I remember life without adblockers. Back when they were not needed, because web sited did not have ads.
Those were one of the later plagues, too.
did you use the internet in '92 or something? because even in mid to late 90s the ads were so cancerous that pop-up blocking eventually became a standard feature of browsers before ad blockers were even a thing.
My first contact with the web (I had been in the internet for some time already) was when a collegue at university told me about the Arena browser, and this new system, “like Gopher, but with Hypertext and pictures”. And yes, I’ve seen the CERN website, served from Tim Barners-Lee’s NeXT cube, too.
So yes, I knew the web before there were ads, the internet when services were normally open to all sides, and when people on the internet that were actually much smarter than average.
Seriously. Someone never clicked on the “you are an idiot” popup that auto-played music, moved around the screen, prevented task manager from opening and cloned itself if it was closed.
I, too, have a sore back when I awake.
Ah yes, the less than three years before banner ads showed up, and exploded, everywhere
At least those were a) just banner ads and b) not as annoying as modern JS/HTML5/popup/popover ads are. You just scrolled down a few pixel, and had 100% information.
Yes we had 3 more years where numerous other variants of things like pop-up/under ads, ads that ran malicious java script, infinitely self-replicating pop-ups, ads that instantly played music at full volume, ads that kept opening themselves again as you closed them, and so on.
Basically, the time when ads were not super intrusive, on the web, was a fleeting time, in its infancy. Didn’t even make it 6 years before ad blockers were required to safely use the web.
pepperidge farm remembers
FDunny, though, that I only know Pepperidge Farm from memes. I assume that is/was an American brand, right?
Thanks! Now I know what that meme is about.
You are welcome. They did those ads from like the mid 80s until the late 90s or early 2000s.
After going nuclear against ad blockers, at some point google is going to introduce a new “feature” where YouTube uses AI with your phone’s camera to automatically pause videos when you look away from your phone.
Then they’ll make it so you have to buy a subscription to turn it off during ads.
writers of black mirror’s 15 million merits laughing crying maniacally in the distance
Me if that happens:
jk, i barely use YT as it is. I’m waiting for the YT ToS update that causes a mass migration to peertube
Hey, don’t give them ideas.
I remembered a scene of a black mirror episode: if the person looked away the ads will stop until the person watch it again and it’s unavoidable … I wonder if this will be a reality one day
Yes, the technology to do this is here, and they’re just waiting for the consumer to be able to put up with it.
This is why I just set up a media server at home.
It’s mine, you can’t pump it full of ads. All the media is mine and those companies can go fuck themselves.
Sail those seas folks
Oh I have had a plex and then jellyfin server for almost 15 years. Yarr mateys
Don’t worry your TV will just hijack the HDMI signal to inject its own ads
Not if isn’t connected to a network. 😈
Reading your reply made me think … it’s possible that implying such technology might help rising Free & Open Source culture more … given that FOSS apps are usually ad-free and with no tracking
Camara zooms out revealing a third guy looking down into his face youtube requiring a Webcam so they can track your eyes
I’m convinced Mark Zuckerberg had a wet dream about pupil tracking when he bought Oculus.
im convinced his business model if AR/VR ever takes off will involve pupil tracking yes
uBlock origin carries my browser ngl
- mute
So I have a conspiracy theory around that. Android used to put the volume slider at the top of the screen. At some point they moved it to the right side, and now blocks the skip button on YouTube. I won’t doubt this was done on purpose, so if you lower the volume for an ad, you will be forced to watch more of it.
That is absolutely intentional!! Wow!
On Linux or Windows? Firefox + uBlock origin (there’s nothing better than that)
On Mac? Firefox + uBlock origin (worse alternative: Safari + AdGuard, since you might synch browser with iPhone)
On Android? Firefox + Privacy Badger + uBlock Origin
On iOS? Safari + AdGuard + Vinegar + Baking Soda
On SmartTV it’s different.
Hardest overall solution: Get yourself a Pi-Hole https://pi-hole.net/
For WebOS TVs use this: https://github.com/webosbrew/youtube-webos
Android TVs should get SmartTube: https://github.com/yuliskov/smarttube#smarttube-old-name-smarttubenext
RokuTVs got either this thing: https://channelstore.roku.com/en-ca/details/840aec36f51bfe6d96cf6db9055a372a/playlet or the open source alternative: https://github.com/iBicha/playlet
You should note that Pi-Hole works for YouTube on gaming consoles aswell!
Why use privacy badger on Android?
I look forward to the day apple is forced to allow other browser engines to run on iOS.
Unfortunatly, they were smart. To the average lawmaker, Firefox, chrome, edge, etc all run on ios, so there’s no issue.
And for Samsungs tizen os smart TV’s tizentube for YouTube with a pi hole for the ads in the interface.
Even better, make a list of the ads you see, and activelly avoid buying the products or services that they promote.
Also, frantucally turning down the sound of my phone
That’s me
I don’t use an ad blocker anymore but I do pay for a bunch of services and I always pick ad free. I never see ads really.
If I were to use an ad blocker I would set up a pie hole or similar. I had that before and it worked pretty well but with the server side ads on YouTube you would still see those.
I have adblock on my Mac, but not on the PS5. Whenever I watch YouTube on my TV via PS5, I have to open and close videos sometimes 10 or 15 times before they just play the video I’ve clicked on and not some obnoxious 45 second long advert for some bullshit I don’t want and won’t use. Honestly not sure why YouTube finds it so hard to play the video I clicked on and not random other videos. I also tend to stop watching vids as soon as an ad break happens.
I work with a marketing department full time and they’re exactly as annoying as expected, always pissing about on tiktok or Instagram creating shit that nobody could possibly feasibly care about.
Is there an alternative to YouTube on PS5 that doesn’t have adverts? Or is there some way to get adblocking on there?
Truly awful
Not even kidding, my dad watches YouTube on this smart TV and when an ad pops up he covers his eyes and screams until he finds the mute button. He then keeps covering his eyes until he can fully skip the ads.
