Uninstall Chrome.
Install Firefox.
Stop letting Google dictate web standards and accept that they plan on removing adblocking from Chrome.
Firefox is the last widely available, cross-platform browser that isn’t based on Chromium. The only other is Safari for macOS/iOS which is not generally cross-platform.
- Firefox uses Gecko/Quantum
- Safari uses WebKit
- Chrome/Chromium uses Blink
Drop any browsers that use Blink as the rendering engine, and yeah, it’s most of them.
Google has made it completely clear where they stand on this war, which is that they will remove your access to content if you don’t agree to see their ads.
I’ve been on firefox since 2018 and I do not regret it, fuck monopolys, don’t let a single company to have control and manage the web as it pleases
I’ve been on Firefox since way back. I understand they’ve made a lot of missteps and I’m not going to defend some of their worst decisions, but they’re at the very least not an advertising company that wants to remove adblocks from how the web works.
I’m out of the loop here, what would you say are the missteps and bad decisions from Firefox?
What about email? Firfox have email. How will I be able to switch my android device away from Google?
I like to have alternative but they pretty much control everything on most devices I use.
You can degoogle android by removing or sandboxing google play services. CalyxOS and LineageOS do this AFAIK.
K-9 Mail from Mozilla is an Android-version of their Thunderbird email client.
youtube has been actively fighting ad blockers for over a decade. what’s this “preparing”?
Well, fair enough point. But Google is preparing to actually become actionable and start issuing sweeping user bans.
I’m a dev. I know people who’ve run afoul of Google and had their accounts banned. They lose access to everything with zero recourse.
And it means they have to find new jobs because enterprise Google accounts are also affected. Especially if they are Android developers.
Google also has methods to trace people down if they make new accounts. That presumably extends to people accessing information without accounts. People are incredibly easy to finger print with just their browser and all the data it surrenders as a standard.
I know people who’ve run afoul of Google and had their accounts banned. They lose access to everything with zero recourse.
That reminds me, gotta go pick up my Google Takeout.
But would they really only go after people who are logged into their Google account? Because then it’s a simple matter of opening an incognito tab. And then they either let it go, or take it to next level by banning anonymous visitors by IP, or tip their hand and reveal that they spy on you in incognito tabs. Either way it’s gonna go well with popcorn.
It’s well within reason to fight it just like it’s within reason that users will find other ways. I don’t think it makes Google evil to try to stop people from blocking their ads, but this is the internet and people will always find another way around it.
Definitely feels like both sides of the Adblock battle are going to get more sophisticated.
Youtube: “Watch our ads or else”
Reddit: “Watch our ads or else”
Fediverse: “Else”
There is no way the fediverse will replace youtube.
Youtube Is very expensive to host, and the proof is that there is no actual competitor to it.
This sounds reasonable. There is no free lunch.
It’s not free even with an adblocker allowed. Google still takes my data.
Google made $7 billion from YouTube in 2021[1], might I remind you by running ads on other peoples’s content. Now of course Google does provide the platform for that content, but the point still remains.
Users and content creators are what make YouTube, not the other way around. Companies like Google need to careful not to let their pursuit of profit upset the good thing they have going for them.
And of all the content delivery networks they are one of the more equitable ones in terms of monetisation (I’m looking at you TikTok). I’m sure creators get more income per view on platforms like Nebula but it’s hard to get the scale of reach of YouTube.
Of course I hate ads, but I pay my Premium fee to avoid them safe in the knowledge creators get a bigger slice of revenue per premium supported view vs ad supported. I also wouldn’t give my kids access to YouTube without something to stop the ads.
I’m all for alternative distribution channels but for creators to get paid they will need to run ads, more brand integrations or have some sort of subscription setup. Most people can only avoid to sponsor a small proportion of the content they enjoy.
- Stop using the word ‘Google’ instead of saying ‘Search’. Take offense if anyone tells you to ‘Google’ something - fuck them!!!
- Set Firefox as your default - don’t keep ‘defaulting’ to chrome, or chromium based browsers (as this code mostly comes from Google).
- Be sure to become more acquainted with more platforms, keep shortcuts handy and use them when they have content…
- If you must use Youtube, use it signed out - find your channel and add it to an RSS reader. Avoid using the Youtube interface and avoid the algorithms. Search for any channels you watch on alternative platforms.
Firefox on mobile caters for extensions too. Not having ads or tracking on your phone is great. FF on both mobile and desktop is fantastic tbh.
Doesn’t have sponsorblock though unless you use nightly and make some tweaks
Firefox Focus is also a lovely little mobile browser for random queries and such. It’s effectively always in private browsing mode; anytime you close it, it clears its cache.
I definitely use it more often than “regular” Firefox on mobile. I only really use regular Firefox if I need some sort of persistence or login.
The upside if we all use the term Google, is that over time Google will lose their ability to enforce their trademark.