8 ms·

Disqus Ads Are No Longer Free to Disable

65 points by brianjackson 10y ago

e12e 10y ago
Looks like this might be a good day for muut: https://muut.com/pricing/ https://muut.com/pricing/ (Not affiliated, nor a customer - just became aware of them because of their open source js framework, riot (riotjs.com)).
ocdtrekkie 10y ago
I hadn't heard about this until now. And in my case, I'll be disabling Disqus on the site I use it on. We don't have enough activity to justify a $10/month charge, and I am not at all fond of their ad system. I totally understand the reasoning, it just doesn't work well for us.
raverbashing 10y ago
As comment sections become increasingly toxic it seems discus won't be here for long. They seem to be an ok company, but their business model is a sinking ship
overcast 10y ago
As more, and more people are installing plugins just to hide comments, I can't see this going well.
- brightball 10y ago
  I feel conflicted right now. On the one hand, I'm really happy to know there are plugins that I wasn't aware of to disable comments. On the other hand, I learned about it from a comment...
  - basseq 10y ago
    ... on a site where you come for the commentary. (And, by extension, that commentary is healthy and helpful.) Those comment-blocking plugins just keep you from being tempted to read the comments on other sites where the idiocy, toxicity, and trolling is just mind-boggling.
  - overcast 10y ago
    Just give it a shot for a week, it's cathartic.
- schiffern 10y ago
  No need for an extra plugin even. Just a custom list for uBlock Origin: http://mute.bradconte.com/ http://mute.bradconte.com/
  - overcast 10y ago
    What you just sent me is an extra plugin for Ad Block Plus. No where on that site are the words uBlock or Origin even mentioned. Edit: I see below what you're referring to. However I'd rather have a separate plugin where I can easily selectively turn it on(Hacker News).
    - c3833174 10y ago
      Because ad block plus is the de facto standard and ublock Origin is compatible with adblock plus subscriptions.
    - Spivak 10y ago
      Here's how to get this (or really any other list) added to uBlock Origin. * Navigate to the uBlock Dashboard > 3rd Party Filters > Custom. * Add the line: http://mute.bradconte.com/mute.txt http://mute.bradconte.com/mute.txt * Click `Parse` and the `Update`.
    - schiffern 10y ago
      Not a plugin (does uBlock / Adblock even have a concept of plugins?), but rather a simple blocklist. Just checked, and this list doesn't block comments on hacker news or reddit, just like it doesn't block the wall on facebook or posts on a forum. It would be pointless, because the whole point of those [social] sites is the comments. I prefer this way because uBlock Origin is already installed and is quite lightweight, so the incremental performance hit is less. I can see your point about UI convenience too. Everyone has their own priorities! I mostly use it for blocking comments on news and video sites [in my experience typically 99% noise]. Whitelists can be added for individual sites, in the same way that any blocking rule can be whitelisted with custom filter rules.
  - gorhill 10y ago
    Another solution is to use uBO's "firewall" to block disqus.com everywhere, and to enable (temporarily or permanently) on a per-site basis where needed with a mere point-and-click interface.[1] [1] An example using facebook.com, can be applied to disqus.com or any ubiquitous 3rd-party out there: https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Dynamic-filtering:-to-easily-reduce-privacy-exposure https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Dynamic-filtering:-to...
philfrasty 10y ago
So they basically distributed the product as „free“ to install on millions of pages with the intention to turn them into an ad-network after some time? Smart move...
- niftich 10y ago
  I don't disagree, but this is basically the MO of almost every "free" social network, messaging service, or image or content host since forever.
  - rch 10y ago
    How else is it supposed to work? Other than selling your browsing habits to third parties so they can advertise to you.
    - eridius 10y ago
      Start with a free product, and then add optional paid features onto it.
gobengo 10y ago
The Mozilla Foundation's Coral Project has a full-time team building an open source comments system with no ads. Follow the repo, forum, and/or slack for updates. https://github.com/coralproject/talk https://github.com/coralproject/talk https://coralproject.net/ https://coralproject.net/
- JD557 10y ago
  Is it really a complete alternative? It looks like you have to host it yourself (one of the main appeals of Disqus was that you could add comments to any static page). Also, it would be nice if they supported a SQLite backend, which would probably make more sense for small blogs running on very weak shared servers.
  - chickenfries 10y ago
    I've looked into using things by The Coral Project before but their documentation is just not there, there don't seem to be that many sites actually using their software yet, and their architecture is plain too complicated: it's split up into a bunch of microservices that aren't well documented.
  - callahad 10y ago
    Isso (https://posativ.org/isso/ https://posativ.org/isso/) is a possible alternative that only requires Python and SQLite.
  - marktangotango 10y ago
    I launched a service a while back that provides the infrastructure to do exactly this. Check my profile for a link of interested: hosted sqlite available over CORS. We're looking for early adopters.
  - stevekemp 10y ago
    Take a look at my toy project: https://github.com/skx/e-comments/ https://github.com/skx/e-comments/ You can see them in use on my tweaked site, e.g: https://tweaked.io/guide/demo/ https://tweaked.io/guide/demo/
webwanderings 10y ago
I feel sad when I see Disqus enabled on some of the honest and serious platforms, where conversation can be civil (and is generally civil) and manageable (you get a sense of authentic participation and dialog). I most often do not bother to login to participate because of these creepy issues with privacy (tracking) and Ads. I understand they have to provide value and make money, but ...
- basseq 10y ago
  I only notice Disqus when it doesn't work—missing comments, broken links, terrible Javascript loading, etc. So my impression of Disqus is their failure case. I have no sense of implementations when it works well, let alone "long-tail" issues like privacy or advertising. I just see the Disqus logo and think, "Ugh... Discus."
- c3833174 10y ago
  One would expect a large platform to be able to filter "My xx makes yy$ an hour" on every instance, yet the only thing they've done is making guest posting harder.
- brevityness 10y ago
  Thanks for the feedback. We care about our user's privacy and provide a way for anyone to easily opt-out of data sharing here https://help.disqus.com/customer/portal/articles/1657951 https://help.disqus.com/customer/portal/articles/1657951 (also accessible via the Privacy link at the bottom navigation of every Disqus comment embed. We also honor the Do Not Track setting if you have it enabled in your web browser.
ffef 10y ago
I don't understand why everyone is shocked, this is a good decision for the company to generate more revenue.
- minimaxir 10y ago
  Good decision for the company, but no upside for the user. I have a strong policy against inline ads, so I may have to reconsider using Disqus for my blog if this goes through. (Unfortunately, the only competiton left is Facebook Comments)
  - ploggingdev 10y ago
    Suggestion : consider disabling comments on the blog. I noticed that on most technical blogs, the discussions in the comments are either non-existent or an "Awesome post" type response. The real discussion happens on sites like HN, reddit. There is no real downside to disabling comments altogether on technical blogs. Just leave a PS asking for comments to be sent over email. The upside to disabling comments : way faster load times and less data transfer per request. Disqus makes like 30 odd requests to load their comments. Disqus also does some creepy things : when my blog experienced a spike in traffic, Disqus suddenly decides to run ads on my blog without explicit permission. Regarding Facebook comments : :|
    - minimaxir 10y ago
      That's the case with Medium comments, but comments on my site do occasionally point out holes/mistakes in my posts. Removing comments is certainly an option, though.
  - ZoeZoeBee 10y ago
    Spot.im is a direct competitor to facebook, disqus and livefyre comments. https://www.spot.im/features/ https://www.spot.im/features/
  - rch 10y ago
    Facebook domains are the first thing I'd block.
spaceboy 10y ago
The best minds of my generation are thinking about how to make people click ads—and that's ok: https://www.ybrikman.com/writing/2014/08/10/the-best-minds-of-my-generation-are/ https://www.ybrikman.com/writing/2014/08/10/the-best-minds-o... Also relevant: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2011-04-14/this-tech-bubble-is-different https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2011-04-14/this-tech...
- patrickaljord 10y ago
  I don't understand this obsession against ads on HN. The only countries that don't have ads in the streets are North Korea and before that the Soviet Union. It's a great way to let people know about your business and participate peacefully into the free exchange of goods and services with our other fellow human beings. And in computing it allows to offer amazing services to the poorest for free (google, facebook etc). In Peru for example where I used to live, students had to buy expensive books before or just couldn't find good source of education for free easily to help them with their studies, they now can and it really changed people's life (eg my wife's :)). Edit: no need to downvote just because you disagree...
  - CaptSpify 10y ago
    Because most ads are done poorly, are manipulative, and hide the "real" cost of a service. It's also based on an increasingly outdated economic system that needs to change.
    - patrickaljord 10y ago
      How is advertising outdated? It's basically as old as capitalism itself. Have something to sell? You need to advertise it.
      - CaptSpify 10y ago
        The financial side is. We no longer need most things to be subsidized by advertising.
2bluesc 10y ago
This article appears very WordPress centric. While I assume they'd add ads to the Javascript downloaded and run on the page, there is a possibility of this only applying to the plugin, does anyone know for sure? I use Disqus on a static Jekyll generated page and adding ads to my blog saddens me. My blog doesn't get much traffic, but it's always nice to see an email when someone cares enough about what I wrote to comment. I fear I'll have to migrate to something else if this holds true. Alternatives for my low traffic, low touch (I'm not a web dev) blog?
- brianjackson 10y ago
  This affects everyone, not just WordPress users unfortunately.
- danirod 10y ago
  It appears very WordPress centric because this was posted on a website targeting WordPress hosting for business. But they'll affect anyone using the Disqus widget in their sites.
- e12e 10y ago
  Maybe muut.com?
  - jazoom 10y ago
    This looks interesting. Have you used it?
    - e12e 10y ago
      No, I don't really enjoy Web based comment platforms (including hn, but there's no denying the positive network effect :-) - and would probably self-host if I wanted one. I've looked a bit at riot, their js framework though: riotjs.com.
- brevityness 10y ago
  Hi there, I work at Disqus. Just wanted to clarify that Disqus will continue to be free w/ optional advertising for small / non-commercial sites. This makes up the vast majority of total number of sites on our network. Here was a comment related to this topic on the blog post https://kinsta.com/blog/disqus-ads/#comment-3153203837 https://kinsta.com/blog/disqus-ads/#comment-3153203837 We're planning to post an update clarifying this on our blog soon.
revicon 10y ago
As of this morning Disqus doesn't seem to be loading at all on my blog (http://blog.mattcrampton.com http://blog.mattcrampton.com). It was working fine a week ago.
camus2 10y ago
hmm, they have a paid plan WITHOUT ads. Isn't it the kind of model everybody wants? free with ads, paid without ads?
- WorldMaker 10y ago
  That's a fair point. I've been wrestling with why I feel so uncomfortable with this move. About the best analogy I've come up with: this feels like I've been using a maid service for years. They've done a reliable job keeping my place clean for when I have guests over. They decide that it is time to raise their rates, but rather than come directly to me to negotiate a pay increase they decide that they can just sell billfold space in my house when they clean. It seems like a violation of a social contract, because my blog is my house and I don't intend to have advertising there, even if I did I'm too small of a fry to make any money that way. I realize that no one wants to raise rates, and this sort of business model if I had been given the choice up front I'd probably be fine with... If I wasn't also growing increasingly weary of the race-to-bottom-feeding, increasingly toxic ad markets, which has been a concern worrying me the last few months and I haven't had any good ideas, but I certainly don't want my blog participating in that for what tiny bit that is worth.
  - WorldMaker 10y ago
    Read the blog post and it does sound more reasonable that they mention planning to talk to existing sites about the change before introducing ads everywhere, which weakens my analogy a bit. Still doesn't assuage my secondary concerns.
aphextron 10y ago
It's a good thing I've had '0.0.0.0 disqus.com" in my host file for years, then.
fosco 10y ago
hosts file 127.0.0.1 disqus.com also - to make the internet better http://someonewhocares.org/hosts/ http://someonewhocares.org/hosts/
JorgeGT 10y ago
They seem to be the kind of advertisement I wouldn't certainly want to be associated with ("Earn money online fast", "Doctors hate this new method of losing weight" [1]) so it looks like I'm turning off comments in my blog. Does anyone know a good alternative for static Jekyll sites? ---- [1] https://twitter.com/amitbhawani/status/828554455876505601 https://twitter.com/amitbhawani/status/828554455876505601
- wutbrodo 10y ago
  I don't run an ad-blocker, but I blocked Disqus in my hosts file ages ago (as a side effect, I don't see comments on sites that use Disqus; this has not affected my life so far). Them and Taboola have always been the unabashedly scummy bottom of the barrel: even before native ads were ubiquitous, they were way ahead of the game with running extremely low-quality scam ads disguised as publisher content.
tracker1 10y ago
Wondering if this is an opportunity for something that can 1-click deploy to a $5 Digital Ocean account would be worthwhile.
draw_down 10y ago
You could see them going this route, so it isn't surprising. But, I wish their product, which now requires ads or dollars, was actually decent. As an unpaid/no-ads alternative to rolling your own it's barely passable. But paying real money or serving ads, for this junk? No way.
draw_down 10y ago
You could see them going this route, so it isn't surprising. But, I wish their product, which now requires ads or dollars, was actually decent. As an unpaid/no-ads alternative to rolling your own it's barely passable. But paying real money or serving ads, for this junk? No way.
rxlim 10y ago
I hope this change will result in fewer sites using Disqus, because I really hate that you have to enable Javascript just for reading comments.
Markoff 10y ago
there are still some people surfing internet without adblocker? ublock on desktop, adaway, netguard or dozen alternatives on mobile

65 points by brianjackson 10y ago

e12e 10y ago

Looks like this might be a good day for muut: https://muut.com/pricing/ https://muut.com/pricing/ (Not affiliated, nor a customer - just became aware of them because of their open source js framework, riot (riotjs.com)).

ocdtrekkie 10y ago

I hadn't heard about this until now. And in my case, I'll be disabling Disqus on the site I use it on. We don't have enough activity to justify a $10/month charge, and I am not at all fond of their ad system. I totally understand the reasoning, it just doesn't work well for us.

raverbashing 10y ago

As comment sections become increasingly toxic it seems discus won't be here for long. They seem to be an ok company, but their business model is a sinking ship

overcast 10y ago

As more, and more people are installing plugins just to hide comments, I can't see this going well.

brightball 10y ago
I feel conflicted right now. On the one hand, I'm really happy to know there are plugins that I wasn't aware of to disable comments. On the other hand, I learned about it from a comment...
- basseq 10y ago
  ... on a site where you come for the commentary. (And, by extension, that commentary is healthy and helpful.) Those comment-blocking plugins just keep you from being tempted to read the comments on other sites where the idiocy, toxicity, and trolling is just mind-boggling.
- overcast 10y ago
  Just give it a shot for a week, it's cathartic.
schiffern 10y ago
No need for an extra plugin even. Just a custom list for uBlock Origin: http://mute.bradconte.com/ http://mute.bradconte.com/
- overcast 10y ago
  What you just sent me is an extra plugin for Ad Block Plus. No where on that site are the words uBlock or Origin even mentioned. Edit: I see below what you're referring to. However I'd rather have a separate plugin where I can easily selectively turn it on(Hacker News).
  - c3833174 10y ago
    Because ad block plus is the de facto standard and ublock Origin is compatible with adblock plus subscriptions.
  - Spivak 10y ago
    Here's how to get this (or really any other list) added to uBlock Origin. * Navigate to the uBlock Dashboard > 3rd Party Filters > Custom. * Add the line: http://mute.bradconte.com/mute.txt http://mute.bradconte.com/mute.txt * Click `Parse` and the `Update`.
  - schiffern 10y ago
    Not a plugin (does uBlock / Adblock even have a concept of plugins?), but rather a simple blocklist. Just checked, and this list doesn't block comments on hacker news or reddit, just like it doesn't block the wall on facebook or posts on a forum. It would be pointless, because the whole point of those [social] sites is the comments. I prefer this way because uBlock Origin is already installed and is quite lightweight, so the incremental performance hit is less. I can see your point about UI convenience too. Everyone has their own priorities! I mostly use it for blocking comments on news and video sites [in my experience typically 99% noise]. Whitelists can be added for individual sites, in the same way that any blocking rule can be whitelisted with custom filter rules.
- gorhill 10y ago
  Another solution is to use uBO's "firewall" to block disqus.com everywhere, and to enable (temporarily or permanently) on a per-site basis where needed with a mere point-and-click interface.[1] [1] An example using facebook.com, can be applied to disqus.com or any ubiquitous 3rd-party out there: https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Dynamic-filtering:-to-easily-reduce-privacy-exposure https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Dynamic-filtering:-to...

philfrasty 10y ago

So they basically distributed the product as „free“ to install on millions of pages with the intention to turn them into an ad-network after some time? Smart move...

niftich 10y ago
I don't disagree, but this is basically the MO of almost every "free" social network, messaging service, or image or content host since forever.
- rch 10y ago
  How else is it supposed to work? Other than selling your browsing habits to third parties so they can advertise to you.
  - eridius 10y ago
    Start with a free product, and then add optional paid features onto it.

gobengo 10y ago

The Mozilla Foundation's Coral Project has a full-time team building an open source comments system with no ads. Follow the repo, forum, and/or slack for updates. https://github.com/coralproject/talk https://github.com/coralproject/talk https://coralproject.net/ https://coralproject.net/

JD557 10y ago
Is it really a complete alternative? It looks like you have to host it yourself (one of the main appeals of Disqus was that you could add comments to any static page). Also, it would be nice if they supported a SQLite backend, which would probably make more sense for small blogs running on very weak shared servers.
- chickenfries 10y ago
  I've looked into using things by The Coral Project before but their documentation is just not there, there don't seem to be that many sites actually using their software yet, and their architecture is plain too complicated: it's split up into a bunch of microservices that aren't well documented.
- callahad 10y ago
  Isso (https://posativ.org/isso/ https://posativ.org/isso/) is a possible alternative that only requires Python and SQLite.
- marktangotango 10y ago
  I launched a service a while back that provides the infrastructure to do exactly this. Check my profile for a link of interested: hosted sqlite available over CORS. We're looking for early adopters.
- stevekemp 10y ago
  Take a look at my toy project: https://github.com/skx/e-comments/ https://github.com/skx/e-comments/ You can see them in use on my tweaked site, e.g: https://tweaked.io/guide/demo/ https://tweaked.io/guide/demo/

webwanderings 10y ago

I feel sad when I see Disqus enabled on some of the honest and serious platforms, where conversation can be civil (and is generally civil) and manageable (you get a sense of authentic participation and dialog). I most often do not bother to login to participate because of these creepy issues with privacy (tracking) and Ads. I understand they have to provide value and make money, but ...

basseq 10y ago
I only notice Disqus when it doesn't work—missing comments, broken links, terrible Javascript loading, etc. So my impression of Disqus is their failure case. I have no sense of implementations when it works well, let alone "long-tail" issues like privacy or advertising. I just see the Disqus logo and think, "Ugh... Discus."
c3833174 10y ago
One would expect a large platform to be able to filter "My xx makes yy$ an hour" on every instance, yet the only thing they've done is making guest posting harder.
brevityness 10y ago
Thanks for the feedback. We care about our user's privacy and provide a way for anyone to easily opt-out of data sharing here https://help.disqus.com/customer/portal/articles/1657951 https://help.disqus.com/customer/portal/articles/1657951 (also accessible via the Privacy link at the bottom navigation of every Disqus comment embed. We also honor the Do Not Track setting if you have it enabled in your web browser.

ffef 10y ago

I don't understand why everyone is shocked, this is a good decision for the company to generate more revenue.

minimaxir 10y ago
Good decision for the company, but no upside for the user. I have a strong policy against inline ads, so I may have to reconsider using Disqus for my blog if this goes through. (Unfortunately, the only competiton left is Facebook Comments)
- ploggingdev 10y ago
  Suggestion : consider disabling comments on the blog. I noticed that on most technical blogs, the discussions in the comments are either non-existent or an "Awesome post" type response. The real discussion happens on sites like HN, reddit. There is no real downside to disabling comments altogether on technical blogs. Just leave a PS asking for comments to be sent over email. The upside to disabling comments : way faster load times and less data transfer per request. Disqus makes like 30 odd requests to load their comments. Disqus also does some creepy things : when my blog experienced a spike in traffic, Disqus suddenly decides to run ads on my blog without explicit permission. Regarding Facebook comments : :|
  - minimaxir 10y ago
    That's the case with Medium comments, but comments on my site do occasionally point out holes/mistakes in my posts. Removing comments is certainly an option, though.
- ZoeZoeBee 10y ago
  Spot.im is a direct competitor to facebook, disqus and livefyre comments. https://www.spot.im/features/ https://www.spot.im/features/
- rch 10y ago
  Facebook domains are the first thing I'd block.

spaceboy 10y ago

The best minds of my generation are thinking about how to make people click ads—and that's ok: https://www.ybrikman.com/writing/2014/08/10/the-best-minds-of-my-generation-are/ https://www.ybrikman.com/writing/2014/08/10/the-best-minds-o... Also relevant: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2011-04-14/this-tech-bubble-is-different https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2011-04-14/this-tech...

patrickaljord 10y ago
I don't understand this obsession against ads on HN. The only countries that don't have ads in the streets are North Korea and before that the Soviet Union. It's a great way to let people know about your business and participate peacefully into the free exchange of goods and services with our other fellow human beings. And in computing it allows to offer amazing services to the poorest for free (google, facebook etc). In Peru for example where I used to live, students had to buy expensive books before or just couldn't find good source of education for free easily to help them with their studies, they now can and it really changed people's life (eg my wife's :)). Edit: no need to downvote just because you disagree...
- CaptSpify 10y ago
  Because most ads are done poorly, are manipulative, and hide the "real" cost of a service. It's also based on an increasingly outdated economic system that needs to change.
  - patrickaljord 10y ago
    How is advertising outdated? It's basically as old as capitalism itself. Have something to sell? You need to advertise it.
    - CaptSpify 10y ago
      The financial side is. We no longer need most things to be subsidized by advertising.

2bluesc 10y ago

This article appears very WordPress centric. While I assume they'd add ads to the Javascript downloaded and run on the page, there is a possibility of this only applying to the plugin, does anyone know for sure? I use Disqus on a static Jekyll generated page and adding ads to my blog saddens me. My blog doesn't get much traffic, but it's always nice to see an email when someone cares enough about what I wrote to comment. I fear I'll have to migrate to something else if this holds true. Alternatives for my low traffic, low touch (I'm not a web dev) blog?

brianjackson 10y ago
This affects everyone, not just WordPress users unfortunately.
danirod 10y ago
It appears very WordPress centric because this was posted on a website targeting WordPress hosting for business. But they'll affect anyone using the Disqus widget in their sites.
e12e 10y ago
Maybe muut.com?
- jazoom 10y ago
  This looks interesting. Have you used it?
  - e12e 10y ago
    No, I don't really enjoy Web based comment platforms (including hn, but there's no denying the positive network effect :-) - and would probably self-host if I wanted one. I've looked a bit at riot, their js framework though: riotjs.com.
brevityness 10y ago
Hi there, I work at Disqus. Just wanted to clarify that Disqus will continue to be free w/ optional advertising for small / non-commercial sites. This makes up the vast majority of total number of sites on our network. Here was a comment related to this topic on the blog post https://kinsta.com/blog/disqus-ads/#comment-3153203837 https://kinsta.com/blog/disqus-ads/#comment-3153203837 We're planning to post an update clarifying this on our blog soon.

revicon 10y ago

As of this morning Disqus doesn't seem to be loading at all on my blog (http://blog.mattcrampton.com http://blog.mattcrampton.com). It was working fine a week ago.

camus2 10y ago

hmm, they have a paid plan WITHOUT ads. Isn't it the kind of model everybody wants? free with ads, paid without ads?

WorldMaker 10y ago
That's a fair point. I've been wrestling with why I feel so uncomfortable with this move. About the best analogy I've come up with: this feels like I've been using a maid service for years. They've done a reliable job keeping my place clean for when I have guests over. They decide that it is time to raise their rates, but rather than come directly to me to negotiate a pay increase they decide that they can just sell billfold space in my house when they clean. It seems like a violation of a social contract, because my blog is my house and I don't intend to have advertising there, even if I did I'm too small of a fry to make any money that way. I realize that no one wants to raise rates, and this sort of business model if I had been given the choice up front I'd probably be fine with... If I wasn't also growing increasingly weary of the race-to-bottom-feeding, increasingly toxic ad markets, which has been a concern worrying me the last few months and I haven't had any good ideas, but I certainly don't want my blog participating in that for what tiny bit that is worth.
- WorldMaker 10y ago
  Read the blog post and it does sound more reasonable that they mention planning to talk to existing sites about the change before introducing ads everywhere, which weakens my analogy a bit. Still doesn't assuage my secondary concerns.

aphextron 10y ago

It's a good thing I've had '0.0.0.0 disqus.com" in my host file for years, then.

fosco 10y ago

hosts file 127.0.0.1 disqus.com also - to make the internet better http://someonewhocares.org/hosts/ http://someonewhocares.org/hosts/

JorgeGT 10y ago

They seem to be the kind of advertisement I wouldn't certainly want to be associated with ("Earn money online fast", "Doctors hate this new method of losing weight" [1]) so it looks like I'm turning off comments in my blog. Does anyone know a good alternative for static Jekyll sites? ---- [1] https://twitter.com/amitbhawani/status/828554455876505601 https://twitter.com/amitbhawani/status/828554455876505601

wutbrodo 10y ago
I don't run an ad-blocker, but I blocked Disqus in my hosts file ages ago (as a side effect, I don't see comments on sites that use Disqus; this has not affected my life so far). Them and Taboola have always been the unabashedly scummy bottom of the barrel: even before native ads were ubiquitous, they were way ahead of the game with running extremely low-quality scam ads disguised as publisher content.

tracker1 10y ago

Wondering if this is an opportunity for something that can 1-click deploy to a $5 Digital Ocean account would be worthwhile.

draw_down 10y ago

You could see them going this route, so it isn't surprising. But, I wish their product, which now requires ads or dollars, was actually decent. As an unpaid/no-ads alternative to rolling your own it's barely passable. But paying real money or serving ads, for this junk? No way.

draw_down 10y ago

rxlim 10y ago

I hope this change will result in fewer sites using Disqus, because I really hate that you have to enable Javascript just for reading comments.

Markoff 10y ago

there are still some people surfing internet without adblocker? ublock on desktop, adaway, netguard or dozen alternatives on mobile