6 ms·

AdNauseam – clicking ads so you don't have to

81 points by notpushkin 4y ago

geek_at 4y ago
I tried AdNauseam for a few days but for some reason it broke so many sites. Sites stopped loading for me and I had to uninstall it. Like the idea though
__MatrixMan__ 4y ago
I never thought I'd be installing something that describes itself like: > AdNauseam serves as a means of amplifying users' discontent But here I go. Edit: It would seem that brave blocks ads in a way that prevents adnauseum from clicking them first, bummer. (followed instructions here: https://github.com/dhowe/AdNauseam/wiki/Install-AdNauseam-on-Chromium-based-browsers#install-adnauseam https://github.com/dhowe/AdNauseam/wiki/Install-AdNauseam-on...) Edit: hmm, I can't seem to get the number to go above 0 for brave or chrome.
missedthecue 4y ago
Seems like this is very straightforward for any half competent ad network to filter out. Very chaotic idea though.
- LadyCailin 4y ago
  Perhaps, but then they have to spend time and money doing that, only for their ads to still not be shown.
dymk 4y ago
I didn't have to anyways
dang 4y ago
Related. Others? AdNauseam – clicking ads so you don't have to - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25043165 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25043165 - Nov 2020 (11 comments) AdNauseam: Browser extension to fight back against tracking by ad networks - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20048216 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20048216 - May 2019 (63 comments) AdNauseam – clicking ads so you don't have to - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19278936 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19278936 - March 2019 (164 comments) Pale Moon blocks AdNauseam extension - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15112524 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15112524 - Aug 2017 (246 comments) AdNauseam – Clicking Ads So You Don't Have To - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15109251 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15109251 - Aug 2017 (174 comments) AdNauseam Banned from the Google Web Store - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13327228 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13327228 - Jan 2017 (329 comments) AdNauseam: Fight Back Against Advertising Networks and Privacy Abuse - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13222733 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13222733 - Dec 2016 (276 comments) AdNauseam Browser Extension: Clicking Ads So You Don't Have To - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10611594 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10611594 - Nov 2015 (72 comments) Ad blocker that clicks on the ads - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8515398 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8515398 - Oct 2014 (238 comments)
iseanstevens 4y ago
Love this. They want clicks? Give them clicks. Gradually bring the value of “ad impressions” to zero.
LadyCailin 4y ago
Been using this for a while, and I forget about it just as much as I did when using ublock (which is what this uses under the hood). I think I've had it installed for 2 months, and my ad spend is calculated to be about $400. Not bad. It feels like the nuclear option, but the absolute lack of respect that advertisers seem to have for me has gone entirely too far, and it's nice to be able to punch back in my own small little way.
bravoetch 4y ago
We need an extension that filters out hn submissions like this one. They come around once a year-ish and they're not news, they're just artificially boosted content.
- NotYourLawyer 4y ago
  Artificially boosted how?
- Syntonicles 4y ago
  They are boosted by people like me, who haven't seen it before. People on social media have this strange notion that we're all a perfect bloom filter. I don't have the time or energy to keep up with tens of thousands of posts per year, and new users are coming all the time. Reposts are inevitable. A personalized bloom filter may be useful. That shouldn't be hard to implement in either JavaScript or Emacs Lisp.
- doodlesdev 4y ago
  From HN guidelines: Please don't post insinuations about astroturfing, shilling, bots, brigading, foreign agents and the like. It degrades discussion and is usually mistaken. If you're worried about abuse, email hn@ycombinator.com and we'll look at the data. Please don't complain that a submission is inappropriate. If a story is spam or off-topic, flag it. Don't feed egregious comments by replying; flag them instead. If you flag, please don't also comment that you did.
werds 4y ago
no marketer optimizes for clicks, they optimize for conversions. so unless this bot is going to go onto the advertisers site and purchase something, which can then be attributed back to the viewed impression, then this will just be ignored by ad tech like any other bot click
- marginalia_nu 4y ago
  I sometimes click ads, go through almost through the entire funnel, but bail at the last minute. It's very funny.
  - bigape911 4y ago
    So you just have a lot of time on your hands
    - marginalia_nu 4y ago
      Nah it just takes a few minutes. Solid entertainment, costs nothing.
  - temp2022account 4y ago
    Same, so many "root@localhost" or "admin@atlassian.com" sign-ups purely because I've seen automated marketing systems get setup and understand how easy it is to flag a flow as "Oh yeah they're about to buy something, give the source $" before confirming an action.
- lethologica 4y ago
  It’s still costing them per click though, is it not?
  - jefftk 4y ago
    Not necessarily: all ad networks try to filter out spammy clicks before billing, and some advertisers work on a cost-per-action [1] basis. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost_per_action https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost_per_action
prophesi 4y ago
I've been using the extension on Firefox for years. Their browser context menu for blocking individual HTML elements has been really handy for the more aggressive AD-heavy sites, though I sometimes miss uMatrix's fine-grained controls. On the plus side, I can't recall the last time I needed to disable the extension to get a site to work; I'm wondering if it's due to the ad networks still being able to ping back despite the element remaining hidden?
- prophesi 4y ago
  And if anyone's interested in this extension, you may also like this one: https://www.trackmenot.io/ https://www.trackmenot.io/ It sends bogus search requests in the background. And it seems like it works as intended, as the extension is banned entirely from Google's Chrome store.
lumb63 4y ago
Ads suck. I block them universally. I understand the desire to “get back at the man”, and I don’t begrudge anyone for doing so. But we have to ask ourselves, what’s the real path forward, away from ads? If a different model existed where users could pay for sites, I’m confident some would use it. I’m also confident many more would not use it. I expect a lot of users unwittingly want to be able to browse the web ad-free, for free, subsidized by the tech-illiterate and those too lazy to block ads. We desperately need a better model for funding the internet. I’m aware of the work Brave did, but it doesn’t solve the problem of the internet being funded by ads. It instead brings users into the loop. Donations might work, and the “ad-free” subscription tier products seem sustainable. However, at scale, paying to waive ads on an individual site-by-site basis seems absurd. Does anyone have any other ideas?
- prettyStandard 4y ago
  I think brave has a good model, but normal cryptocurrency shenanigans taint the possibility.
- Night_Thastus 4y ago
  No ideas, but I agree. I personally view all forms of advertisement as a parasite or cancer on our eyes and ears. People disregard it as not that important, but I feel like it's way more impactful than most people think. It's constantly invading our spaces of work, casual enjoyment, transit, etc. It's a mental tax we're constantly paying.
- chongli 4y ago
  Does anyone have any other ideas? Public funding for a noncommercial web. Websites that sell things have no problem paying for themselves. The noncommercial web would be a place for people to socialize, share media from their lives, and enjoy their hobbies. Amateur radio is noncommercial. We should be able to have a similar regime on the web. It shouldn’t even really be that expensive to host. With peer to peer protocols there should be no need for paid hosting companies. Government could mandate that ISPs facilitate self hosting. With IPv6 every device should have static, publicly-routable IPs.
soared 4y ago
Similar thing I made a landing page for but never built to take utms from other users and attach them to your links, break GA sessions, etc to make your traffic adversarial and attempt to make a sites GA data not so good. https://hello-kill.github.io/ https://hello-kill.github.io/
Beaver117 4y ago
Extremely based, everyone should install this
Varqu 4y ago
This is outright fraud and I would not be surprised if the author receives a cease and desist from Google and likes. While I am full for adblockers (your choice not to be exposed to ads), this extension is designed to intentionally harm others people business and cause them monetary loss which is considered a crime in many jurisdictions. To the mods of HN: why do you allow such grey-zone tools to be published here?
- bigape911 4y ago
  your comment pushed me to installing this
- k0k0r0 4y ago
  I have a friend that actually makes a living with a business that relies on paying a lot for ads. He's furious, too, about me using that extension, but than again... I believe a business like that should not exist, and nevertheless I am not furious about him running such a business, right?
  - Varqu 4y ago
    No one should be forced to see ads (your choice if you don't want to support a site which provides you with useful content) - I am full pro-adblockers In the same time, I consider causing financial loss to someone who relies on paid advertising to be morally bad.
pawelmurias 4y ago
Doesn't this make you a lot more tracked by showing the ads owners which sites you visit?

81 points by notpushkin 4y ago

I tried AdNauseam for a few days but for some reason it broke so many sites. Sites stopped loading for me and I had to uninstall it. Like the idea though

__MatrixMan__ 4y ago

I never thought I'd be installing something that describes itself like: > AdNauseam serves as a means of amplifying users' discontent But here I go. Edit: It would seem that brave blocks ads in a way that prevents adnauseum from clicking them first, bummer. (followed instructions here: https://github.com/dhowe/AdNauseam/wiki/Install-AdNauseam-on-Chromium-based-browsers#install-adnauseam https://github.com/dhowe/AdNauseam/wiki/Install-AdNauseam-on...) Edit: hmm, I can't seem to get the number to go above 0 for brave or chrome.

missedthecue 4y ago

Seems like this is very straightforward for any half competent ad network to filter out. Very chaotic idea though.

LadyCailin 4y ago
Perhaps, but then they have to spend time and money doing that, only for their ads to still not be shown.

dymk 4y ago

I didn't have to anyways

dang 4y ago

Related. Others? AdNauseam – clicking ads so you don't have to - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25043165 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25043165 - Nov 2020 (11 comments) AdNauseam: Browser extension to fight back against tracking by ad networks - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20048216 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20048216 - May 2019 (63 comments) AdNauseam – clicking ads so you don't have to - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19278936 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19278936 - March 2019 (164 comments) Pale Moon blocks AdNauseam extension - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15112524 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15112524 - Aug 2017 (246 comments) AdNauseam – Clicking Ads So You Don't Have To - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15109251 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15109251 - Aug 2017 (174 comments) AdNauseam Banned from the Google Web Store - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13327228 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13327228 - Jan 2017 (329 comments) AdNauseam: Fight Back Against Advertising Networks and Privacy Abuse - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13222733 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13222733 - Dec 2016 (276 comments) AdNauseam Browser Extension: Clicking Ads So You Don't Have To - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10611594 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10611594 - Nov 2015 (72 comments) Ad blocker that clicks on the ads - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8515398 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8515398 - Oct 2014 (238 comments)

iseanstevens 4y ago

Love this. They want clicks? Give them clicks. Gradually bring the value of “ad impressions” to zero.

LadyCailin 4y ago

Been using this for a while, and I forget about it just as much as I did when using ublock (which is what this uses under the hood). I think I've had it installed for 2 months, and my ad spend is calculated to be about $400. Not bad. It feels like the nuclear option, but the absolute lack of respect that advertisers seem to have for me has gone entirely too far, and it's nice to be able to punch back in my own small little way.

bravoetch 4y ago

We need an extension that filters out hn submissions like this one. They come around once a year-ish and they're not news, they're just artificially boosted content.

NotYourLawyer 4y ago
Artificially boosted how?
Syntonicles 4y ago
They are boosted by people like me, who haven't seen it before. People on social media have this strange notion that we're all a perfect bloom filter. I don't have the time or energy to keep up with tens of thousands of posts per year, and new users are coming all the time. Reposts are inevitable. A personalized bloom filter may be useful. That shouldn't be hard to implement in either JavaScript or Emacs Lisp.
doodlesdev 4y ago
From HN guidelines: Please don't post insinuations about astroturfing, shilling, bots, brigading, foreign agents and the like. It degrades discussion and is usually mistaken. If you're worried about abuse, email hn@ycombinator.com and we'll look at the data. Please don't complain that a submission is inappropriate. If a story is spam or off-topic, flag it. Don't feed egregious comments by replying; flag them instead. If you flag, please don't also comment that you did.

werds 4y ago

no marketer optimizes for clicks, they optimize for conversions. so unless this bot is going to go onto the advertisers site and purchase something, which can then be attributed back to the viewed impression, then this will just be ignored by ad tech like any other bot click

marginalia_nu 4y ago
I sometimes click ads, go through almost through the entire funnel, but bail at the last minute. It's very funny.
- bigape911 4y ago
  So you just have a lot of time on your hands
  - marginalia_nu 4y ago
    Nah it just takes a few minutes. Solid entertainment, costs nothing.
- temp2022account 4y ago
  Same, so many "root@localhost" or "admin@atlassian.com" sign-ups purely because I've seen automated marketing systems get setup and understand how easy it is to flag a flow as "Oh yeah they're about to buy something, give the source $" before confirming an action.
lethologica 4y ago
It’s still costing them per click though, is it not?
- jefftk 4y ago
  Not necessarily: all ad networks try to filter out spammy clicks before billing, and some advertisers work on a cost-per-action [1] basis. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost_per_action https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost_per_action

prophesi 4y ago

I've been using the extension on Firefox for years. Their browser context menu for blocking individual HTML elements has been really handy for the more aggressive AD-heavy sites, though I sometimes miss uMatrix's fine-grained controls. On the plus side, I can't recall the last time I needed to disable the extension to get a site to work; I'm wondering if it's due to the ad networks still being able to ping back despite the element remaining hidden?

prophesi 4y ago
And if anyone's interested in this extension, you may also like this one: https://www.trackmenot.io/ https://www.trackmenot.io/ It sends bogus search requests in the background. And it seems like it works as intended, as the extension is banned entirely from Google's Chrome store.

lumb63 4y ago

Ads suck. I block them universally. I understand the desire to “get back at the man”, and I don’t begrudge anyone for doing so. But we have to ask ourselves, what’s the real path forward, away from ads? If a different model existed where users could pay for sites, I’m confident some would use it. I’m also confident many more would not use it. I expect a lot of users unwittingly want to be able to browse the web ad-free, for free, subsidized by the tech-illiterate and those too lazy to block ads. We desperately need a better model for funding the internet. I’m aware of the work Brave did, but it doesn’t solve the problem of the internet being funded by ads. It instead brings users into the loop. Donations might work, and the “ad-free” subscription tier products seem sustainable. However, at scale, paying to waive ads on an individual site-by-site basis seems absurd. Does anyone have any other ideas?

prettyStandard 4y ago
I think brave has a good model, but normal cryptocurrency shenanigans taint the possibility.
Night_Thastus 4y ago
No ideas, but I agree. I personally view all forms of advertisement as a parasite or cancer on our eyes and ears. People disregard it as not that important, but I feel like it's way more impactful than most people think. It's constantly invading our spaces of work, casual enjoyment, transit, etc. It's a mental tax we're constantly paying.
chongli 4y ago
Does anyone have any other ideas? Public funding for a noncommercial web. Websites that sell things have no problem paying for themselves. The noncommercial web would be a place for people to socialize, share media from their lives, and enjoy their hobbies. Amateur radio is noncommercial. We should be able to have a similar regime on the web. It shouldn’t even really be that expensive to host. With peer to peer protocols there should be no need for paid hosting companies. Government could mandate that ISPs facilitate self hosting. With IPv6 every device should have static, publicly-routable IPs.

soared 4y ago

Similar thing I made a landing page for but never built to take utms from other users and attach them to your links, break GA sessions, etc to make your traffic adversarial and attempt to make a sites GA data not so good. https://hello-kill.github.io/ https://hello-kill.github.io/

Beaver117 4y ago

Extremely based, everyone should install this

Varqu 4y ago

This is outright fraud and I would not be surprised if the author receives a cease and desist from Google and likes. While I am full for adblockers (your choice not to be exposed to ads), this extension is designed to intentionally harm others people business and cause them monetary loss which is considered a crime in many jurisdictions. To the mods of HN: why do you allow such grey-zone tools to be published here?

bigape911 4y ago
your comment pushed me to installing this
k0k0r0 4y ago
I have a friend that actually makes a living with a business that relies on paying a lot for ads. He's furious, too, about me using that extension, but than again... I believe a business like that should not exist, and nevertheless I am not furious about him running such a business, right?
- Varqu 4y ago
  No one should be forced to see ads (your choice if you don't want to support a site which provides you with useful content) - I am full pro-adblockers In the same time, I consider causing financial loss to someone who relies on paid advertising to be morally bad.

pawelmurias 4y ago

Doesn't this make you a lot more tracked by showing the ads owners which sites you visit?