4 ms·

Here are three fake uBlock Origins that have over 4 million users between them https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ublock-plus/kjagjnchnnlgiafjjlahaedeag

• md67 9y ago
  I just use the host file to block stuff. There are enough crowd sourced github lists out there that relying on a thirdparty browser extension that is doing god knows what, controlled by god knows who just doesn't make sense. The rest of the family has been trained to update their files. Update it every two months
  • orf 9y ago
    That's great until you need to selectively disable it for a single (poorly coded) site.
    • dredmorbius 9y ago
      There are many other problems with the concept, though of this one: High-level blocks (domains, TLDs) can be bypassed using, say, dnsmasq, by providing specific pass-throughs. As for sites that use widely-blocked services: the message is to feed back to them and tell them not to do that. The fact of countermeasures does not mean that there will be no collateral damage. In fact, that's kind of precisely the situation that got us into this mess in the first place: putatively legitimate advertising that isn't.
      • orf 9y ago
        "Hey mum, blocking adverts is simple! All you need to do is install and configure dnsmasq, then configure some bypasses for sites that break!" Yeah, sorry, no. As for reporting sites that break, that's a good thing to do in general, but not too good if you want to use the site now.
        • dredmorbius 9y ago
          The "it's too complicated for the average user" is most of the "other reasons" I was referring to. Pi-Hole is far more streamlined (and largely reduces to "dnsmasq plus a lot of blocked domains"). My point was that if you're going the blockfile route, you can punch specific holes.
  • shpx 9y ago
    /etc/hosts will never block all ads[0]. uBlock Origin can use host files. They aren't on by default because they aren't needed but Dan Pollock's and MVPS lists are already there, you just have to click a check box in Options→"3rd-party filters". The lists are auto updated[1]. uBlock Origin is open source[2] and made by a great[3], hardworking[4], ideological[5] guy. He writes uBlock Origin, which loads in lists of url + css-selector pairs compiled by other people[6][7]. I prefer the term "content blocker" because they're more general than just ads. You can block anything you can write a css-selector for (and because of the arms races[0][8][9], other things like websocket connections too). For example, I hide sticky header bars (thanks web designers), youtube comments, everything that isn't the article on news sites and the menu that comes up when you right click on Medium. There are also pre-compiled lists of annoyances and a list to block social share buttons. uBlock Origin is the only ad blocker that should exist, arguably every single one of the others is fake. There's plain "uBlock" which is the original project that was effectively abandoned in 2015[10]. There's "Adblock Plus" which is a rent-seeking operation[11] that employs 100 people[12]. There's "Ghostery" which is closed source[13] and up until February 2017 was owned by an advertising company[14]. uBlock Origin is the one you want. [0] https://twitter.com/gorhill/status/846781439890853893 https://twitter.com/gorhill/status/846781439890853893 I'm reminded of anti-bacterial soap [1] https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Dashboard:-3rd-party-filters#auto-update-filter-lists https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Dashboard:-3rd-party-... periodically updating files is for cron jobs, not humans [2] https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock [3] https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=gorhill https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=gorhill [4] https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/commits?author=gorhill https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/commits?author=gorhill [5] https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=gorhill https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=gorhill seriously, thanks man [6] https://github.com/easylist/easylist https://github.com/easylist/easylist [7] https://github.com/ryanbr/fanboy-adblock https://github.com/ryanbr/fanboy-adblock fanboy also deserves a lot of thanks [8] https://issues.adblockplus.org/ticket/1727 https://issues.adblockplus.org/ticket/1727 [9] https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2016/08/a-new-way-to-control-the-ads-you-see-on-facebook-and-an-update-on-ad-blocking/ https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2016/08/a-new-way-to-control-th... [10] https://github.com/chrisaljoudi/uBlock/commits/master https://github.com/chrisaljoudi/uBlock/commits/master [11] https://adblockplus.org/acceptable-ads https://adblockplus.org/acceptable-ads http://www.businessinsider.com/google-microsoft-amazon-taboola-pay-adblock-plus-to-stop-blocking-their-ads-2015-2 http://www.businessinsider.com/google-microsoft-amazon-taboo... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent-seeking https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent-seeking [12] https://eyeo.com/en/team https://eyeo.com/en/team [13] https://github.com/jonpierce/ghostery https://github.com/jonpierce/ghostery [14] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghostery https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghostery https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evidon,_Inc https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evidon,_Inc. the problem in my original comment has been known since June, and some of these extensions phone home https://twitter.com/gorhill/status/898574880773484545 https://twitter.com/gorhill/status/898574880773484545 these are probably for "market research"
• Sylos 9y ago
  > Note that firefox doesn't have this problem [...] maybe has something to do with the fact that they show usage numbers on the results page. Mozilla does a manual code review of newly submitted or updated extensions. So, an actual human being sits down and looks at the code. They'll notice when a fake uBlock Origin is submitted. With that, they also enforce a rule which Google does not have, that any connection to the internet which is not necessary for the add-on to function (ads, telemetry) have to be opt-in. This isn't perfect protection, for example the extension Web Of Trust required sending browsing data back home in order to function, which they then sold in anonymized form, which was proven to be deanonymizable last year. But it does take out the incentive to spread fake versions in a lot of cases, as you just can't publish an ad-ridden or trojan uBlock Origin clone.
  • ChrisGranger 9y ago
    Mozilla recently changed their add-on review process. Humans are still in the loop, but part of the process is automated. https://blog.mozilla.org/addons/2017/09/21/review-wait-times-get-shorter/ https://blog.mozilla.org/addons/2017/09/21/review-wait-times...
  • comboy 9y ago
    > With that, they also enforce a rule which Google does not have, that any connection to the internet which is not necessary for the add-on to function (ads, telemetry) have to be opt-in. This sounds pretty cool and reasonable. But extensions still can modify the currently displayed website, right? Doesn't that make it trivial to submit data somewhere? E.g. <img> tag with GET params, as the most basic form of this.
    • Sylos 9y ago
      It does, but it also makes it trivial for Mozilla to notice that this is happening and then they can weed that extension out before it gets published.
• vosper 9y ago
  What are those fake uBlocks up to? Malware? Fake ad traffic? Does anyone know?
  • homero 9y ago
    Probably replace some ads with theirs
    • shpx 9y ago
      "Adblock Hyper" probably just sold browsing data. It's since been taken down. https://twitter.com/gorhill/status/898574880773484545 https://twitter.com/gorhill/status/898574880773484545 https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DHhf9axXgAAAA-M.jpg https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DHhf9axXgAAAA-M.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WOT_Services https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WOT_Services