will probably be back on adblocker by default.

You can selectively turn it off for sites that you like. I have mine turned off for the local news blog which is pretty good and I like to support it.

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

#758
post #115
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I ran ad blocking on Youtube for years, and I've been a Premium member since it came out (as Red back then). I can't stand ads and avoid them like the plague. Some ads still sneak into my world though. My current peeve is when going to a restaurant and they have "the game" on full blast. I'm perfectly fine with people watching/listening to the game - and half the time the restaurant is considered a "sports bar", so I…

I would eat elsewhere if at all possible. You might not have many options though, or maybe you're with a group of people who love advertising.

I think it's more that you're with a group of people who don't hate advertising enough to take any action against it.

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

#759

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No thanks for me. Advertisements if nothing else consume too much of my local compute resources for zero benefit to me. Why should I give them this free compute?

Why should I give them this free compute? Why should they give you free content?

Don’t know. Some people charge for their content so they could try that if they didn’t want to offer content for free. Its their choice. Maybe I should allow ads and then send them a bill for their use of my local compute resources at my going rate.
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