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AdNauseum is one of the most harmful things you can do against ads. Proof: Google pulled it from it's store, but not adblock. Ethically though? Not so sure. S

AdNauseum is one of the most harmful things you can do against ads. Proof: Google pulled it from it's store, but not adblock. Ethically though? Not so sure. Safari adding that might make a bigger difference (but at what cost?)

eridius 9y ago
What is AdNauseum? I don't see that anywhere in the article.
- dingo_bat 9y ago
  Instead of blocking ads, it clicks on all of them.
  - Ninn 9y ago
    (and hides them).. Sadly I think both the clicking part and the blocking part of it doesn't seem to be as well functioning as uBlock Origin, thats at least the reason i went back
  - scoot 9y ago
    I recently somehow ended up in the Tai Lopez* ad funnel. I decided to click on every ad, and the more ads I clicked on (and closed the landing page), the more the ad system thought I was a prospect. It ended up serving three different ad formats on almost every site I visited (all of which I clicked on). It was fun while it lasted, but at some point I got blacklisted. I haven't seen a Tai Lopez ad since. * One of those scammy "get rich on the internet telling people how to get rich on the internet", uhh "gurus".
    - neom 9y ago
      Here in my garage reading HN, thanks for that awesome knaaawlaaagde.
qrbLPHiKpiux 9y ago
I use PiHole. Home and work.
pacala 9y ago
Ethical. Right. So fighting back against people that actively try to trick you make suboptimal economic decisions and which build the ultimate surveillance state is somehow ethical questionable. How about stop pushing unsolicited content to begin with? Then adnauseam has nothing to click on, ethical concerns solved.
alwillis 9y ago
AdNauseum is one of the most harmful things you can do against ads. Perhaps, but someone is still getting paid; it doesn’t matter if a human actually sees the ad or not. As long as someone gets paid, it incentives more ads and the violation of users’ privacy. I think a better approach is to disrupt the whole online ad market as it currently exists, which is what Brendan Eich with the Basic Attention Token and the Brave browser intend to do. Brave: https://brave.com https://brave.com Basic Attention Token: https://basicattentiontoken.org https://basicattentiontoken.org Video: https://vimeo.com/209336437 https://vimeo.com/209336437
- ReverseCold 9y ago
  Why not both in combination? Use one to make the current system unviable, which forces everyone onto the new system.
  - BrendanEich 9y ago
    Because loading all the (daisy-chained) 3rd party scripts and then spoofing clicks on ads compromises your privacy and on top of that, costs major page load and radio/data performance, compared to blocking aggressively as Brave does. This may amount to $23/month data-plan cost to user, per a NYT study).

eridius 9y ago

What is AdNauseum? I don't see that anywhere in the article.

dingo_bat 9y ago
Instead of blocking ads, it clicks on all of them.
- Ninn 9y ago
  (and hides them).. Sadly I think both the clicking part and the blocking part of it doesn't seem to be as well functioning as uBlock Origin, thats at least the reason i went back
- scoot 9y ago
  I recently somehow ended up in the Tai Lopez* ad funnel. I decided to click on every ad, and the more ads I clicked on (and closed the landing page), the more the ad system thought I was a prospect. It ended up serving three different ad formats on almost every site I visited (all of which I clicked on). It was fun while it lasted, but at some point I got blacklisted. I haven't seen a Tai Lopez ad since. * One of those scammy "get rich on the internet telling people how to get rich on the internet", uhh "gurus".
  - neom 9y ago
    Here in my garage reading HN, thanks for that awesome knaaawlaaagde.

qrbLPHiKpiux 9y ago

I use PiHole. Home and work.

pacala 9y ago

Ethical. Right. So fighting back against people that actively try to trick you make suboptimal economic decisions and which build the ultimate surveillance state is somehow ethical questionable. How about stop pushing unsolicited content to begin with? Then adnauseam has nothing to click on, ethical concerns solved.

alwillis 9y ago

AdNauseum is one of the most harmful things you can do against ads. Perhaps, but someone is still getting paid; it doesn’t matter if a human actually sees the ad or not. As long as someone gets paid, it incentives more ads and the violation of users’ privacy. I think a better approach is to disrupt the whole online ad market as it currently exists, which is what Brendan Eich with the Basic Attention Token and the Brave browser intend to do. Brave: https://brave.com https://brave.com Basic Attention Token: https://basicattentiontoken.org https://basicattentiontoken.org Video: https://vimeo.com/209336437 https://vimeo.com/209336437

ReverseCold 9y ago
Why not both in combination? Use one to make the current system unviable, which forces everyone onto the new system.
- BrendanEich 9y ago
  Because loading all the (daisy-chained) 3rd party scripts and then spoofing clicks on ads compromises your privacy and on top of that, costs major page load and radio/data performance, compared to blocking aggressively as Brave does. This may amount to $23/month data-plan cost to user, per a NYT study).