6 ms·

I don't think privacy and business mix. Personally, I have switched to uBlock Origin.

id122015 10y ago
+1 mee too.
M_Grey 10y ago
Having run into this the other day: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14032410 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14032410 I'm inclined to agree. Clearly we're not alone in that sentiment, if you check the responses to their ill-conceived Twitter poll.
losteric 10y ago
Me either, but I'm curious to see where this goes. Ads suck but they are the defacto revenue model for the contemporary internet. Micropayments struggle partially because of the network effect... websites don't integrate because there aren't enough customers, and there aren't enough customers because most websites don't offer micropayments! ABP could help establish a sustainable micropayment model for the broader internet, and ultimately help increase privacy by addressing that root cause (revenue). Their customer base is significant and the value proposition of "micropayments vs nothing" is much more compelling than "micropayments vs ads". Imagine if Google adopted the same standard with Google Wallet, Youtube, and native Chrome/Android support... That said, I will continue using uBlock Origin in the mean time. Much faster than ABP :)
- cat199 10y ago
  > Imagine if Google adopted the same standard with Google Wallet, Youtube, and native Chrome/Android support... major industry players charging us all for per-youtube, etc. views of everything? hmm
- sfilargi 10y ago
  > Ads suck I don't agree with this blanket statement. It is not ads that suck. What sucks, for me, are ads that track me, ads that try to install malware, ads that are data and cpu hogs, ads that try to get my attention in anyway possible, ads that try to deceive me, etc..
  - Fezzik 10y ago
    Exactly. The Deck had great, non-intrusive adds. And they generally plugged good products. I clicked on just about everything I saw on Daring Fireball, both out of support for Gruber and because I was often introduced to new and interesting products. If done right, even an add agency can establish dedicated customers.
  - freshhawk 10y ago
    > ads that try to deceive me This is basically all ads, just a matter of degree. It's been a long time since ads where "Hello, I'm the spokesman, our product does X and Y, costs Z and I recommend it heartily". Effective modern marketing is using a lot of psychology and statistics to tune the message to be as effective as possible without regard for facts (beyond what being caught obviously lying would cost you). It's all deception.
    - hashmymustache 10y ago
      The new disgraced Pepsi ad for example. It's all about brand perception, not product quality.
- elorant 10y ago
  Ads don't suck per se. I could find them useful if they were related with the content I'm currently viewing and not with a search I did a week ago. It's profiling that makes things suck big time, because it's intrusive. +1 for uBlock Origin.
- rayiner 10y ago
  I use uBlock Origin and find that more and more content is blocked. Which frankly I don't mind--most content online is a waste of time. Even stuff like NYT or WSJ isn't worth much more than the headline.
Flammy 10y ago
Agreed. If you haven't been following adblocking news in the last few years, Adblock Plus has been charging advertisers to get on a whitelist, as well as a few other less-than-ideal moves from a privacy perspective. There has also been issues with performance impact, which uBlock Origin seems to pretty consistently beat Adblock Plus on. uBlock Origin is my recommendation as well. Links: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ublock-origin/cjpalhdlnbpafiamejdnhcphjbkeiagm?hl=en https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ublock-origin/cjpa... https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ublock-origin/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ublock-origin... https://addons.opera.com/en/extensions/details/ublock/ https://addons.opera.com/en/extensions/details/ublock/
- Rainymood 10y ago
  From a hustler perspective its genius. People install your add-on to block ads and then you SELL advertisers the right to get whitelisted. Genius move. That being said, I also switched to uBlock and I owe Adblock plus nothing.
  - cat199 10y ago
    protection rackets are not really a novel invention..
  - Flammy 10y ago
    Yup, and not new... In the tech space, that is what Yelp does (Pay $, suppress bad reviews). I'm sure there are other examples out there...
    - mifreewil 10y ago
      I don't think this is true. This may have happened in the past, but I don't think they do this, at least currently. https://www.yelp.com/advertiser_faq https://www.yelp.com/advertiser_faq
      - Flammy 10y ago
a3n 10y ago
You could say the same thing about Windows, especially now that they show ads (really?) in their product. Personally, I have switched to Linux (years ago).
swinglock 10y ago
uBlock Origin is superior technology, there is no reason not to switch.
- id122015 10y ago
  When I replied "me too" to previous poster who mentioned ublock I got 4 downvotes. Unbelieveble..
eli 10y ago
I don't think privacy is the main motivation for most people installing ad block. I think HN is not representative of the market.
jacques_chester 10y ago
I developed a protocol for recording visits specifically designed to prevent publishers from piggybacking on it to identify users. Essentially, one less place for a supercookie. However, it relies in part on a particular HTTP header, so from an information theoretic standpoint it will dramatically narrow the pool of candidates. Good enough for an individual who doesn't want to be profiled for advertising, not good enough for someone worried about advanced persistent threats.

id122015 10y ago

+1 mee too.

Having run into this the other day: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14032410 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14032410 I'm inclined to agree. Clearly we're not alone in that sentiment, if you check the responses to their ill-conceived Twitter poll.

losteric 10y ago

Me either, but I'm curious to see where this goes. Ads suck but they are the defacto revenue model for the contemporary internet. Micropayments struggle partially because of the network effect... websites don't integrate because there aren't enough customers, and there aren't enough customers because most websites don't offer micropayments! ABP could help establish a sustainable micropayment model for the broader internet, and ultimately help increase privacy by addressing that root cause (revenue). Their customer base is significant and the value proposition of "micropayments vs nothing" is much more compelling than "micropayments vs ads". Imagine if Google adopted the same standard with Google Wallet, Youtube, and native Chrome/Android support... That said, I will continue using uBlock Origin in the mean time. Much faster than ABP :)

cat199 10y ago
> Imagine if Google adopted the same standard with Google Wallet, Youtube, and native Chrome/Android support... major industry players charging us all for per-youtube, etc. views of everything? hmm
sfilargi 10y ago
> Ads suck I don't agree with this blanket statement. It is not ads that suck. What sucks, for me, are ads that track me, ads that try to install malware, ads that are data and cpu hogs, ads that try to get my attention in anyway possible, ads that try to deceive me, etc..
- Fezzik 10y ago
  Exactly. The Deck had great, non-intrusive adds. And they generally plugged good products. I clicked on just about everything I saw on Daring Fireball, both out of support for Gruber and because I was often introduced to new and interesting products. If done right, even an add agency can establish dedicated customers.
- freshhawk 10y ago
  > ads that try to deceive me This is basically all ads, just a matter of degree. It's been a long time since ads where "Hello, I'm the spokesman, our product does X and Y, costs Z and I recommend it heartily". Effective modern marketing is using a lot of psychology and statistics to tune the message to be as effective as possible without regard for facts (beyond what being caught obviously lying would cost you). It's all deception.
  - hashmymustache 10y ago
    The new disgraced Pepsi ad for example. It's all about brand perception, not product quality.
elorant 10y ago
Ads don't suck per se. I could find them useful if they were related with the content I'm currently viewing and not with a search I did a week ago. It's profiling that makes things suck big time, because it's intrusive. +1 for uBlock Origin.
rayiner 10y ago
I use uBlock Origin and find that more and more content is blocked. Which frankly I don't mind--most content online is a waste of time. Even stuff like NYT or WSJ isn't worth much more than the headline.

Flammy 10y ago

Agreed. If you haven't been following adblocking news in the last few years, Adblock Plus has been charging advertisers to get on a whitelist, as well as a few other less-than-ideal moves from a privacy perspective. There has also been issues with performance impact, which uBlock Origin seems to pretty consistently beat Adblock Plus on. uBlock Origin is my recommendation as well. Links: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ublock-origin/cjpalhdlnbpafiamejdnhcphjbkeiagm?hl=en https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ublock-origin/cjpa... https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ublock-origin/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ublock-origin... https://addons.opera.com/en/extensions/details/ublock/ https://addons.opera.com/en/extensions/details/ublock/

Rainymood 10y ago
From a hustler perspective its genius. People install your add-on to block ads and then you SELL advertisers the right to get whitelisted. Genius move. That being said, I also switched to uBlock and I owe Adblock plus nothing.
- cat199 10y ago
  protection rackets are not really a novel invention..
- Flammy 10y ago
  Yup, and not new... In the tech space, that is what Yelp does (Pay $, suppress bad reviews). I'm sure there are other examples out there...
  - mifreewil 10y ago
    I don't think this is true. This may have happened in the past, but I don't think they do this, at least currently. https://www.yelp.com/advertiser_faq https://www.yelp.com/advertiser_faq
    - Flammy 10y ago

a3n 10y ago

You could say the same thing about Windows, especially now that they show ads (really?) in their product. Personally, I have switched to Linux (years ago).

swinglock 10y ago

uBlock Origin is superior technology, there is no reason not to switch.

id122015 10y ago
When I replied "me too" to previous poster who mentioned ublock I got 4 downvotes. Unbelieveble..

eli 10y ago

I don't think privacy is the main motivation for most people installing ad block. I think HN is not representative of the market.

jacques_chester 10y ago

I developed a protocol for recording visits specifically designed to prevent publishers from piggybacking on it to identify users. Essentially, one less place for a supercookie. However, it relies in part on a particular HTTP header, so from an information theoretic standpoint it will dramatically narrow the pool of candidates. Good enough for an individual who doesn't want to be profiled for advertising, not good enough for someone worried about advanced persistent threats.