5 ms·

As others will be quick to point out, HN does have ads in the form of job postings for YCombinator startups that are delivered inline with the links on the fron

by kibwen 4y ago

As others will be quick to point out, HN does have ads in the form of job postings for YCombinator startups that are delivered inline with the links on the front page. That said, it's relatively unobtrusive. And of course, the existence of HN is a large part of the marketing for YCombinator itself. Personally, I'll commend dang for doing a high-effort job at moderation, and tolerating all the dunking on Paul Graham that we do.

Rooster61 4y ago
Ads that I won't see unless I actually have interest in them? That's not very web 5.0...
amelius 4y ago
But ... these job postings are difficult to discern from other posts. At least Google puts "Ad" in front of ads ...
- guntherhermann 4y ago
  A giveaway is that you can't comment on them :)
  - capableweb 4y ago
    Nor do they have points, you can't upvote or flag them. They do stick out a bit and are easy to ignore.
    - bambax 4y ago
      You can hide them though.
- dredmorbius 4y ago
  There are several userscripts to block those. <https://github.com/brownie-in-motion/hn-adblock https://github.com/brownie-in-motion/hn-adblock>, discussed: <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31597486 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31597486> Another: <https://gist.github.com/pxeger/4aed4baaa87028a2ecc6441a84a1fbc2 https://gist.github.com/pxeger/4aed4baaa87028a2ecc6441a84a1f...> (I've used neither.) I've briefly looked into managing these through CSS alone. Not obviously that I can tell, though the text of job listings should match the pattern: <company> (YC <class> ) Is Hiring <position> I think CSS can act based on content, but need to look at selectors for that. SO suggests not: <https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1520429/is-there-a-css-selector-for-elements-containing-certain-text https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1520429/is-there-a-css-s...> HN doesn't assign a distinctive class to these posts, though the "votelinks" class is missing, which can be used to highlight the listings. E.g.: /* HN startup job ads */ .athing td:nth-of-type(2):not(.votelinks) { background: #fcc; } .athing td:nth-of-type(2):not(.votelinks):before { content: "Ad"; position: relative; left: 0.4em; color: #000; } (Other properties might be set.) I'd need to futz with this some more to see if the entire entry could be dropped, though I'd prefer to simply have them stand out, I think...
  - eipi10_hn 4y ago
    If you are using ublock, you can use these filters news.ycombinator.com##.athing:not(:has(.votelinks)) news.ycombinator.com##.athing:not(:has(.votelinks)) + tr news.ycombinator.com##.athing:not(:has(.votelinks)) + tr + tr
- _Algernon_ 4y ago
  Putting an ad with text color #FEFEFE on a white background doesn't do much.
  - eliasdaler 4y ago
    FTC actually has guidelines and rules for online advertising. Here’s a doc from them saying that the ads should be clearly marked as ads: https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/plain-language/bus41-dot-com-disclosures-information-about-online-advertising.pdf https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/plain-language/bu... Strange it doesn’t seem to be respected on HN.
    - roflyear 4y ago
      Lots of stuff isn't. They don't let you delete your account or delete old comments.
29athrowaway 4y ago
It is done with a lot for respect for the reader, and in a non intrusive way. There's no profiling or targeting of users. Everyone sees the same ads.
colesantiago 4y ago
There should be a way to remove all ads from HN on the account level.
tiotempestade 4y ago
> As others will be quick to point out, HN does have ads in the form of job postings for YCombinator startups that are delivered inline with the links on the front page. The way all ads should be? :) Succinct, relevant and unobtrusive
- barbs 4y ago
  And non-tracking!
- eliasdaler 4y ago
  The ads should be clearly marked as ads, in my opinion. I hate when social media sites hide ads by making them look like regular posts. It’s a dark pattern.
  - wkat4242 4y ago
    They're marked as job postings which is really what they are. Nobody will look at them unless they're looking for a job and if so, why not? It's a very different story from ads on other social networks imo.
henning 4y ago
True, but those job ads are text-only and unlikely to contain malware. Normal web ads are the opposite in both regards.
notTechbut 4y ago
[flagged]
- dang 4y ago
  I have? Where?
  - notTechbut 4y ago
    [flagged]
  - okCompewtr 4y ago
    [flagged]
jedberg 4y ago
> and tolerating all the dunking on Paul Graham that we do. Who wouldn't enjoy some friendly ribbing of their boss's boss? :)
- jamal-kumar 4y ago
  Jeff Bezos should consider a haircut
vlunkr 4y ago
Those ads are also very likely to be relevant to HN users relative to typical internet ads.
93po 4y ago
I use hckrnews.com and everyone else should too. Not seeing those ads is a nice side effect
slim 4y ago
Not sure jobs are the only form of advertising. Sometimes I feel like some domain names like substack are pumped up

by kibwen 4y ago

Rooster61 4y ago

Ads that I won't see unless I actually have interest in them? That's not very web 5.0...

amelius 4y ago

But ... these job postings are difficult to discern from other posts. At least Google puts "Ad" in front of ads ...

guntherhermann 4y ago
A giveaway is that you can't comment on them :)
- capableweb 4y ago
  Nor do they have points, you can't upvote or flag them. They do stick out a bit and are easy to ignore.
  - bambax 4y ago
    You can hide them though.
dredmorbius 4y ago
There are several userscripts to block those. <https://github.com/brownie-in-motion/hn-adblock https://github.com/brownie-in-motion/hn-adblock>, discussed: <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31597486 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31597486> Another: <https://gist.github.com/pxeger/4aed4baaa87028a2ecc6441a84a1fbc2 https://gist.github.com/pxeger/4aed4baaa87028a2ecc6441a84a1f...> (I've used neither.) I've briefly looked into managing these through CSS alone. Not obviously that I can tell, though the text of job listings should match the pattern: <company> (YC <class> ) Is Hiring <position> I think CSS can act based on content, but need to look at selectors for that. SO suggests not: <https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1520429/is-there-a-css-selector-for-elements-containing-certain-text https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1520429/is-there-a-css-s...> HN doesn't assign a distinctive class to these posts, though the "votelinks" class is missing, which can be used to highlight the listings. E.g.: /* HN startup job ads */ .athing td:nth-of-type(2):not(.votelinks) { background: #fcc; } .athing td:nth-of-type(2):not(.votelinks):before { content: "Ad"; position: relative; left: 0.4em; color: #000; } (Other properties might be set.) I'd need to futz with this some more to see if the entire entry could be dropped, though I'd prefer to simply have them stand out, I think...
- eipi10_hn 4y ago
  If you are using ublock, you can use these filters news.ycombinator.com##.athing:not(:has(.votelinks)) news.ycombinator.com##.athing:not(:has(.votelinks)) + tr news.ycombinator.com##.athing:not(:has(.votelinks)) + tr + tr
_Algernon_ 4y ago
Putting an ad with text color #FEFEFE on a white background doesn't do much.
- eliasdaler 4y ago
  FTC actually has guidelines and rules for online advertising. Here’s a doc from them saying that the ads should be clearly marked as ads: https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/plain-language/bus41-dot-com-disclosures-information-about-online-advertising.pdf https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/plain-language/bu... Strange it doesn’t seem to be respected on HN.
  - roflyear 4y ago
    Lots of stuff isn't. They don't let you delete your account or delete old comments.

29athrowaway 4y ago

It is done with a lot for respect for the reader, and in a non intrusive way. There's no profiling or targeting of users. Everyone sees the same ads.

colesantiago 4y ago

There should be a way to remove all ads from HN on the account level.

tiotempestade 4y ago

> As others will be quick to point out, HN does have ads in the form of job postings for YCombinator startups that are delivered inline with the links on the front page. The way all ads should be? :) Succinct, relevant and unobtrusive

barbs 4y ago
And non-tracking!
eliasdaler 4y ago
The ads should be clearly marked as ads, in my opinion. I hate when social media sites hide ads by making them look like regular posts. It’s a dark pattern.
- wkat4242 4y ago
  They're marked as job postings which is really what they are. Nobody will look at them unless they're looking for a job and if so, why not? It's a very different story from ads on other social networks imo.

henning 4y ago

True, but those job ads are text-only and unlikely to contain malware. Normal web ads are the opposite in both regards.

notTechbut 4y ago

[flagged]

dang 4y ago
I have? Where?
- notTechbut 4y ago
  [flagged]
- okCompewtr 4y ago
  [flagged]

jedberg 4y ago

> and tolerating all the dunking on Paul Graham that we do. Who wouldn't enjoy some friendly ribbing of their boss's boss? :)

jamal-kumar 4y ago
Jeff Bezos should consider a haircut

vlunkr 4y ago

Those ads are also very likely to be relevant to HN users relative to typical internet ads.

93po 4y ago

I use hckrnews.com and everyone else should too. Not seeing those ads is a nice side effect

slim 4y ago

Not sure jobs are the only form of advertising. Sometimes I feel like some domain names like substack are pumped up