I literally haven’t seen anyone even mention it anywhere on the internet as if it never existed, when it comes to Ad blockers I always see uBO recommended with absolutely no mention whatsoever of ABP why? What makes it better than ABP? What happened to it? or maybe I’m wrong and ABP is not as well known as I think it is.
I have been using ABP for many years until someday don’t remember when I switched to uBO because I read that it is “the best ad blocker”.
I maybe need a history lesson as everything on the matter seems so vague to me and the whole situation is super weird
Yes we know of it. That’s why we actively avoid it. It doesn’t take many searches to figure out its downfalls. AdBlock, AdBlock Plus, and the non Origin uBlock are all owned by the same company and they allow corporations to pay to let ads through.
Adblock Plus is not recommended as by default it allows certain promoted ads to show if it deems them unobtrusive. I think they actually receive profits from ads, which is asinine for an adblocking entity.
On the other hand, uBlock does much more than just block ads. First of all, it blocks all ads, and it blocks other trackers and annoyances from Facebook, Google, as well as having the ability to add custom rules for bypassing certain types of popovers, and to clean up tracking data that often gets appended when you click a URL.
Ublock doesn’t freeze my YT videos when it rolls over a midroll ad. I’ll never use anything else (maybe a Pi-Hole)
A pi hole is great, but I don’t believe it’s effective against YouTube ads because of the way they’re delivered
Yeah. I believe YouTube ads are basically just YouTube videos so it’s difficult to filter out.
it blocks all ads
Am I the only one that has a problem with this? Unless you’re paying for use of a site then aren’t you basically being entitled to someone else’s labor?
Someone made the site, created the content, and hosted it for consumption. Until money isn’t necessary for survival it seems reasonable to make sure they’re compensated for it.
Ads nowadays are
- More and more obnoxious and obtrusive
- Also serving as trackers
That’s a no from me
Honestly, back when most normal sites just had banner ads, I wasn’t too concerned.
It was only when they started intruding inside actual videos and making every news site look like the sites we were warned never to visit back in the 90s that I ever considered using an ad blocker.
If you’re blocking them all how do you know how obtrusive or obnoxious they are?
Secondarily, why do you think that is? Have they gotten more or less instant since ad blockers have been an option?
I’m not at all against ad blockers. I’ve got a Pi-hole myself. I just think blocking every ad ever is doing a lot more for the problem than it is to help
I do feel bad about it on occasion. But then. I remember getting the ol’ rootkit/worm combo from gamefaqs and forgive myself. These sites have long since lost my trust.
So you got screwed once and that’s it for everyone ever? How do you not live in a hut in the mountains?
You’ve got yourself mixed up. They’re not entitled to my compute, or my eyeballs. They handed my browser a pile of HTML, and I’ll do what I want with it.
Did you cut all the advertisements out of magazines and newspapers before reading them?
What about the billboards on the side of the road?
You are not entitled to their hosting or their content. They provide them to you in exchange for ad revenue they receive from showing them to you. You’re refusing to engage in the exchange.
My issue is more with trackers than ads anyways, altrough ads that block so much that using the site normally becomes a pain in the ass are the other extend which is sadly also getting more and more common. But sadly most websites and services that let you pay to get rid of ads will still put everything full of trackers…
Also, there are quite some sites that just copy content or or have an AI write content, made to rank high in searches, then is putbfull of adds to make money. Those are automated money-farms, and deserve blockers.
I block everything, ads and trackers alike. Somewhat regularily I’m on the web without and it’s always a great reminder why I normally do use them.
But I also pay for multiple websites and services I use regularily despite them working fine without paying or having “free” alternatives. After all, nothing is free and I rather pay with money than with data. And I also want to be paid for my work, and I can only imagine so do others. So I do agree with you there, and I highly encourage people to pay for stuff.
But I won’t feel bad for blocking that shit, also not on the websites I don’t financially support. Because most of the time they are the ones that made it impossible to use their website privacy-friendly without blocking stuff anyways, even if I’m willing to pay.
My issue is more with trackers than ads anyways
Agreed. I have no issues with this.
Also, there are quite some sites that just copy content or or have an AI write content, made to rank high in searches, then is putbfull of adds to make money. Those are automated money-farms, and deserve blockers.
I agree here as well. Though the simplest solution is to avoid them altogether I don’t have an objection to working against deliberately malicious sites like this.
But I also pay for multiple websites and services I use regularily despite them working fine without paying or having “free” alternatives. After all, nothing is free and I rather pay with money than with data.
And with this I have no objections to anything else. My issue is specifically with the mindset of neither viewing any ad regardless of anything besides it being an ad combined with refusal to offer any sort of recompense. You’re supporting at least a few sites that you feel are worth supporting and that’s plenty for me.
I’m not in a position nor pay grade to subsidize someone else’s income with my time or attention
I try to find freely contributed materials when I can; for instance, I try to watch non-monetized YouTube channels and visit sites that are freely made and shared, but I’m not so high on my horse that I’m above clicking a link to a news article on a site like this one and using an ad blocker
If you have so little attention to spare that an ad along side or even within content is too far for you how did you find the time to comment?
Good on you for looking for free options. On the other hand that furthers the question about how much attention would really cost you…
@Doug @LinkOpensChest_wav I used to think this way but so much advertising today is malware. I’m happy for sites to write simple text or image ads that won’t even be detected by adblockers, much less actually blocked. It’s the pile of JavaScript that’s the problem, and it’s the pile of JavaScript that adblockers block.
@Doug @LinkOpensChest_wav for sites I very frequently use, I’m also happy to pay a subscription. I have been subscribed to LWN and to YouTube.
I’m totally with you there. JavaScript ads are not ok. But that’s not what the quoted statement said. It said “all ads”.
I see this a lot with the ad blocking crowd. Especially the ones that will run over to tell you how you’re doing things wrong if you’re not using their preferred method (usually ubo). It’s not enough to block problematic ads because all ads, simply be existing, are problematic.
But then they won’t offer anything else either. They want all the content of the internet served up to them for free.
I’d love to live in a utopia where we can all freely share everything. Until that happens I’ve got a family to feed and bills to pay. So does everyone else.
It was recommended until they changed their business model to charging advertisers to be allowed through the blocking because they were “the good type of advert”
Here is one reason.
https://uk.pcmag.com/web-sites/39469/adblock-plus-extortion-or-smart-business
