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This is also a huge issue with Blender and pops up on /r/blender from time to time. (Here's a few random recent examples: https://redd.it/xxkx5s https://redd.i

This is also a huge issue with Blender and pops up on /r/blender from time to time. (Here's a few random recent examples: https://redd.it/xxkx5s https://redd.it/xxkx5s https://redd.it/vvrxko https://redd.it/vvrxko https://redd.it/xwkky8 https://redd.it/xwkky8 https://redd.it/vuqu1r https://redd.it/vuqu1r) Ad networks and content providers get up in arms over widespread ad blocking but then allow stuff like this through.

ilyt 4y ago
Yeah, blocking ads quickly became security improvement...
- hawski 4y ago
  Always was. Does anyone remember the defacto original ad-blockers that blocking popups were? Firefox was marketed with this feature. It is basically a condom for the Internet. It makes maintenance for family computers much easier.
  - geoduck14 4y ago
    But if you block pop-ups, that web page with Rick Astley's cool video popping up won't play. /s
  - axiolite 4y ago
    > Does anyone remember the defacto original ad-blockers that blocking popups were? I was using the Internet Junkbuster (and later: Privoxy) in the mid-90s, many years before that. https://web.archive.org/web/19961222061917/http://www.junkbusters.com/ https://web.archive.org/web/19961222061917/http://www.junkbu... Of course, back then you could just disable javascript in your web browser to protect yourself from malicious sites and annyances, and practically all sites would work perfectly fine.
- juunpp 4y ago
  Government does: https://www.nsa.gov/portals/75/documents/what-we-do/cybersecurity/professional-resources/csi-blocking-unnecessary-advertising-web-content.pdf?v=1 https://www.nsa.gov/portals/75/documents/what-we-do/cybersec... https://www.vice.com/en/article/93ypke/the-nsa-and-cia-use-ad-blockers-because-online-advertising-is-so-dangerous https://www.vice.com/en/article/93ypke/the-nsa-and-cia-use-a...
  - 0x00000000 4y ago
    Isn’t this a violation of the first amendment in the same way that a politician blocking someone on Twitter is?
    - throwaway742 4y ago
      That's cute. You think the NSA and the CIA care about the constitution.
matheusmoreira 4y ago
Turns out uBlock Origin is the best anti-malware software there is. For some reason friends and family just don't seem to get malware anymore after I installed it on their browsers.
- ocdtrekkie 4y ago
  As soon as you realize how much of Google's bottom line is scam and malware distribution, it becomes really hard to view the company as anything but crooks. Google's other big line of business is shaking down businesses for cash by selling the top result for someone's own brand name unless they're paid for protection.
  - matheusmoreira 4y ago
    Even if ads were 100% legit verified links, they would still be scams. Advertising is inherently untrustworthy. Why do people trust anything a corporation says about their own products? In the best case scenario, they're highlighting the pros and omitting the cons. Usually they're just straight up lying. I want real opinions written by real people with no conflict of interest. People who are't getting paid by the corporation.
    - ocdtrekkie 4y ago
      I agree, but the fact that even if you hold the view that ads are beneficial to society, Google is still a bad actor and a net negative to all of us, is particularly noteworthy. We all pay for Google via folks paying ransoms and other scams, having to indirectly pay for high ad budgets every company has to pay off Google to avoid their own search result being squatted by a competitor, etc. There is no company on the planet that the world would benefit more from being shut down.
      - robocat 4y ago
        > shut down Google (paraphrased) But the incentives for advertising remain the same, so another similar competitor with similar evilness would emerge to replace them. I don’t believe the problem is “Google is evil”. I think the problem is that the incentives create evil, and there is little effective effort (that I have seen) to fix Google’s incentives through legislation or other means. I worry that many other major companies we interact with are heading down the same path. TVs are one canary warning us. Another example: Apple seems to be getting keener on advertising revenue, and I’m not sure that opposing incentives (within Apple or by their customers) are strong enough to overcome the financial temptation. That temptation leads to eventual sin (to use a religious metaphor!) Apple already commits egregious harm through many kinds of “free” apps.

ilyt 4y ago

Yeah, blocking ads quickly became security improvement...

hawski 4y ago
Always was. Does anyone remember the defacto original ad-blockers that blocking popups were? Firefox was marketed with this feature. It is basically a condom for the Internet. It makes maintenance for family computers much easier.
- geoduck14 4y ago
  But if you block pop-ups, that web page with Rick Astley's cool video popping up won't play. /s
- axiolite 4y ago
  > Does anyone remember the defacto original ad-blockers that blocking popups were? I was using the Internet Junkbuster (and later: Privoxy) in the mid-90s, many years before that. https://web.archive.org/web/19961222061917/http://www.junkbusters.com/ https://web.archive.org/web/19961222061917/http://www.junkbu... Of course, back then you could just disable javascript in your web browser to protect yourself from malicious sites and annyances, and practically all sites would work perfectly fine.
juunpp 4y ago
Government does: https://www.nsa.gov/portals/75/documents/what-we-do/cybersecurity/professional-resources/csi-blocking-unnecessary-advertising-web-content.pdf?v=1 https://www.nsa.gov/portals/75/documents/what-we-do/cybersec... https://www.vice.com/en/article/93ypke/the-nsa-and-cia-use-ad-blockers-because-online-advertising-is-so-dangerous https://www.vice.com/en/article/93ypke/the-nsa-and-cia-use-a...
- 0x00000000 4y ago
  Isn’t this a violation of the first amendment in the same way that a politician blocking someone on Twitter is?
  - throwaway742 4y ago
    That's cute. You think the NSA and the CIA care about the constitution.

matheusmoreira 4y ago

Turns out uBlock Origin is the best anti-malware software there is. For some reason friends and family just don't seem to get malware anymore after I installed it on their browsers.

ocdtrekkie 4y ago
As soon as you realize how much of Google's bottom line is scam and malware distribution, it becomes really hard to view the company as anything but crooks. Google's other big line of business is shaking down businesses for cash by selling the top result for someone's own brand name unless they're paid for protection.
- matheusmoreira 4y ago
  Even if ads were 100% legit verified links, they would still be scams. Advertising is inherently untrustworthy. Why do people trust anything a corporation says about their own products? In the best case scenario, they're highlighting the pros and omitting the cons. Usually they're just straight up lying. I want real opinions written by real people with no conflict of interest. People who are't getting paid by the corporation.
  - ocdtrekkie 4y ago
    I agree, but the fact that even if you hold the view that ads are beneficial to society, Google is still a bad actor and a net negative to all of us, is particularly noteworthy. We all pay for Google via folks paying ransoms and other scams, having to indirectly pay for high ad budgets every company has to pay off Google to avoid their own search result being squatted by a competitor, etc. There is no company on the planet that the world would benefit more from being shut down.
    - robocat 4y ago
      > shut down Google (paraphrased) But the incentives for advertising remain the same, so another similar competitor with similar evilness would emerge to replace them. I don’t believe the problem is “Google is evil”. I think the problem is that the incentives create evil, and there is little effective effort (that I have seen) to fix Google’s incentives through legislation or other means. I worry that many other major companies we interact with are heading down the same path. TVs are one canary warning us. Another example: Apple seems to be getting keener on advertising revenue, and I’m not sure that opposing incentives (within Apple or by their customers) are strong enough to overcome the financial temptation. That temptation leads to eventual sin (to use a religious metaphor!) Apple already commits egregious harm through many kinds of “free” apps.