8 ms·

Can someone explain what the point of silently clicking the ads is? Why not just block them? Does clicking the ads somehow aid in blocking or is it a way of fig

Can someone explain what the point of silently clicking the ads is? Why not just block them? Does clicking the ads somehow aid in blocking or is it a way of fighting back against perceived abuses by advertisers?

tetrep 10y ago
The idea is to mess with advertisers' metrics. If people using ad blockers are peaceful protesters, AdNauseam is trying to riot.
- tyingq 10y ago
  Assuming they aren't detected as fraudulent, it's messing with more than metrics. The advertisers, in many cases, are paying per click. Edit: Not making a judgement here, just clarifying that the extension is doing more than messing with metrics.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - Aldo_MX 10y ago
    The advertisers don't mind paying for disruptive, intrusive, battery-draining, bandwidth-consuming, rich-media advertisements, so I don't mind draining their wallets.
    - VikingCoder 10y ago
      You just said, "The sites I visit don't mind receiving money for disruptive, intrusive, battery-draining, bandwidth-consuming, rich-media advertisements, so I don't mind draining their wallets." If there's someone who makes content you like to see, why don't you mind draining their wallet?
      - Aldo_MX 10y ago
        If there's someone who makes content I like to see, I purchase their merchandising, books, courses, assist to their events, etc., that's pretty simple. Why support the middle man who just makes the Internet a worse place when you can directly support an author's efforts? The advertisement business model just exists to justify the existence of low quality content.
        VikingCoder 10y ago
        Yeah? When was the last time you purchased a music video? Okay, when was the last time you watched one? You want to stand by that argument, or admit that you're talking out your butt?
  - ben0x539 10y ago
    It's precisely only messing with metrics, it just so happens that one of the metrics happens to be the one you agreed to use as basis for your payments. ;)
- colept 10y ago
  That's like harming the Pope to get back at God. AdNauseum doesn't hurt advertising networks, it hurts publishers. When they get banned for click fraud, the network keeps the money.
  - hedora 10y ago
    If google bans legitimate publishers, then the advertisers move elsewhere. Also, increased click fraud on tracking ads lowers their attractiveness, nudging ad revenue toward sites that serve display ads targeted to their content. This helps funnel money to sites that produce high quality content and away from low quality sites that happen to attract users that view high quality content elsewhere.
  - malka 10y ago
    and when networks have no publishers left, what do happen to them ?
    - colept 10y ago
      > no publishers left They become the publisher. In the grand scheme, this is a misguided effort that will further monopolize publishing.
      - type0 10y ago
        So what will they publish then, fake news?
iUsedToCode 10y ago
It's supposed to mess up the stats and inject uncertainty into ad analysis. They are trying to bring down the price of ads on the internet, thus making them unprofitable. I hope they succeed.
- blauditore 10y ago
  I find it a bit harsh to be so hostile towards online ads. After all, it's has been a significant source of income for innovative companies or services that couldn't exist otherwise, because users are notoriously reluctant to pay for virtual goods. Yes, tracking and overly intrusive fullpage popups are real issues, but not all ads are inherently evil.
  - philipov 10y ago
    Not all dictators are inherently evil either, but because of the state into which a dictatorial ecosystem inevitably declines, we don't want them either.
  - na85 10y ago
    I can't name a single online service that is supported by ads and that I couldn't live without. >not all ads are inherently evil. All advertising is manipulation. Advertisers are bad and should feel bad.
    - ChristianBundy 10y ago
      Serious question, but how do you feel about persuasion? Is all persuasion inherently manipulative, or are there some types of persuasion/marketing that don't cross the line and become "manipulation"?
      - TeMPOraL 10y ago
        It's a blurry line, but I believe it passes far to the left of advertising. One dimension of that distinction is intent - are you trying to persuade me having my best interests in mind (including not applying the technique if you're not sure about the consequences)? Then I'll probably be fine with it, and consider it an act of friendship. Are you trying to exploit me by convincing me to make self-harming decisions? I'd consider this an act of malice. An attack. Advertising of all kinds would be fine if it performed just the information function - by honestly trying to paint the whole picture and give all relevant information to enable customers to make a rational choice. As it is today, it's squarely in the malicious, abusive zone.
azdle 10y ago
It's impossible to block all ads and trackers, especially now that so many people load vital resources from CDNs controlled by the tracking companies. With something like AdNauseam you add noise to your actual browsing so that it makes the data about you less valuable. If everyone were to use it suddenly no one would pay for the data and since it's no longer profitable it would stop. At least, I assume that's the theory.
- joeblau 10y ago
  > especially now that so many people load vital resources from CDNs controlled by the tracking companies. I've been noticing this trend. I have a pretty extensive hosts file and this one site I visit started displaying ads. I had to double check to make sure my hosts file was correct and it turned out that they were saving the ads from their own CDN.
elorant 10y ago
Advertising networks create profiles of users based on online activity including searches. It's called profiling. The ads you see are relevant to your interests as it is described in your profile. By randomly clicking on ads you render the profile irrelevant.
- openasocket 10y ago
  But what if you clicked on no ads at all? Doesn't that make the profile equally irrelevant?
  - elorant 10y ago
    Yes and no. If you don’t click on ads you make advertising irrelevant but they’ll still keep collecting data on your behavior. Sure in the long run if everyone stopped clicking on ads it would be game over for the whole advertising industry. But in the meantime we can wreck havoc on their tactics.

tetrep 10y ago

The idea is to mess with advertisers' metrics. If people using ad blockers are peaceful protesters, AdNauseam is trying to riot.

tyingq 10y ago
Assuming they aren't detected as fraudulent, it's messing with more than metrics. The advertisers, in many cases, are paying per click. Edit: Not making a judgement here, just clarifying that the extension is doing more than messing with metrics.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- Aldo_MX 10y ago
  The advertisers don't mind paying for disruptive, intrusive, battery-draining, bandwidth-consuming, rich-media advertisements, so I don't mind draining their wallets.
  - VikingCoder 10y ago
    You just said, "The sites I visit don't mind receiving money for disruptive, intrusive, battery-draining, bandwidth-consuming, rich-media advertisements, so I don't mind draining their wallets." If there's someone who makes content you like to see, why don't you mind draining their wallet?
    - Aldo_MX 10y ago
      If there's someone who makes content I like to see, I purchase their merchandising, books, courses, assist to their events, etc., that's pretty simple. Why support the middle man who just makes the Internet a worse place when you can directly support an author's efforts? The advertisement business model just exists to justify the existence of low quality content.
      - VikingCoder 10y ago
        Yeah? When was the last time you purchased a music video? Okay, when was the last time you watched one? You want to stand by that argument, or admit that you're talking out your butt?
- ben0x539 10y ago
  It's precisely only messing with metrics, it just so happens that one of the metrics happens to be the one you agreed to use as basis for your payments. ;)
colept 10y ago
That's like harming the Pope to get back at God. AdNauseum doesn't hurt advertising networks, it hurts publishers. When they get banned for click fraud, the network keeps the money.
- hedora 10y ago
  If google bans legitimate publishers, then the advertisers move elsewhere. Also, increased click fraud on tracking ads lowers their attractiveness, nudging ad revenue toward sites that serve display ads targeted to their content. This helps funnel money to sites that produce high quality content and away from low quality sites that happen to attract users that view high quality content elsewhere.
- malka 10y ago
  and when networks have no publishers left, what do happen to them ?
  - colept 10y ago
    > no publishers left They become the publisher. In the grand scheme, this is a misguided effort that will further monopolize publishing.
    - type0 10y ago
      So what will they publish then, fake news?

iUsedToCode 10y ago

It's supposed to mess up the stats and inject uncertainty into ad analysis. They are trying to bring down the price of ads on the internet, thus making them unprofitable. I hope they succeed.

blauditore 10y ago
I find it a bit harsh to be so hostile towards online ads. After all, it's has been a significant source of income for innovative companies or services that couldn't exist otherwise, because users are notoriously reluctant to pay for virtual goods. Yes, tracking and overly intrusive fullpage popups are real issues, but not all ads are inherently evil.
- philipov 10y ago
  Not all dictators are inherently evil either, but because of the state into which a dictatorial ecosystem inevitably declines, we don't want them either.
- na85 10y ago
  I can't name a single online service that is supported by ads and that I couldn't live without. >not all ads are inherently evil. All advertising is manipulation. Advertisers are bad and should feel bad.
  - ChristianBundy 10y ago
    Serious question, but how do you feel about persuasion? Is all persuasion inherently manipulative, or are there some types of persuasion/marketing that don't cross the line and become "manipulation"?
    - TeMPOraL 10y ago
      It's a blurry line, but I believe it passes far to the left of advertising. One dimension of that distinction is intent - are you trying to persuade me having my best interests in mind (including not applying the technique if you're not sure about the consequences)? Then I'll probably be fine with it, and consider it an act of friendship. Are you trying to exploit me by convincing me to make self-harming decisions? I'd consider this an act of malice. An attack. Advertising of all kinds would be fine if it performed just the information function - by honestly trying to paint the whole picture and give all relevant information to enable customers to make a rational choice. As it is today, it's squarely in the malicious, abusive zone.

azdle 10y ago

It's impossible to block all ads and trackers, especially now that so many people load vital resources from CDNs controlled by the tracking companies. With something like AdNauseam you add noise to your actual browsing so that it makes the data about you less valuable. If everyone were to use it suddenly no one would pay for the data and since it's no longer profitable it would stop. At least, I assume that's the theory.

joeblau 10y ago
> especially now that so many people load vital resources from CDNs controlled by the tracking companies. I've been noticing this trend. I have a pretty extensive hosts file and this one site I visit started displaying ads. I had to double check to make sure my hosts file was correct and it turned out that they were saving the ads from their own CDN.

elorant 10y ago

Advertising networks create profiles of users based on online activity including searches. It's called profiling. The ads you see are relevant to your interests as it is described in your profile. By randomly clicking on ads you render the profile irrelevant.

openasocket 10y ago
But what if you clicked on no ads at all? Doesn't that make the profile equally irrelevant?
- elorant 10y ago
  Yes and no. If you don’t click on ads you make advertising irrelevant but they’ll still keep collecting data on your behavior. Sure in the long run if everyone stopped clicking on ads it would be game over for the whole advertising industry. But in the meantime we can wreck havoc on their tactics.