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There were absolutely ads on the internet in the 90s. It’s why today’s web browsers come with pop-up blockers built in. I think you are wearing rose-tinted gla

There were absolutely ads on the internet in the 90s. It’s why today’s web browsers come with pop-up blockers built in. I think you are wearing rose-tinted glasses. You can still fire up a shell today if you want to. You can even run dos in a vm if modern command lines aren’t what you’re looking for.

silverquiet 2y ago
I remember flashing banners and blink text as a scourge of the early(ish) web. The worst was the “porn storm” which if I remember was a mid aughts feature where one pop up would open up many more. There were stories of teachers getting in trouble for them. I also miss the early web. I basically grew up along side it so obviously there’s some nostalgia, but I wouldn’t pretend it was all good either. There are links that will be known to millennials (and I’m sure some older generations as well) because they were shared amongst us for their shock value.
nunez 2y ago
True, and those recursive popup ads were the absolute worst. But the ads were static, so you didn't have to worry about bad ads delivering malware straight to your PC without asking. You also didn't have to worry about drive-by autoplay ads (since video wasn't possible back then, though GIFs were an early precursor to this) or relatively huge tracking scripts on preload.
rchaud 2y ago
Ads were static and displayed at the top of the page or on the side, instead of being shoved into the middle of an article. That's where the term "banner blindness" came from: every site used the same approach, and our eyes began being able to ignore them after a while. Today we have the hellscape of sticky elements where ads stay visible inside the viewport, and real-time-bidding systems where the ads change after x minutes, and of course, 5 minute video ads that destroy your mobile bandwidth. Absolutely nothing is off-limits.

silverquiet 2y ago

I remember flashing banners and blink text as a scourge of the early(ish) web. The worst was the “porn storm” which if I remember was a mid aughts feature where one pop up would open up many more. There were stories of teachers getting in trouble for them. I also miss the early web. I basically grew up along side it so obviously there’s some nostalgia, but I wouldn’t pretend it was all good either. There are links that will be known to millennials (and I’m sure some older generations as well) because they were shared amongst us for their shock value.

nunez 2y ago

True, and those recursive popup ads were the absolute worst. But the ads were static, so you didn't have to worry about bad ads delivering malware straight to your PC without asking. You also didn't have to worry about drive-by autoplay ads (since video wasn't possible back then, though GIFs were an early precursor to this) or relatively huge tracking scripts on preload.

rchaud 2y ago

Ads were static and displayed at the top of the page or on the side, instead of being shoved into the middle of an article. That's where the term "banner blindness" came from: every site used the same approach, and our eyes began being able to ignore them after a while. Today we have the hellscape of sticky elements where ads stay visible inside the viewport, and real-time-bidding systems where the ads change after x minutes, and of course, 5 minute video ads that destroy your mobile bandwidth. Absolutely nothing is off-limits.