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Hey HN - I built ZeroAds because I was tired of skipping minutes of ads while driving and working out. What it does • Subscribe to shows in ZeroAds (paste a p

Hey HN - I built ZeroAds because I was tired of skipping minutes of ads while driving and working out. What it does • Subscribe to shows in ZeroAds (paste a public RSS). • We transcribe the episode (Whisper) and detect sponsor reads/insertions. • We cut those spans with FFmpeg and publish a clean RSS you can add to Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, etc. Tech • OpenSaaS stack (React + Node + Stripe), Python flask microservice, Postgres (Neon), Fly.io • Whisper for transcription; an LLM pass over timestamps to classify segments; surgical splices with FFmpeg • Typical run time: ~5 minutes for a 60-minute episode on current infra Accuracy & limits • ~90%+ on host-reads/dynamic insertions/network promos in our tests • Hard cases: sponsor shoutouts blended into content, very short bumpers, or poor audio • We bias toward avoiding content loss over aggressive cutting Pricing • Founding members: $5.99/mo (planned $7.99). Covers API/hosting and a creator compensation pool. Privacy • Server-side processing only; no user data sharing; works from publicly available RSS/audio. Looking for feedback on • False positives you’d worry about • Specific shows/episodes we should test • Whether pricing feels fair for the value/costs • What would make setup clearer/faster Happy to dig into technical details and take tough questions - thanks!

bitpush 1y ago
> Is this legal? >> Absolutely. You're processing publicly available RSS feeds for personal use, which is protected under fair use. We also share revenue with creators based on your listening, so they're fairly compensated. I dont think you can hide behind "it is publicly available, so I can take it and sell it". That's not fair use. You're redistributing it, and specific licenses come into play. This is an interesting idea indeed, but not sure whether you'd be able to make a sustainable business out of this.
- fxuniverse 1y ago
  We're not sure either, but there's only one way to find out! Also, there's existing competition (AdBlock Podcast) not to mention every ad blocker for every other platform. Yes some parties may not be happy, but we're solving the out-of-control ads situation for the end user.
  - bitpush 1y ago
    Ad Blockers are free, yeah? Do they charge money? The moment money comes in, different incentives kick in. You can do this as a passion, a hobby, or on principle. But the moment you want to make money, you'll be judged differently.

bitpush 1y ago

> Is this legal? >> Absolutely. You're processing publicly available RSS feeds for personal use, which is protected under fair use. We also share revenue with creators based on your listening, so they're fairly compensated. I dont think you can hide behind "it is publicly available, so I can take it and sell it". That's not fair use. You're redistributing it, and specific licenses come into play. This is an interesting idea indeed, but not sure whether you'd be able to make a sustainable business out of this.

fxuniverse 1y ago
We're not sure either, but there's only one way to find out! Also, there's existing competition (AdBlock Podcast) not to mention every ad blocker for every other platform. Yes some parties may not be happy, but we're solving the out-of-control ads situation for the end user.
- bitpush 1y ago
  Ad Blockers are free, yeah? Do they charge money? The moment money comes in, different incentives kick in. You can do this as a passion, a hobby, or on principle. But the moment you want to make money, you'll be judged differently.