6 ms·

The most popular extension, and the 2nd most popular, just like the 6th, 7th, 9th and 10th most popular, are ad-blockers. I guess it's only marketers that love

The most popular extension, and the 2nd most popular, just like the 6th, 7th, 9th and 10th most popular, are ad-blockers. I guess it's only marketers that love targeted ads...

dvtrn 5y ago
I sometimes wonder if adtech devs also use adblockers.
- irrational 5y ago
  I’m a web developer, but I use noscript, despite the sites I work on relying on JavaScript and the business not allowing us to make them work without scripting enabled.
- runjake 5y ago
  It is a well-known fact they do. This is why adtech has gotten craftier about ads, and adblockers have had to respond accordingly.
  - onemoresoop 5y ago
    That case is to thwart adblockers abilities to block ads. I think the OP's question was more rhetorical, as in they don't eat their own dog food type of thing.
- vmaurin 5y ago
  I have worked in the ad industry for 10+ years. Firefox, strict mode but no ad blocker for web. What I would not do though, is using an android or ios phone (or anykind of smartphone where I don't know what the system nor the application do). I am not sure that people realize how many power and data are used on these phones, for things totally unrelated to their personal usage
  - hn_version_0023 5y ago
    So you don’t use a smartphone at all? Or am I misunderstanding?
    - vmaurin 5y ago
      Yes, until recently where I have a Pinephone, but at the end of the day, I do mostly a "phone" usage rather than data/camera/social usages
  - yjftsjthsd-h 5y ago
    Why not just use an Android phone with Firefox and the same exact settings that you use on desktop?
    - vmaurin 5y ago
      I guess it is doable as long as you are doing only that with your phone. If it is linked to a google account for example, the OS and "embedded" google application will still report tons of data that will be then use for advertising
- agamentium 5y ago
  When I worked in adtech I absolutely did. I think it was fairly common at the company.
jstx1 5y ago
Right but what are they really competing with for those top spots? Most other functionality comes built into the browser these days.
matheusmoreira 5y ago
Only marketers love ads in general. To the rest of us, it's just annoying noise, to be filtered.
- openknot 5y ago
  From an older submission to Hacker News: "Appreciate marketing. It seems like bullshit, but it’s bullshit I don’t want to have to do. I’m glad someone else is doing it, I’m sincerely grateful for their efforts." [0] Software development is important, but marketing is also important, and it actually works. Most companies can't survive without effective marketing. [0] https://devjac.dev/posts/2021-05-29-my-personal-creed-of-employment.html https://devjac.dev/posts/2021-05-29-my-personal-creed-of-emp...
  - AlexandrB 5y ago
    I don't think most marketers are evil, but as an industry marketing includes a lot of bad actors and boundary pushers that actively make the internet worse for financial gain. As a result I think it's fair for an individual to have an adversarial stance with "marketing" even if your employer's marketing department is pretty benign and helpful.
  - matheusmoreira 5y ago
    > Appreciate marketing. It seems like bullshit, but it’s bullshit I don’t want to have to do. Bullshit? To me it seems more like mind rape when a bunch of corporate ideas and brands are suddenly and forcibly injected into my mind. I didn't ask for it, I didn't consent to it. We don't tolerate it when people violate our bodies, so why is it okay to violate our minds? They "need" it to make money, so it's okay? If I want to see products, I'll ask for it. I'll open the store app. Until that time, they better keep their marketing to themselves or I'll do everything in my power to defend myself. That's what software like uBlock Origin is: self-defense against hostile megacorporations who want to exploit you in every way possible.
    - ssklash 5y ago
      I agree 100%. If your company can't survive without exploiting human psychology and contributing to a surveillance infrastructure and monetization scheme, good. Companies survived for centuries without internet ads, tracking, targeting, etc. Just because you can take advantage of technological methods and mental vulnerabilities to pimp your product without the consent of the target, doesn't mean you should.
wongarsu 5y ago
I like targeted ads (if I ignore the general threats to privacy and democracy they pose). There are certainly ads I've enjoyed seeing, mostly ads for specialized software, tools or machinery that I wouldn't have known about if not for targeted ads. I still hate ads. Youtube has maybe five interesting, relevant ads a month it can show me, and I'm willing to see each one maybe twice. That's ten ads a month. But Youtube has hundreds of ad slots to fill every month if they want to show me two pre-roll ads before each video and a couple within the video. Those slots have to be filled with something, and the few relevant ads mostly get drowned by the garbage. Other platforms have the same problem. Ads on the internet have fallen to the tragedy of the commons. If there was just a couple of them they would be more relevant and less distracting, but every advertiser and platform is incentivized to increase the number of ads without end, leading to where we are now.
- scarface74 5y ago
  If I listen to a software engineering podcast, isn’t “targeting” by the fact that I might be a software engineer good enough? The same is true for websites I visit. If I go to Mens Health, that’s a huge signal to what I’m interested in.
passivate 5y ago
>I guess it's only marketers that love targeted ads... That maybe, but it might be hypocritical if you're working at a private business that generates sales via ads, which in effect pay your salary. I'm not against ads, so I wouldn't use an ad-blocker on principle, I would just avoid visiting sites that show excessive ads.
Corrado 5y ago
You know, I don't mind advertisements that are really targeted and would enrich my life in some way. I use Ublock Origin (and others) everywhere I can and it's great. However, there are some things that I want to be told about or update on. The latest superhero movie? Yes, please. A new keyboard or update for my car? Yes, please. A valentines idea for my wife? Yes, please! The problem is that I (almost) never get these ads. Most of the things shoved into my face are something that I would NEVER purchase or recommend to others. The same truck commercial 100 times? Nope. Alcohol commercial? Nope. Cable sports package? Never. I was really hopeful that Google, with all of their knowledge about me (and they have a TON of it!) would be able to target advertisements that I might like. Yet, YouTube is chock full of Truck, Beer, and Football commercials; I guess just because I'm a middle aged man and that's what "we" like. So, I'm forced into blocking everything I can, whenever and wherever I can. The Ad companies are really doing this to themselves. If they were better at their job I wouldn't even know they existed. As it stands, I get bombarded with so much unwanted things that I actively hate the things they spew at me. I will NEVER buy the products that they are advertising; even if it did fit my personality or needs.
layer8 5y ago
Or maybe it’s just the lack of targeted-ad-injection plugins. ;)

The most popular extension, and the 2nd most popular, just like the 6th, 7th, 9th and 10th most popular, are ad-blockers. I guess it's only marketers that love targeted ads...

dvtrn 5y ago

I sometimes wonder if adtech devs also use adblockers.

irrational 5y ago
I’m a web developer, but I use noscript, despite the sites I work on relying on JavaScript and the business not allowing us to make them work without scripting enabled.
runjake 5y ago
It is a well-known fact they do. This is why adtech has gotten craftier about ads, and adblockers have had to respond accordingly.
- onemoresoop 5y ago
  That case is to thwart adblockers abilities to block ads. I think the OP's question was more rhetorical, as in they don't eat their own dog food type of thing.
vmaurin 5y ago
I have worked in the ad industry for 10+ years. Firefox, strict mode but no ad blocker for web. What I would not do though, is using an android or ios phone (or anykind of smartphone where I don't know what the system nor the application do). I am not sure that people realize how many power and data are used on these phones, for things totally unrelated to their personal usage
- hn_version_0023 5y ago
  So you don’t use a smartphone at all? Or am I misunderstanding?
  - vmaurin 5y ago
    Yes, until recently where I have a Pinephone, but at the end of the day, I do mostly a "phone" usage rather than data/camera/social usages
- yjftsjthsd-h 5y ago
  Why not just use an Android phone with Firefox and the same exact settings that you use on desktop?
  - vmaurin 5y ago
    I guess it is doable as long as you are doing only that with your phone. If it is linked to a google account for example, the OS and "embedded" google application will still report tons of data that will be then use for advertising
agamentium 5y ago
When I worked in adtech I absolutely did. I think it was fairly common at the company.

jstx1 5y ago

Right but what are they really competing with for those top spots? Most other functionality comes built into the browser these days.

matheusmoreira 5y ago

Only marketers love ads in general. To the rest of us, it's just annoying noise, to be filtered.

openknot 5y ago
From an older submission to Hacker News: "Appreciate marketing. It seems like bullshit, but it’s bullshit I don’t want to have to do. I’m glad someone else is doing it, I’m sincerely grateful for their efforts." [0] Software development is important, but marketing is also important, and it actually works. Most companies can't survive without effective marketing. [0] https://devjac.dev/posts/2021-05-29-my-personal-creed-of-employment.html https://devjac.dev/posts/2021-05-29-my-personal-creed-of-emp...
- AlexandrB 5y ago
  I don't think most marketers are evil, but as an industry marketing includes a lot of bad actors and boundary pushers that actively make the internet worse for financial gain. As a result I think it's fair for an individual to have an adversarial stance with "marketing" even if your employer's marketing department is pretty benign and helpful.
- matheusmoreira 5y ago
  > Appreciate marketing. It seems like bullshit, but it’s bullshit I don’t want to have to do. Bullshit? To me it seems more like mind rape when a bunch of corporate ideas and brands are suddenly and forcibly injected into my mind. I didn't ask for it, I didn't consent to it. We don't tolerate it when people violate our bodies, so why is it okay to violate our minds? They "need" it to make money, so it's okay? If I want to see products, I'll ask for it. I'll open the store app. Until that time, they better keep their marketing to themselves or I'll do everything in my power to defend myself. That's what software like uBlock Origin is: self-defense against hostile megacorporations who want to exploit you in every way possible.
  - ssklash 5y ago
    I agree 100%. If your company can't survive without exploiting human psychology and contributing to a surveillance infrastructure and monetization scheme, good. Companies survived for centuries without internet ads, tracking, targeting, etc. Just because you can take advantage of technological methods and mental vulnerabilities to pimp your product without the consent of the target, doesn't mean you should.

wongarsu 5y ago

I like targeted ads (if I ignore the general threats to privacy and democracy they pose). There are certainly ads I've enjoyed seeing, mostly ads for specialized software, tools or machinery that I wouldn't have known about if not for targeted ads. I still hate ads. Youtube has maybe five interesting, relevant ads a month it can show me, and I'm willing to see each one maybe twice. That's ten ads a month. But Youtube has hundreds of ad slots to fill every month if they want to show me two pre-roll ads before each video and a couple within the video. Those slots have to be filled with something, and the few relevant ads mostly get drowned by the garbage. Other platforms have the same problem. Ads on the internet have fallen to the tragedy of the commons. If there was just a couple of them they would be more relevant and less distracting, but every advertiser and platform is incentivized to increase the number of ads without end, leading to where we are now.

scarface74 5y ago
If I listen to a software engineering podcast, isn’t “targeting” by the fact that I might be a software engineer good enough? The same is true for websites I visit. If I go to Mens Health, that’s a huge signal to what I’m interested in.

passivate 5y ago

>I guess it's only marketers that love targeted ads... That maybe, but it might be hypocritical if you're working at a private business that generates sales via ads, which in effect pay your salary. I'm not against ads, so I wouldn't use an ad-blocker on principle, I would just avoid visiting sites that show excessive ads.

Corrado 5y ago

You know, I don't mind advertisements that are really targeted and would enrich my life in some way. I use Ublock Origin (and others) everywhere I can and it's great. However, there are some things that I want to be told about or update on. The latest superhero movie? Yes, please. A new keyboard or update for my car? Yes, please. A valentines idea for my wife? Yes, please! The problem is that I (almost) never get these ads. Most of the things shoved into my face are something that I would NEVER purchase or recommend to others. The same truck commercial 100 times? Nope. Alcohol commercial? Nope. Cable sports package? Never. I was really hopeful that Google, with all of their knowledge about me (and they have a TON of it!) would be able to target advertisements that I might like. Yet, YouTube is chock full of Truck, Beer, and Football commercials; I guess just because I'm a middle aged man and that's what "we" like. So, I'm forced into blocking everything I can, whenever and wherever I can. The Ad companies are really doing this to themselves. If they were better at their job I wouldn't even know they existed. As it stands, I get bombarded with so much unwanted things that I actively hate the things they spew at me. I will NEVER buy the products that they are advertising; even if it did fit my personality or needs.

layer8 5y ago

Or maybe it’s just the lack of targeted-ad-injection plugins. ;)