4 ms·

What infuriates me about WaPo is that even though I pay for it, their site is pretty much unusable without an ad blocker. The text jumps around as I scroll to m

by paulgb 8y ago

What infuriates me about WaPo is that even though I pay for it, their site is pretty much unusable without an ad blocker. The text jumps around as I scroll to make room for dynamically loaded ads. And then there are the bottom-feeding Outbrain (or whatever vendor they use) ads at the bottom of the article. It's a mess.

asknthrow 8y ago
Have you considered voting with your wallet?
- c487bd62 8y ago
  I couldn't agree more. Everybody complains that monetizing content is really hard on the web, and then they try to triple dip the same user (subscription, ads, data).
  - int_19h 8y ago
    While we're on this subject, check out Blendle. I find that they have the most interesting stuff from WaPo (and others) there anyway, but I pay per article (micropayments), and the reading experience is consistent across all outlets.
- paulgb 8y ago
  Fair question. I have, and have even cancelled before over it. But they still do quality journalism and it keeps bringing me back into the fold. Now I consider paying but using an ad blocker to be a more targeted instance of paying with my wallet.
- muraiki 8y ago
  I briefly subscribed, was astonished that the site was still covered in ads and even crashing on mobile Safari, and canceled. I had just assumed that of course a paying account would have no ads, but I guess I'm crazy!
runn1ng 8y ago
Washington Post have a secret, hidden "Premium EU Ad-Free" subscription that removes all the ads. You have to go specifically here and click on the third option - but NOT when you have a subscription already (you need to cancel it first) https://www.washingtonpost.com/gdpr-consent/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/gdpr-consent/ Despite "EU" and "GDPR" in the name, it works outside of EU too
- exikyut 8y ago
  Absolutely serious question: What fields of research should I study - for example game theory, advanced psychology, etc - that will allow me to contrive laws with embedded side effects that politicians will never be able to figure out before ratification? This GDPR thing - and the impact it's having on privacy/tracking/advertising - is nothing less than awesome.
- bb611 8y ago
  It's also cheaper than the cheapest subscription offered in the US.
- jasonlotito 8y ago
  Did you actually try to sign up with it? It does not work outside the EU.
  - runn1ng 8y ago
    Really? I am signed up now. But, I started to sign up in EU, so that might be why. I am now outside of EU and it keeps working. I assumed wrong then
eksemplar 8y ago
I switched from digital news to paper and I couldn’t be happier. It took a little getting used to not checking the 24/7 news cycle, but it’s less stressful and the quality of articles is higher. I did specifically chose a news paper with high quality content, and one that only arrives once a week to further the distillation of what News makes it my way, but it’s danish, so it wouldn’t do you much good. I’ve really grown to love the format though.
- reaperducer 8y ago
  Ditto. It takes a few months to get used to, but going back to traditional media consumption methods (paper, television, radio) reduced my stress and anxiety/FOMO level considerably. The reason this works is because the newspaper eventually ends. The magazine eventually ends. The CBS Evening News eventually ends. That finality means I'm not hooked on a dopamine-fueled scroll->reward hamster wheel of diminishing quality "news" articles. I'll admit that I will occasionally slip and lose an hour of two plowing through the endless Apple News feed. But for the most part, I only use online news sites for breaking news, weather, and occasional research. As a side benefit, I have a surprising amount of extra time in my life to actually live a life.
- Symbiote 8y ago
  Hvad er dansk avisen? Min dansk er meget enkel, men jeg kan købe det et par gange om året. (I think double-checking with Google Translate made this worse; now I'm just confused.) What's the Danish newspaper? I might buy it very occasionally, and puzzle through with a dictionary.
qubax 8y ago
> What infuriates me about WaPo is that even though I pay for it, their site is pretty much unusable without an ad blocker. Counterintuitively, being a paid subscriber probably makes your data even more valuable to wapo and their advertisers so there is probably even more incentive to track you.

by paulgb 8y ago

asknthrow 8y ago

Have you considered voting with your wallet?

c487bd62 8y ago
I couldn't agree more. Everybody complains that monetizing content is really hard on the web, and then they try to triple dip the same user (subscription, ads, data).
- int_19h 8y ago
  While we're on this subject, check out Blendle. I find that they have the most interesting stuff from WaPo (and others) there anyway, but I pay per article (micropayments), and the reading experience is consistent across all outlets.
paulgb 8y ago
Fair question. I have, and have even cancelled before over it. But they still do quality journalism and it keeps bringing me back into the fold. Now I consider paying but using an ad blocker to be a more targeted instance of paying with my wallet.
muraiki 8y ago
I briefly subscribed, was astonished that the site was still covered in ads and even crashing on mobile Safari, and canceled. I had just assumed that of course a paying account would have no ads, but I guess I'm crazy!

runn1ng 8y ago

Washington Post have a secret, hidden "Premium EU Ad-Free" subscription that removes all the ads. You have to go specifically here and click on the third option - but NOT when you have a subscription already (you need to cancel it first) https://www.washingtonpost.com/gdpr-consent/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/gdpr-consent/ Despite "EU" and "GDPR" in the name, it works outside of EU too

exikyut 8y ago
Absolutely serious question: What fields of research should I study - for example game theory, advanced psychology, etc - that will allow me to contrive laws with embedded side effects that politicians will never be able to figure out before ratification? This GDPR thing - and the impact it's having on privacy/tracking/advertising - is nothing less than awesome.
bb611 8y ago
It's also cheaper than the cheapest subscription offered in the US.
jasonlotito 8y ago
Did you actually try to sign up with it? It does not work outside the EU.
- runn1ng 8y ago
  Really? I am signed up now. But, I started to sign up in EU, so that might be why. I am now outside of EU and it keeps working. I assumed wrong then

eksemplar 8y ago

I switched from digital news to paper and I couldn’t be happier. It took a little getting used to not checking the 24/7 news cycle, but it’s less stressful and the quality of articles is higher. I did specifically chose a news paper with high quality content, and one that only arrives once a week to further the distillation of what News makes it my way, but it’s danish, so it wouldn’t do you much good. I’ve really grown to love the format though.

reaperducer 8y ago
Ditto. It takes a few months to get used to, but going back to traditional media consumption methods (paper, television, radio) reduced my stress and anxiety/FOMO level considerably. The reason this works is because the newspaper eventually ends. The magazine eventually ends. The CBS Evening News eventually ends. That finality means I'm not hooked on a dopamine-fueled scroll->reward hamster wheel of diminishing quality "news" articles. I'll admit that I will occasionally slip and lose an hour of two plowing through the endless Apple News feed. But for the most part, I only use online news sites for breaking news, weather, and occasional research. As a side benefit, I have a surprising amount of extra time in my life to actually live a life.
Symbiote 8y ago
Hvad er dansk avisen? Min dansk er meget enkel, men jeg kan købe det et par gange om året. (I think double-checking with Google Translate made this worse; now I'm just confused.) What's the Danish newspaper? I might buy it very occasionally, and puzzle through with a dictionary.

qubax 8y ago

> What infuriates me about WaPo is that even though I pay for it, their site is pretty much unusable without an ad blocker. Counterintuitively, being a paid subscriber probably makes your data even more valuable to wapo and their advertisers so there is probably even more incentive to track you.