[jellykid]

When it comes to the internet... I'd prefer it to stay like the wild west. Least amount of regulation beyond something like net neutrality. People forget that the reason we have all of these "free" services is because of ads and that's coming from someone who hates ads. Every streaming subscription I have, I pay for the ad-free service. Let the people who don't know how to install a browser extension or change a few settings pay for these things for the rest of us.

[otachack]

I have a feeling that is most people out there.

I observed a friend of mine click on a malicious ad link recently in front of me when driving a presentation for a community meeting. It was shown as an overlay for a seemingly harmless site I found. In my home with a pihole I didn't see any of the ads.

I felt terrible that I was partially responsible for her clicking it. This knowledge and habit of ad-blocking and secure computer usage takes factors of time, effort, and money to learn, and not everyone is going to, or is capable of, devoting what's needed.

[A4ET8a8uTh0]

I agree; it seems worth it. My wife, who resisted dropping cable for the longest time, now prefers adless streaming and asks if wifi is down, because ads popped on her phone. If it has a downside, it is that my kid now is fascinated by ads, when we are in the wild. She normally does not see them and thus has no internal firewall built up.

[account42]

> People forget that the reason we have all of these "free" services is because of ads and that's coming from someone who hates ads.

People forget that before ad-supported "free" services took over we had community-run actually free services.

The internet does not need ads.

[btylke]

You may not see the ads in that content, but your data will still be collected and sold. This is where we lack fundamental protections.