> The internet was just fine before it was turned into an ad delivery platform.
this is the comment I replied to. Apparently the old internet was fine, so what kind of "competition" are you looking for? Youtube gives you easy access to content you would have to spend hours trying to locate on "old" internet.
If you do not like their content, simply stop using their site. But it is immoral to pretend like it is OK to abuse their site, and deliberately hide their adviertisments that keep their site alive
Are you also okay with sites running crypto miners while they're open without having received your prior consent as a way to monetize? How about if they install a service worker in case you close the tab before doing sufficient mining to pay what they think is fair?
Personally, I run malware blockers by default, so I don't know which sites are trying to send it to me to avoid visiting them. I couldn't tell you whether e.g. the github link in OP has ads. I see some stuff gets blocked, so I guess maybe? I figured they monetize through upselling their enterprise offerings, but I guess it is Microsoft and their OS has ads built in these days, so wouldn't surprise me.
If the ads would be self-hosted and properly curated by the hosting site I wouldn't have a problem with them (just as I don't have much of a problem with print or tv ads). The specific problem with web ads is that most of the web made a deal with the devil: 3rd-party ad-networks which are directly injecting who-knows-what into webpages. Those ads are not just cheap click-bait-trash, but also potential malware vectors. At that point, ad-blocking essentially becomes a civil duty ;)
...and FWIW the use of ad-blockers is indeed recommended by the German "Federal Office for Security in Information Technology":
The US federal government also officially recommends using an ad blocker to protect oneself from e.g. ransomware and fraud, and has issued a warning that online ads are being used for those things:
It's not really practical to know in advance whether any random site will invite me to view an ad; it's easier to just decline such invitations when they come.
But it's not just ads: that's disingenuous by understating the impact. It's the entire tracking, data broker, ad marketplace, surveillance capitalism ecosystem. This ecosystem causes immense harm in global climate, ruins lives, delivers malware, violates privacy, and supports authoritarian overreach.
This is why EU legislators have made the "cookie law". The site will tell you that they are using ads, and you are free to just leave. the. site. Stop mooching off people's hard work by killing their only source of revenue, ad blockers are immoral
bcye|1 year ago
ThrowawayTestr|1 year ago
MattGaiser|1 year ago
helpmefindpurp|1 year ago
this is the comment I replied to. Apparently the old internet was fine, so what kind of "competition" are you looking for? Youtube gives you easy access to content you would have to spend hours trying to locate on "old" internet.
If you do not like their content, simply stop using their site. But it is immoral to pretend like it is OK to abuse their site, and deliberately hide their adviertisments that keep their site alive
ndriscoll|1 year ago
Personally, I run malware blockers by default, so I don't know which sites are trying to send it to me to avoid visiting them. I couldn't tell you whether e.g. the github link in OP has ads. I see some stuff gets blocked, so I guess maybe? I figured they monetize through upselling their enterprise offerings, but I guess it is Microsoft and their OS has ads built in these days, so wouldn't surprise me.
helpmefindpurp|1 year ago
"I don't mind driving the speed limit"
"BUT ARE YOU ALSO OKAY WITH MURDER???"
flohofwoe|1 year ago
...and FWIW the use of ad-blockers is indeed recommended by the German "Federal Office for Security in Information Technology":
https://www.bsi.bund.de/DE/Themen/Verbraucherinnen-und-Verbr...
ndriscoll|1 year ago
https://www.ic3.gov/Media/Y2022/PSA221221
nottorp|1 year ago
marssaxman|1 year ago
imglorp|1 year ago
Ads might be fine, a pinch of annoyance.
And yes I pay for my content thank you.
helpmefindpurp|1 year ago
travoc|1 year ago