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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

#781

Post by nicbou »

junaru wrote: post #373
cercatrova wrote: post #186

I have a list of adblockers I use, hope it helps other people here: Desktop: - Pi-Hole (network wide adblocking) - AdGuard (device wide adblocking) Web browsers: - uBlock Origin - uMatrix (not developed anymore but still works, can also use NoScript) - SponsorBlock (blocks in-video sponsor segments, intros, outros, filler tangents, etc in YouTube) Mobile: - Firefox for Android / Kiwi Browser (both have web extension…

> YouTube Vanced I get why they want to stay anonymous but that website is no different from any other malware site - no source, no authors just some affiliate links. Putting your google credentials in an app like that is not something people should be comfortable with.

Some time ago, the version I installed (from a regular Google search) tried to use my phone as a throwaway number. For around two months I got validation codes for PayPal, confirmation calls from crypto sites and a lot of messages from horny men who click ads on porn sites. It took me a while to piece it back together.

The only reason it didn't work is that I refused the app the permission to read text messages.

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

#782

Post by nicbou »

asteroidp wrote: post #639

Without aggressively blocking the hundred or more ads on a webpage, I honestly don't think the web would be that useful now a days Advertising has gone absolutely bonkers and filled the web with complete trash SEO farms with 40 links to some shitty slideshow I don't believe the web would have caught on like it did if this current condition was v1.0 I wonder how much the website designer even views their own site. It'…

When you live from your website, incentives can change.

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

#783

Post by commoner »

robomartin wrote: post #770
discardedrefuse wrote: post #738

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And, yes, I use various advertising channels to find customers. Money well spent, I'm sure. https://gizmodo.com/facebook-announces-its-fake-ad-numbers-a... > It is nothing less than delusional to convince yourself that you are entitled to the entire web without paying for any of it. I never said I'm entitled to the entire web for free. Don't try to make it seem like I'm brazenly pirating my way across the internet.…

> I never said I'm entitled to the entire web for free. Don't try to make it seem like I'm brazenly pirating my way across the internet. There are plenty of services behind paywalls and subscriptions that I choose to support with my actual dollars. Great. Then, if you are a principled person and do not agree with the way advertising is being used on the 'net, don't use anything other than what you pay for. That's the…

Here are WebMD's terms of use: https://www.webmd.com/about-webmd-policies/about-terms-and-c.... It does not forbid visitors from blocking ads. (Even if it did, such a provision might not be legally enforceable.)

Since WebMD is providing its content free of charge and not requiring visitors to refrain from blocking ads, visitors are free to consume the content on WebMD without paying and while blocking ads. The business model seems to be working well for WebMD, since its parent company (Internet Brands) is still in the private equity portfolio of its owner, the investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, which had a net income of about $4.9 billion in 2020. Their 2020 Form 10-K also says:*

> The most significant increases in value of our privately held investments related to increases in AppLovin Corporation (technology sector), Kokusai Electric Corporation (manufacturing sector), and Internet Brands, Inc. (technology sector).

If WebMD, your friends' sites, or any other sites end up not performing well under a business model driven by display advertising, then they should transition their business model to one that is more profitable. A person who works hard is not entitled to a successful business, and internet users are definitely not legally, morally, or ethically obligated to contribute to the success of other people's businesses.

* https://ir.kkr.com/sec-filings-annual-letters/sec-filings/?a...

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

#784

Post by commoner »

robomartin wrote: post #773
cartesius13 wrote: post #734

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If your business model is no longer profitable then you should go do something else. I'm not obligated to pay for cable when Netflix is cheaper and better. If your family depends on that Cable money to survive, well that's sad but not my problem. Make a better product, change your business model, do something. Again, content providers are free to stop providing content at any time. There's not much else to say here.…

> content providers are free to stop providing content at any time There's a fundamental lack of morality in a philosophy that does not recognize and respect property. You know that you are interfering with the ability of a site owner and their employees earing money for their product. You know this well. This is what ad blockers do. And yet, as a result of the principles you purport to uphold, rather than choosing N…

Internet users are not the people who decide whether a website provides its content free of charge. That's the site owner's decision. If a site owner obtains or produces valuable content and then provides it without charging for it, the site owner is responsible for the consequences of their own decision. If a site owner relies solely on display ads for revenue and chooses not to pursue other sources of revenue, that's also 100% on them.

Most websites that provide free content don't require visitors to consume ads. The sites' terms of service don't forbid visitors from blocking ads in most cases, and the sites don't make visitors agree to view ads on the site before the visitors enter the site. As far as the visitor is concerned, the site owner's property is recognized and respected even if the visitor chooses not to load, display, or consume all of the content on the page.

It doesn't make sense for a site owner to be outraged about their lack of revenue, when they themselves decided to provide content without charging for it or monetizing it effectively. Business models that rely entirely on advertising are not guaranteed success, and internet users are not obligated to make ad-supported websites successful.

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

#785

Post by sdoering »

bluGill wrote: post #425
cgriswald wrote: post #405

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can anyone explain why such systems are so seemingly successful? I find it surprising. It seems great to create vendor lock-in, but they also change the form factor frequently enough that you have to replace your entire system in order to benefit from it being a system anyway; at which point you might change vendors. It feels like the first vendor that stops changing form factor wins; but they all still keep changing…

The major brands do not change formats often. The store brands do change formats though. By Milwaukee or Dewalt and you will have tools and parts for many years, or even Ryobi if you want to save a penny. (There are others, just the 3 that come to mind). The thing about their system is the whole only works so long as they keep you locked in. Once you make a choice you are locked into that choice and won't be looking…

When my SO and I were renovating our home we followed some advice like the ones in this thread. First we had relatively cheap power tools. One the one hand early on we could not easily afford to invest more and also we wanted to learn what we really needed.

After the first ones broke we asked around and received only three recommended brands. DeWalt, Makita or the Blue Bosch line (in Germany). We went for DeWalt and never looked back. The power cells haven't changed in form or fitting in the years since and we could not be happier with performance and durability.

It is like deciding on a DSLR system. Once you are invested into Canon, Nikon, Sony or the likes with lenses and accessories you are locked in but also you learn to really know your tools and imho receive a productivity boost.

For example - whenever I am with other people and need to use their tools, I have to look at them and see how they work, what buttons/knobs are where and so on. With my DeWalt tools this is already muscle memory and the work as an extension of my arm - my brain uses them as if they were a part of me. This let's me focus more on the task I want to perform, not on the tool.

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

#786

Post by rsanek »

matheusmoreira wrote: post #597
WA wrote: post #567

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, you can buy YouTube premium and have no ads.

Or you can install an adblocker instead which also blocks much of the surveillance. There's also sponsor block which blocks ads that even paying customers are forced to see. Don't support these advertisers in any way. Especially Google.

I hope folks that take this stance support creators in another fashion, like through Patreon. Otherwise the content that is consumed by those ad blocking won't get produced, simply because the creator can't make a living off of it. That makes me uncomfortable as I believe most of us on HN like at least some YouTube content and would like to see more of it.

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

#787

Post by jasonwatkinspdx »

bbarn wrote: post #310
hattmall wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One market where this has always been a problem is tools. So almost 20 years ago we were told in shop class that the industry magazines and reviews were basically all paid for by manufacturers. The solution we learned was to always buy the cheapest option first. If it breaks or fails to meet your needs understand how and why and then move on to a more costly tool that you can demonstrate is better in the specific way…

Harbor Freight's "low quality" tools will work for a great many average home owners doing some upgrading or light work. We absolutely fall into the trap of wanting the best thing ever, but how many people actually need the top of the line Milwaukee or Makita brand biscuit joiner for the 2 tables they ever make at 200$, vs the Harbor Freight one at 60 that you can probably find a coupon for to make it 45-50? On that n…

Man, you said it about B&D. My family owned a small business, now bankrupt. One of the things my dad did to try to save it was start selling tools retail. He's very brand loyal, and of an older generation, so he was convinced selling B&D in the 90s was the way to go. The tools were such plastic crap. Meanwhile we had mid century era versions of the same tools in the workshop at home that were still going strong. Obviously my dad's idea didn't work. We got creamed by big box stores and the brands they hawk. And honestly rightfully so.

But anyhow, what happened with B&D has happened to so many previous quality brands. It's really frustrating to me.

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

#788

Post by foxfluff »

robomartin wrote: post #769
foxfluff wrote: post #730

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You think you are entitled to free pizza. When companies SEO-shove it in my face and almost literally beg me to take it.. oh I don't feel entitled but it's hard to avoid. Stop shoving it in my face and I won't take it. > And then reality hits: There was never any free pizza. And the pizza is gone. Along with the jobs and everything else it created. So clickbait, SEO spam sites, content farms, and other trash that s…

You are exaggerating, the vast majority of the ad-supported internet does not fit your "clickbait, SEO spam sites, content farms, and other trash" narrative. Once again, it is convenient to construct such a narrative to justify taking from truly useful sites. I must ask: Do you mean to say that you only visit "clickbait, SEO spam sites, content farms, and other trash" sites with your ad blockers? Likely not. What is…

I won't shed a tear if every ad supported site vanishes from the internet. Yes, I think the vast majority of them are useless, and the only reason I visit them is because someone else links them or, because of SEO, they end up in the way when you search for something. Usually these sites are worse than what you'd get if search engines skipped straight to the good, valuable sites with no ads; their value is generally negative, not positive. Good sites get buried because of everyone who's spamming the internet for quick buck. I refuse to support ad-supported sites, because ad-money and the incentive it creates for spam is ruining the internet. Spammers' ability to earn money by creating more spam should be revoked. Anyone who supports that "business" model is partly responsible for spam and trash.

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

#789

Post by Fiahil »

cercatrova wrote: post #186

I have a list of adblockers I use, hope it helps other people here: Desktop: - Pi-Hole (network wide adblocking) - AdGuard (device wide adblocking) Web browsers: - uBlock Origin - uMatrix (not developed anymore but still works, can also use NoScript) - SponsorBlock (blocks in-video sponsor segments, intros, outros, filler tangents, etc in YouTube) Mobile: - Firefox for Android / Kiwi Browser (both have web extension…

How do I block Youtube ads on LG web OS ?

Pihole doesn't work, they serve the ads on the same domain as the video content.

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

#790

Post by dredmorbius »

Fiahil wrote: post #789
cercatrova wrote: post #186

I have a list of adblockers I use, hope it helps other people here: Desktop: - Pi-Hole (network wide adblocking) - AdGuard (device wide adblocking) Web browsers: - uBlock Origin - uMatrix (not developed anymore but still works, can also use NoScript) - SponsorBlock (blocks in-video sponsor segments, intros, outros, filler tangents, etc in YouTube) Mobile: - Firefox for Android / Kiwi Browser (both have web extension…

How do I block Youtube ads on LG web OS ? Pihole doesn't work, they serve the ads on the same domain as the video content.

Invidious.

https://invidious.snopyta.org/feed/popular

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