+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 11 of 11

Thread: Checking the news online is annoying because of ads

  1. Link to Post #1
    United States Avalon Member Strat's Avatar
    Join Date
    27th April 2010
    Language
    English
    Age
    38
    Posts
    1,982
    Thanks
    4,502
    Thanked 13,307 times in 1,825 posts

    Default Checking the news online is annoying because of ads

    Do you check the news online? I swear I'm getting close to going back to the newspaper and vowing never to check online again unless they change their ways.

    It's all the ads. I check the news daily and usually end up clicking on about 3 separate stories. Each time I'll have to wait for the god forsaken screen to resize several times and I'll have to close at least 1 video ad.

    In the past, my local news station would require videos to play. They stopped doing this though, I assume enough folks complained or maybe their ratings dropped.

    In the past I played around with TOR (common web browser used to access dark web) and I used that to check the news. I did this solely cause it wasnt compatible with any of the ads or videos. So the only thing that would load is text and images.

    So minor rant, but I am curious how you folks check the news.
    Today is victory over yourself of yesterday. Tomorrow is your victory over lesser men.

  2. The Following 8 Users Say Thank You to Strat For This Post:

    Chip (4th May 2019), Inaiá (3rd May 2019), Mike (2nd May 2019), Pam (3rd May 2019), Philippe (4th May 2019), raregem (2nd May 2019), toppy (2nd May 2019), Valerie Villars (4th May 2019)

  3. Link to Post #2
    Canada Avalon Member Richard S.'s Avatar
    Join Date
    20th January 2011
    Location
    Montreal Area, Canada
    Age
    60
    Posts
    351
    Thanks
    6,210
    Thanked 2,058 times in 309 posts

    Default Re: Checking the news online is annoying because of ads

    One word: ADBLOCK

    I know what you mean, I wouldn't surf the news without Adblock...

  4. The Following 6 Users Say Thank You to Richard S. For This Post:

    Blacklight43 (2nd May 2019), Chip (4th May 2019), Inaiá (3rd May 2019), raregem (2nd May 2019), Strat (2nd May 2019), toppy (2nd May 2019)

  5. Link to Post #3
    Avalon Member Pam's Avatar
    Join Date
    29th June 2012
    Posts
    3,370
    Thanks
    42,395
    Thanked 27,393 times in 3,308 posts

    Default Re: Checking the news online is annoying because of ads

    Quote Posted by Lovespot (here)
    One word: ADBLOCK

    I know what you mean, I wouldn't surf the news without Adblock...
    ADBLOCK is great but I find many news sites won't allow you to read their content unless you buy a subscription or unblock that site. I have also recently noticed ads being cleverly inserted under the guise of being something other than ads.

  6. The Following 5 Users Say Thank You to Pam For This Post:

    Chip (4th May 2019), raregem (2nd May 2019), Rich (2nd May 2019), Strat (2nd May 2019), toppy (2nd May 2019)

  7. Link to Post #4
    United States Avalon Member Intranuclear's Avatar
    Join Date
    12th August 2011
    Posts
    376
    Thanks
    1,645
    Thanked 2,326 times in 360 posts

    Default Re: Checking the news online is annoying because of ads

    I hate ADs in any way, shape or form, but how is any news site supposed to survive?
    I of course use an AD-blocker and as stated, most sites these days (increasingly so) detect it and either force you to subscribe or disable the AD-blocker.
    What is the business model?
    How can any journalist get paid for their work?
    Clearly no one has figured it out yet, right?
    Previously news was subsidized by the networks' other programming which of course was AD sponsored, but now a subscription model outside of ADs is the only option.
    People have gotten used to "free" and that cannot possibly be a sustainable model.
    In a way Avalon is very much a news source but it is leaching from other web content in a way and of course without some donations it would put a heavy burden on Bill and our Admins.

    NPR once upon a time was almost entirely donation based, but these days they have tons of ADs too since they obviously could not maintain the semi-yearly donation drives.
    I guess information has a price and great information is what, priceless?

  8. The Following 5 Users Say Thank You to Intranuclear For This Post:

    Chip (4th May 2019), Pam (3rd May 2019), raregem (2nd May 2019), Strat (2nd May 2019), Valerie Villars (4th May 2019)

  9. Link to Post #5
    United States Avalon Member Strat's Avatar
    Join Date
    27th April 2010
    Language
    English
    Age
    38
    Posts
    1,982
    Thanks
    4,502
    Thanked 13,307 times in 1,825 posts

    Default Re: Checking the news online is annoying because of ads

    Quote Posted by Intranuclear (here)
    I hate ADs in any way, shape or form, but how is any news site supposed to survive?
    I of course use an AD-blocker and as stated, most sites these days (increasingly so) detect it and either force you to subscribe or disable the AD-blocker.
    What is the business model?
    How can any journalist get paid for their work?
    Clearly no one has figured it out yet, right?
    Previously news was subsidized by the networks' other programming which of course was AD sponsored, but now a subscription model outside of ADs is the only option.
    People have gotten used to "free" and that cannot possibly be a sustainable model.
    In a way Avalon is very much a news source but it is leaching from other web content in a way and of course without some donations it would put a heavy burden on Bill and our Admins.

    NPR once upon a time was almost entirely donation based, but these days they have tons of ADs too since they obviously could not maintain the semi-yearly donation drives.
    I guess information has a price and great information is what, priceless?
    Like all things there's a spectrum. Some news sources use more ads than others (sometimes taking up 1/3 of the screen in addition to video ads and others that pop up as you scroll) and it's why I won't go to them. I doubt it's necessary, I bet it's them maximizing profit. I understand it but **** that I'm not putting up with it.
    Today is victory over yourself of yesterday. Tomorrow is your victory over lesser men.

  10. The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to Strat For This Post:

    Chip (4th May 2019), Pam (3rd May 2019), Philippe (4th May 2019), raregem (2nd May 2019)

  11. Link to Post #6
    Canada Avalon Member
    Join Date
    16th September 2018
    Posts
    1,790
    Thanks
    5,347
    Thanked 10,971 times in 1,706 posts

    Default Re: Checking the news online is annoying because of ads

    There definitely is an undercurrent at play that is becoming more and more noticeable as each day/week/month passes.

    Years ago my adblock software did its job and I never received any comments/complaints from sites.

    Now more and more sites are requesting that I disable my adblock software and/or allow cookies.

    Either more people are becoming savvy to this type of software or the websites are becoming less tolerant
    to those of us who have been using the adblock software all along (or perhaps a little of both).

    Another peeve of mine are the news sites that cater to the illiterates, ie. those who can't read news articles.
    Most MSM news sites I visit are almost exclusively video-based for news info.

    A new annoyance surfaced just yesterday for me. Google is clamping down more and more on people who want to download Youtube videos.
    As I was scrambling around to find a way to download a video Google took over my computer and popped up this message:

    "Our systems have detected unusual traffic from your computer network. This page checks to see if it's really you sending the requests, and not a robot. Why did this happen?

    IP address: xx.xxx.xxx.xxx
    Time: 2019-05-02T02:19:37Z "

    The robot part was just filler. It was basically a scare-tactic message, replete with my IP address for good measure.

    Which shortly after that led me to wonder more about the Google search engine.
    For a time I was using Duck to Go as a search engine, but it still has a way to go before it can compete with Google in its comprehensiveness.

    I don't subscribe to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram but I do regularly still use Google's search engine.
    The CIA/FBI/NSA et al. must have a huge database on my search activity over the years.

  12. The Following User Says Thank You to DaveToo For This Post:

    Pam (3rd May 2019)

  13. Link to Post #7
    United States Avalon Member raregem's Avatar
    Join Date
    1st November 2011
    Location
    Austin, TX
    Posts
    613
    Thanks
    10,746
    Thanked 3,105 times in 563 posts

    Default Re: Checking the news online is annoying because of ads

    Is it greed? Is it to get rid of the thinkers? These days I feel like I reside in a youtube bottleneck.

  14. The Following User Says Thank You to raregem For This Post:

    Pam (3rd May 2019)

  15. Link to Post #8
    Canada Avalon Member TomKat's Avatar
    Join Date
    23rd September 2017
    Posts
    2,616
    Thanks
    2,694
    Thanked 13,330 times in 2,365 posts

    Default Re: Checking the news online is annoying because of ads

    Quote Posted by DaveToo (here)
    I don't subscribe to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram but I do regularly still use Google's search engine.
    The CIA/FBI/NSA et al. must have a huge database on my search activity over the years.
    I use a VPN and have Firefox delete all cookies on exit. Seems to take care of Google data collection.

  16. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to TomKat For This Post:

    DaveToo (3rd May 2019), Pam (3rd May 2019)

  17. Link to Post #9
    Avalon Member
    Join Date
    19th March 2010
    Posts
    316
    Thanks
    9
    Thanked 1,199 times in 262 posts

    Default Re: Checking the news online is annoying because of ads

    uBlock Origin Chrome
    uBlock Origin Firefox

    Make sure you hit options and select your filters there. I usually apply them all. You'll never see an ad again.

  18. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to dim For This Post:

    Alekahn2 (3rd May 2019), Inaiá (4th May 2019), Strat (3rd May 2019)

  19. Link to Post #10
    Brazil Avalon Member Inaiá's Avatar
    Join Date
    27th February 2013
    Posts
    103
    Thanks
    6,475
    Thanked 464 times in 96 posts

    Default Re: Checking the news online is annoying because of ads

    Quote Posted by Lovespot (here)
    One word: ADBLOCK

    I know what you mean, I wouldn't surf the news without Adblock...
    Yes. And yes.

    There is life before and after ADBLOCK. Give it a try.
    We are walking together.

  20. The Following User Says Thank You to Inaiá For This Post:

    Strat (4th May 2019)

  21. Link to Post #11
    Morocco Unsubscribed
    Join Date
    23rd January 2011
    Location
    Ignoring Your Outrage
    Language
    Discordian
    Posts
    4,888
    Thanks
    29,096
    Thanked 40,082 times in 4,764 posts

    Default Re: Checking the news online is annoying because of ads

    Online ADs? What's that?

    I use Brave browser, so I have no clue what you're talking about. Check it out.

+ Reply to Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts