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do we really need another reason for blocking all ads?
by OrgNet 7y ago
do we really need another reason for blocking all ads?
- ravenstine 7y agoIt's funny how they try to make us look like the bad guys for using blockers and then they always try and pull a fast one on us. I'd have no sympathy if internet ads became impossible one day.
- catalogia 7y agoThe entire advertising/sales/PR industry is all about engineering compliance. Trying to guilt trip people is just one manifestation of that general theme.
- atoav 7y agoIt reminds me a bit of the spanish conquistadores, who after entering a new island declare the new law (in spanish) and punish every (non-spanish speaking) inhabitant who fails to comply. It is just so obviously wrong to treat your users like this, the only way to cope with it is literally to take on a mindset that devalues the users (”If they are stupid enough, they deserve it”) or to downplay the impact assymetrical information practices have on the society (Post-Privacy: “You have nothing to hide anyways”). What it all boils down to is, that you make someone consent to something they don’t understand and that they might not consent to if you put it to them in clear understandable terms. Add nudging and other dark patterns on top and you are going into evil territory. But no one wants to be evil, so they try to paint an utopia that fits their behaviour, rather than making their behaviour fit an utopia. This is a problem because as the russian writer puts it: “Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.” (Fyodor Dostoevsky)
- badrabbit 7y agoWe can block them but what is needed is laws. They'll always find a way. I mean just using your IP enough ad retargeting can be done, their hostility has no consequence.
- catalogia 7y agoEven if they were legally forbidden from tracking people, ad blocking would still be necessary. Untargeted ads are only marginally less unethical than targeted ads. Even untargetted ads exploit peoples insecurities to sell them things they're better off without. (e.g. cola advertisements that depict young attractive socially active people drinking their product.) That's no less manipulative on a billboard on the side of the road than it is on your personalized facebook feed.
- matheusmoreira 7y agoEven if there were no ethical problems with ads, they should still be blocked anyway simply because they're a waste of people's time, bandwidth and attention span.
- eru 7y agoAre you sure you are not proving too much here?
- catalogia 7y agoCan you rephrase that question? I did not set out to prove anything, so I'm not sure what you mean.
- eru 7y agoSorry for the technical jargon, I was referring to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proving_too_much https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proving_too_much Basically, your argument seems fully generalized: > Even untargetted ads exploit peoples insecurities to sell them things they're better off without. Eg I assume you do not want to demonize bakers selling bread to hungry people? Or more generally, anyone selling any product you do not agree with to someone who has a need you don't like? So where do we draw the line, and why?
- ComodoHacker 7y agoAds may go native, but tracking will remain.
- runeb 7y agoWhy do ads need to run code on our computers anyways?