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1. Embed this notice
   Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Thursday, 17-Aug-2023 23:51:59 JST Aral Balkan

   “We see you’re using an ad-blocker.”

   I see you’re douchebags.

   #surveillanceCapitalism #adtech #web #douchebags

   • Embed this notice
     Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 00:12:59 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • Matthew Booth

     @mattb How about this: provide a paid for service and don’t track people.

     You might say “but that’s exactly what they are doing!”

     Not really. They’re trying to have their cake and eat it too. They have absolutely no problem with surveillance capitalism – with exposing people to tracking by third parties and everything that that entails – and with their site making money from adtech. Then, on top of that, they’ll also take money to turn off the ads. The tracking? Not necessarily.

   • Embed this notice
     Matthew Booth (mattb@hachyderm.io)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 00:13:00 JST Matthew Booth

     in reply to

     @aral I have sympathy for this message. It's irritating, but they have no obligation to provide services for free. What could they do instead which would be better?

   • Embed this notice
     Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 00:16:34 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • Don Whiteside

     @donw Exactly. When we were maintaining Better¹ (our tracker blocker), we would run into this constantly.

     This isn’t about the kind of ad that’s just an image. This is about adtech. This is about violating your privacy as much as possible and selling you to the highest bidder in an online auction every time you refresh the page.

     ¹ https://better.fyi

   • Embed this notice
     Don Whiteside (donw@mastodon.coffee)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 00:16:35 JST Don Whiteside

     in reply to

     @aral I get those all the time and I don’t run an ad blocker. I run a tracker blocker, which they “confuse” with an ad blocker. Tells me what they’re really concerned with.

   • Embed this notice
     Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 00:19:28 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • Stefan Bohacek

     @stefan Love it!

   • Embed this notice
     Stefan Bohacek (stefan@stefanbohacek.online)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 00:19:29 JST Stefan Bohacek

     in reply to

     @aral The only reason to detect an ad-blocker is to warn the site visitor if it's missing.

     https://wordpress.org/plugins/detect-missing-adblocker/

     (Note that the plugin doesn't work too well right now, the ad-blocker detection started to get pretty unreliable. Maybe it's time to look at this again.)

   • Embed this notice
     Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 00:22:49 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • Matthew Booth

     @mattb Yes, you can. It’s the system we call surveillance capitalism. Or, in my book, people farming.

   • Embed this notice
     Matthew Booth (mattb@hachyderm.io)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 00:22:50 JST Matthew Booth

     in reply to

     @aral I take your point, but picking on a specific internet facing organisation for using an ad network in the current environment is arbitrary. You can apply the same to almost everybody.

     If you pay them, is their site still broken if you use a blocker? That would make them douchebags imho.

   • Embed this notice
     Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 00:47:23 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • utzer

     @utzer Haha, nice :)

   • Embed this notice
     utzer (utzer@social.yl.ms)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 00:47:49 JST utzer

     in reply to
     @aral I guess you understand what I mean, if not, append your URL straight behind this one. 12ft.io/
   • Embed this notice
     utzer (utzer@social.yl.ms)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 00:48:01 JST utzer

     in reply to
     @aral tried using a 12ft ladder to look over the billboard?
   • Embed this notice
     Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 00:52:56 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • Steve Purcell
     • Stefan Bohacek

     @sanityinc @stefan Are there any ad networks left that don’t do tracking? Perhaps look into one of those.

   • Embed this notice
     Stefan Bohacek (stefan@stefanbohacek.online)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 00:52:58 JST Stefan Bohacek

     in reply to

     • Steve Purcell

     @sanityinc @aral Ha, thank you!

   • Embed this notice
     Steve Purcell (sanityinc@hachyderm.io)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 00:52:58 JST Steve Purcell

     in reply to

     • Stefan Bohacek

     @stefan @aral@mastodon.ar.al I run a site that has been largely ad-supported for a long time, and even I'm ready to do something like this, mainly because Google have gradually enshittified the experience of my visitors by unilaterally making my site more hostile to them over time.

   • Embed this notice
     Steve Purcell (sanityinc@hachyderm.io)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 00:53:00 JST Steve Purcell

     in reply to

     • Stefan Bohacek

     @stefan @aral Genius

   • Embed this notice
     Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 00:55:45 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • Matthew Booth
     • M.S. Bellows, Jr.
     • CynAq 🤘

     @msbellows @mattb @CynAq

     I don’t know who you mean when you say the ‘far left’ but there are some of us out there who would never dream of being funded by a billionaire (or take VC, etc.) In fact, I don’t see how you can be left of anything if you’re funded by a billionaire.

   • Embed this notice
     M.S. Bellows, Jr. (msbellows@c.im)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 00:55:46 JST M.S. Bellows, Jr.

     in reply to

     • Matthew Booth
     • CynAq 🤘

     @mattb @CynAq @aral And this exchange is the perfect metaphor for why the far left is as hypocritical as the far right. Privileged scolds.

   • Embed this notice
     Matthew Booth (mattb@hachyderm.io)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 00:55:47 JST Matthew Booth

     in reply to

     • M.S. Bellows, Jr.
     • CynAq 🤘

     @CynAq @aral @msbellows That does change the calculation somewhat.

   • Embed this notice
     M.S. Bellows, Jr. (msbellows@c.im)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 00:55:48 JST M.S. Bellows, Jr.

     in reply to

     • Matthew Booth
     • CynAq 🤘

     @CynAq @aral @mattb Aren't they also funded by a billionaire?

   • Embed this notice
     CynAq 🤘 (cynaq@evil.social)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 00:55:48 JST CynAq 🤘

     in reply to

     • Matthew Booth
     • M.S. Bellows, Jr.

     @msbellows@c.im @aral@mastodon.ar.al @mattb@hachyderm.io yes, and they are open about it too.

   • Embed this notice
     CynAq 🤘 (cynaq@evil.social)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 00:55:49 JST CynAq 🤘

     in reply to

     • Matthew Booth

     @mattb@hachyderm.io @aral@mastodon.ar.al They ask for donations without putting content behind a paywall, and they don't run adds.

   • Embed this notice
     Matthew Booth (mattb@hachyderm.io)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 00:55:50 JST Matthew Booth

     in reply to

     • CynAq 🤘

     @CynAq @aral How is it funded?

   • Embed this notice
     CynAq 🤘 (cynaq@evil.social)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 00:55:51 JST CynAq 🤘

     in reply to

     • Matthew Booth

     @mattb@hachyderm.io @aral@mastodon.ar.al It's n independent news organization.

   • Embed this notice
     CynAq 🤘 (cynaq@evil.social)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 00:55:52 JST CynAq 🤘

     in reply to

     • Matthew Booth

     @mattb@hachyderm.io @aral@mastodon.ar.al Go on The Intercept and you'll see.

   • Embed this notice
     Matthew Booth (mattb@hachyderm.io)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 00:55:52 JST Matthew Booth

     in reply to

     • CynAq 🤘

     @CynAq @aral What's that?

   • Embed this notice
     Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 01:04:54 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • Steve Purcell
     • Stefan Bohacek

     @sanityinc @stefan Yeah. Basically, one where they place ads not on tracking but based on the topic of your articles. They’re usually far more relevant anyway (I’m already there because I care about your topic), and I’m not having my privacy violated and being sold off in a real-time auction before your page even loads.

   • Embed this notice
     Steve Purcell (sanityinc@hachyderm.io)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 01:04:55 JST Steve Purcell

     in reply to

     • Stefan Bohacek

     @aral @stefan I think I read about one called Ethical Ads, and yeah, that might be a good alternative to just dropping all the revenue.

   • Embed this notice
     Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 01:05:05 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • Matthew Booth
     • M.S. Bellows, Jr.
     • CynAq 🤘

     @msbellows @mattb @CynAq Oh, you’re talking about The Intercept, the rag that employs Greenwald? He’s not far left, he’s far right.

   • Embed this notice
     M.S. Bellows, Jr. (msbellows@c.im)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 01:10:37 JST M.S. Bellows, Jr.

     in reply to

     • Matthew Booth
     • CynAq 🤘

     @aral @mattb @CynAq Maybe I should've written "faaaAAAaar left."

   • Embed this notice
     Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 01:10:37 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • M.S. Bellows, Jr.

     @msbellows It’s possible if you go far enough left you wrap around. I’ve seen it happen to a few folks.

   • Embed this notice
     Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 01:22:09 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • Bread and Circuses
     • Stefan Müller :verified:

     @stefanmuelller Only folks who don’t understand what “pay with your data” means would offer it as an acceptable option in polite company.

     Short: https://www.bbc.co.uk/ideas/videos/surveillance-capitalism-has-led-us-into-a-dystopia/p06p0tdy
     Longer: https://small-tech.org/videos/the-camera-panopticon/

     @breadandcircuses

     #SurveillanceCapitalism #PeopleFarming

   • Embed this notice
     Stefan Müller :verified: (stefanmuelller@climatejustice.social)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 01:22:11 JST Stefan Müller :verified:

     in reply to

     • Bread and Circuses

     @aral @breadandcircuses

     They work for you. So pay them. Either with money or with your data. Your choice. I find it very strange that everybody expects free content.

   • Embed this notice
     Make Nazis Dead Again (stg@c.im)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 01:24:16 JST Make Nazis Dead Again

     in reply to

     @aral Use reader mode in Safari on RawStory and it bypasses the paywall/surveillance wall.

   • Embed this notice
     Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 01:24:16 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • Make Nazis Dead Again

     @stg Thanks, keep forgetting about that :)

   • Embed this notice
     Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 06:14:47 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • Bread and Circuses
     • Stefan Müller :verified:

     @stefanmuelller @breadandcircuses If describing what they do is calling them names then maybe they should reconsider what they do. They’re not journalists, they’re an adtech company. They’re surveillance capitalists. They make money by being part of the same extractive and exploitative system that gave us Cambridge Analytica and Boris Johnson and Trump and women in the US getting prosecuted for having had abortions.

   • Embed this notice
     Stefan Müller :verified: (stefanmuelller@climatejustice.social)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 06:14:49 JST Stefan Müller :verified:

     in reply to

     • Bread and Circuses

     @aral @breadandcircuses

     I know very well what this means. I am a computer scientist with a PhD in cs. I am in the internet since 1989 and have my webpage since 1994. I never used cookies on any of my webpages.

     I block cookies wherever I can and delete the rest regularly.

     What did I say? I said: pay them. I pay the Guardian and the taz although they provide their content for „free“. They have to pay their staff. I also pay for other newspapers and magazines.

     If you do not want to pay them with cash you pay with data. A much higher price. We both agree on this. However, I would not call people names who try to run a newspaper or blog and pay their staff.

     PS I am one of the press directors of an #openaccess publishing house that publishes free for authors. But somebody has to pay the bills in the end. In our case it is 100+ universities.

   • Embed this notice
     Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 06:16:27 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • Bread and Circuses
     • Stefan Müller :verified:

     @stefanmuelller @breadandcircuses I have the utmost respect for journalism. Adtech isn’t journalism.

     https://better.fyi/spotlight/

     #adtech #journalism #SurveillanceCapitalism #PeopleFarming

   • Embed this notice
     Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 15:08:56 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • Steve8282

     @Steve8282 Do you see that I couldn’t care less?

   • Embed this notice
     Steve8282 (steve8282@mastodon.world)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 15:08:58 JST Steve8282

     in reply to

     @aral Do you see that I stopped following you?

   • Embed this notice
     Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 15:13:19 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • patter

     @patterfloof “Hey, that slap sure did hurt, didn’t it? If you’d like to stop me slapping you in the future…”

   • Embed this notice
     patter (patterfloof@meow.social)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 15:13:20 JST patter

     in reply to

     @aral I saw a decent one on Newsthump earlier, where it's probably even less intrusive than that ad that replaces it :)

   • Embed this notice
     Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 17:51:40 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • Bread and Circuses
     • Stefan Müller :verified:

     @stefanmuelller @breadandcircuses We no longer maintain it. It just wasn’t viable and building the Small Web is taking up every minute of my time :) (The link is to an article we published while we were maintaining it that I thought you might find interesting.)

   • Embed this notice
     Stefan Müller :verified: (stefanmuelller@climatejustice.social)'s status on Friday, 18-Aug-2023 17:51:44 JST Stefan Müller :verified:

     in reply to

     • Bread and Circuses

     @aral @breadandcircuses

     The app is not available in my app store.