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Stuff like this is why I don't feel bad about blocking ads. This garbage adds no value and just exists to get clicks from tech illiterate people.



I don't mind ad-supported content, but I don't want to see this Taboola/Outbrain garbage. So I created a short blocklist (compatible with uBlock Origin and Adblock Plus) for these clickbait ad networks. Pull requests are welcome! :)

https://github.com/cpeterso/clickbait-blocklist/


Are YOU aware of this one weird blocklist? Advertisers HATE it! (may they all rot)

http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm


They clearly said that they don't mind ads as long as it's not this click bait crap. I guess it pays really well because every newspaper web site has it :(


Anecdotal evidence: news source I read tend to switch from provider to provider every six months or so.

Either they are offered a great deal by the new incumbent or management gets fed up with poor revenue/poor targetting.

I've seen it happen 3 or 4 times in the last few years?


Just added it to my ABP - thank you!

Taboola & Outbrain are a plague on the internet. Plus, I still have belly fat.


I was going to say "This is one of the things that you don't see when you don't see ads." but I like your comment better.


The most insane part to me is that (in my experience) Taboola/Outbrain pay peanuts compared to other networks that in theory deliver better content.


Taboola/Outbrain provide unique demand. If you fill the extra space on a page with the same type of ads you have elsewhere on the page, you will exhaust the high-paying inventory for that page and quickly get diminishing returns.


It is better to not block ads. Just leave website if you don’t like it. I don’t think you so desperate about the content, also the ads quality will help you decide about content quality.


> It is better to not block ads. Just leave website if you don’t like it.

IMO it's better to do both. Ad supported websites are usually not worth spending time on, but on the occasion, you can still send a signal that you disapprove of this business model.

> the ads quality will help you decide about content quality.

Usually, the very presence of ads tell you the site content is most likely garbage.


> ads quality will help you decide about content quality.

Why should someone rely on correlation between content quality and ads quality, when she is capable of making decision based on an actual content?


Just test it yourself. I've googled "iphone 11", here is first 3 links:

1) https://www.techradar.com/news/iphone-xi Absolute trash, playing video, obtrusive ads, popup. Thank you but no, I don't want to consume shit even if content is stellar (actually it is not).

2) https://9to5mac.com/guides/iphone-11/ Reasonable, actually surprisingly readable. Awesome in terms of rivals.

3) https://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/3066173/iphone-11-... Absolute trash, can't even see the content because of popup "we'll sell you soul after you accept".

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Blocking ads is bad for everyone, because you still "consume" the website and it has incentive to continue while users are ok with that (not leaving). More likely your ad-block provider sells you visiting history to similarweb or so because nothing is free :)


> Blocking ads is bad for everyone, because you still "consume" the website and it has incentive to continue while users are ok with that

Maybe it is so. But it is not enough to watch ads. Try for yourself, use adblocker for a month. You'll see that it is just plain impossible to use site with ads. You believe that ads is normal, and it is the only reason why you conform.




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