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Google has been voluntarily blocking ads here in Russia since 2022 due to the sanctions (from what I understand, so that monetization didn't translate into taxe

by kgeist 3y ago

Google has been voluntarily blocking ads here in Russia since 2022 due to the sanctions (from what I understand, so that monetization didn't translate into taxes paid to the government). I now live in a completely ads-free world for 2 years. So I wonder, if it's possible for people abroad to somehow proxy ad-related traffic through Russia so that Google itself blocked ads.

hypertele-Xii 3y ago
Nice try, Putin. I'm not VPN-ing my traffic through Russia :)
- kgeist 3y ago
  The idea was to VPN only ad traffic (which would be automatically blocked anyway). Proxying video content through Russia would considerably increase latency.
  - aembleton 3y ago
    If you can determine which traffic is ad traffic; why not just block it?
    - kgeist 3y ago
      Well, I'm assuming that Youtube has some sort of a script to check if ad traffic is blocked, to detect ad blockers. Sure, you can write some extension which by-passes it, but then they can change their script a week later to do it slightly differently, to make ad blockers unusable again. Meanwhile for Russia, they have some sort of an exception, so that there can be no ad traffic at all, and you can still watch videos. And they maintain this exception themselves, so there would be no effort on our part.
ffgjgf1 3y ago
[flagged]
- kgeist 3y ago
  Depends on what kind of entertainment. Some forms of it can bring cultures/countries together.
- ksynwa 3y ago
  Why is that unfortunate?
- anticrymactic 3y ago
  Assuming you said this in good faith. How are the Russians responsible for their government? Assuming you are American: how have you stopped the offensive in Iraq or Afghanistan? This is exactly what the Russian government needs, hating Russians will only validate the propaganda. They tell their citizens, how much the west hates them and how they are protecting themselves from NATO. By fulfilling this illusion, you only motivate Russians to actually support their government.
  - ffgjgf1 3y ago
    > Assuming you are American: how have you stopped the offensive in Iraq or Afghanistan? I’m not. However I do believe that the wars in Iraq and especially Afghanistan were morally ambiguous (one of them quite a but less than the other) and certainly not imperialist wars of aggression in the classical sense (like the war in Ukraine). > How are the Russians responsible for their government Directly and/or indirectly? Anyway I wouldn’t really see this as fundamentally different in anyway compared to all the other sanctions targeting Russia/Russians these days. > hating Russians will only validate the propaganda Who said I hate them? I certainly have strong opinions about their society and dominant values. I don’t hate Russians would, however it would be nice if they had more time/motivation to focus on thins that actually matter. > how much the west hates them and how they are protecting themselves from NATO. Society wide paranoia and delusion is indeed a huge. How would you suggest could the “West” fix that?
potemkinhr 3y ago
Well VPN is off the table as almost all of them will be blocked by russia's regulators

by kgeist 3y ago

hypertele-Xii 3y ago

Nice try, Putin. I'm not VPN-ing my traffic through Russia :)

kgeist 3y ago
The idea was to VPN only ad traffic (which would be automatically blocked anyway). Proxying video content through Russia would considerably increase latency.
- aembleton 3y ago
  If you can determine which traffic is ad traffic; why not just block it?
  - kgeist 3y ago
    Well, I'm assuming that Youtube has some sort of a script to check if ad traffic is blocked, to detect ad blockers. Sure, you can write some extension which by-passes it, but then they can change their script a week later to do it slightly differently, to make ad blockers unusable again. Meanwhile for Russia, they have some sort of an exception, so that there can be no ad traffic at all, and you can still watch videos. And they maintain this exception themselves, so there would be no effort on our part.

ffgjgf1 3y ago

[flagged]

kgeist 3y ago
Depends on what kind of entertainment. Some forms of it can bring cultures/countries together.
ksynwa 3y ago
Why is that unfortunate?
anticrymactic 3y ago
Assuming you said this in good faith. How are the Russians responsible for their government? Assuming you are American: how have you stopped the offensive in Iraq or Afghanistan? This is exactly what the Russian government needs, hating Russians will only validate the propaganda. They tell their citizens, how much the west hates them and how they are protecting themselves from NATO. By fulfilling this illusion, you only motivate Russians to actually support their government.
- ffgjgf1 3y ago
  > Assuming you are American: how have you stopped the offensive in Iraq or Afghanistan? I’m not. However I do believe that the wars in Iraq and especially Afghanistan were morally ambiguous (one of them quite a but less than the other) and certainly not imperialist wars of aggression in the classical sense (like the war in Ukraine). > How are the Russians responsible for their government Directly and/or indirectly? Anyway I wouldn’t really see this as fundamentally different in anyway compared to all the other sanctions targeting Russia/Russians these days. > hating Russians will only validate the propaganda Who said I hate them? I certainly have strong opinions about their society and dominant values. I don’t hate Russians would, however it would be nice if they had more time/motivation to focus on thins that actually matter. > how much the west hates them and how they are protecting themselves from NATO. Society wide paranoia and delusion is indeed a huge. How would you suggest could the “West” fix that?

potemkinhr 3y ago

Well VPN is off the table as almost all of them will be blocked by russia's regulators