this post was submitted on 30 Dec 2025
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[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 14 points 14 hours ago

Yup, right this here

I'm extremely hostile to ads, always have been

I'm arring my ways over the seas because it's impossible to watch videos normally without ads, even when paying. Even Netflix every now and then manages to annoy the fuck out of me even while paying.

I do not want to watch what you want me to watch

I do not want to know about your bullshit products

I invest actual money and time into actively avoiding any and all ads, and happily do so

Fuck marketing, it should be prohibited

[–] Shelbyeileen@lemmy.world 6 points 13 hours ago

I hope that YouTube, Instagram, and Pandora notice that I close their app every time I see a gambling ad

[–] Defectus@lemmy.world 12 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

No ads in my life except when i go into town. Difficult to block IRL ads... Yet

[–] AyriePayrie@lemmy.world 6 points 12 hours ago

São Paulo in Brazil made advertisement on public streets illegal, and banned most types of banners, restricted the amount of logos etc to greatly improve the visual experience of the city. It's definitely much better now than it ever was.

Now they just gotta take care of the pollution, increasingly vulnerable homeless population and neglected poor areas and then it would be paradise.

[–] ristoril_zip@lemmy.zip 9 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

I was talking about this with my wife the other day. I just can't understand how people are as OK with ads as they are.

[–] slappyfuck@lemmy.ca 3 points 10 hours ago

I was talking to my girlfriend about this recently too. I forget where I first heard it, but someone said, “You have a right to your private mind. Persuasive ads are junk,” and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Persuasive advertising is absolute junk!

[–] Jaysyn@lemmy.world 6 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

I've been using this HOSTS file for over two decades to prevent ads.

HOSTS + Ublock Origin + Privacy Badger 🤌

[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 3 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago)

Pi-hole basically does that for me (or mullvad vpn)

[–] eskimofry@lemmy.world 9 points 16 hours ago (4 children)

Let me add to your rant with an additional pet peeve of mine: Usually when people rant about the advertising some smug assholes in the comment sections say "You think you are immune but it works on you, otherwise they wouldn't spend millions on it".

When did money become the sole metric with which we judge the merit of ideas? Did the billionaire who died in the titan submersible incident not shut up the crowd making such an argument?

[–] grindemup@lemmy.world 4 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

I don't understand what your argument is. As far as advertisers are concerned, money is indeed the end goal and ultimate metric of success. So if advertising leads to more money, that is success as far as they are concerned. The philosophical outlook of the consumer does not pertain to this argument. But I think I'm misunderstanding your point so perhaps you could clarify?

[–] redhorsejacket@lemmy.world 2 points 10 hours ago

Near as I can tell, they are not so much advancing an argument as using this opportunity to complain about a tangentially related phenomenon. The point seems muddled since the efficacy of advertising wasn't ever in question, but, basically, they're just saying it grinds their gears when someone points out that advertising works as a justification for its existence. They believe that there are metrics to consider which aren't "did the ad generate a sale".

Could be I got that wrong, but I think that's the gist of what they were saying. I, too, am a little confused, since no one seemed to be doubting ads work, despite consumer hostility, but, in their defense, they did declare up-front that they wanted to piggyback on this topic to address a pet peeve of theirs, so it's not like we weren't informed of their intent.

[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 3 points 14 hours ago

Most billionaires have certain skills but for the rest are unfettered idiots. The titan guy got exactly what he asked for.

The entire concept of a billionaire should be prohibited. Nobody should be able to have more than, say, 10 million dollars. Put a hard cap on that, any income above that goes to taxes. Fuck the rich

[–] qaz@lemmy.world 3 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago) (1 children)

Also something being ineffective doesn't mean people stop doing it, like homeopathy.

[–] Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works 1 points 9 hours ago

Well it also doesn't need to work on everybody. Does a net need to catch ever fish in the sea for a fisherman to make a living? Obviously some people can be and are immune to it.

Advertising doesn't work on me because I hate shopping, so I have my wife spend the discretionary income. I am sure it works on her though.

[–] ICastFist@programming.dev 16 points 21 hours ago (2 children)

I remember going on a date with a girl that was majoring in marketing. She was really sold to the idea that marketing is "essential for everything! It's everywhere!" - I understood her point that even factually correct information needs to be "properly marketed", especially nowadays, but come the fuck on, the entire industry built itself around shady manipulation and dirty psychological tricks

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[–] Strider@lemmy.world 7 points 20 hours ago

And I am actively avoiding products and companies based on their advertising.

[–] LoafedBurrito@lemmy.world 3 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

I swear when I mute the ads on YouTube, the skip button shows up faster. But probably just my brain playing tricks on me.

[–] sexy_peach@feddit.org 1 points 15 hours ago

You need unlock origin on Firefox on PC and android, also newpipe app on android, no ads there

[–] BuzzT@lemmy.world 6 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

When I see an advertisement, I intentionally do not purchase the product

[–] witten@lemmy.world 3 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

Advertising still affects you even if you're trying to will it away. Example: Years later, you've forgotten the ad but you're in a store and recognize the brand from the ad, and so you select that product over the competition. The only reliable way to avoid being affected is not to view the ad to begin with.

[–] Boy_of_Soy@lemmy.world 3 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

This assumes that I would select a product based on brand recognition. I do not. I generally select food products based on ingredients and price per unit. And I use similar metrics like materials and build quality for non-food items. Advertising only works if you don't put any active thought into your purchasing.

[–] sigezayaq@startrek.website 2 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago)

But if you have to choose from two clothing brands that have similar quality you will be more likely to choose the one you have seen in an ad. Even if you are only 10% more likely to do that (arbitrary number) multiply it by thousands of people and it’s worth it for the company.

That’s why ad companies are trying to get as much data as possible on everyone. They know that showing you random products won’t work.

[–] BuzzT@lemmy.world 2 points 16 hours ago

I'm not talking about never buying the product again. Just about consciously not buying it for a certain period of time. Avoiding advertising is also pretty much impossible even with blockers

[–] BodePlotHole@lemmy.world 1 points 13 hours ago
[–] Blackmist@feddit.uk 4 points 20 hours ago

I'm still waiting for a startup to sell a bed that advertises to you in your sleep.

[–] SailorFuzz@lemmy.world 16 points 1 day ago* (last edited 16 hours ago) (2 children)

AdNauseam

Its a fork of uBlock:Origin with a fun twist.

[–] janNatan@lemmy.ml 2 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

You've linked to a letter which asks people to donate without explaining what ad nauseum actually is. (I think maybe you should link to the home page instead.)

[–] infinitesunrise@slrpnk.net 2 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Instead of just blocking ads like uBlock, it follows every single ad link that it comes across. This quickly makes trying to track you worthless to advertisers, and in fact may cost them a substantial amount of money due to referral fees.

It's not quite as performant as uBlock since it's doing a lot of work in the background, and over a month of use I did see a few ads slip through, but it works very well overall. Oh and it has an ad wall where you can see a huge collage of every ad it ever clicked on for you, with estimated ad revenue damages.

[–] janNatan@lemmy.ml 2 points 16 hours ago

Thanks for the reply. After reading the home page, I was wondering if it would have a performance impact. It's a fascinating idea. I already use ublock origin myself. I may give this a try.

[–] sexy_peach@feddit.org 1 points 15 hours ago

It didn't do anything when I tried it. Also it's just unlock origin with additional features

[–] melsaskca@lemmy.ca 3 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

People in general must be really stupid (including myself) to still fall for the old $2.99 and think "Hey, that's only two dollars!". The advertisers are getting better every year but what they are selling is getting worse every year. I recently saw a drug advert on tv and it stated that we have a pill. Call your doctor to see if this pill is good for you. There was no mention in the advert of what the pill may or may not do. This is the old "monkeys flinging crap against the wall to see what sticks".

[–] saigot@lemmy.ca 2 points 17 hours ago

In Canada drug ads are not allowed to tell you what a drug treats as part of the ad. You can only advertise the price, quantity and name. Its a big reason there are so many fewer drug ads compared to the us. https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/drugs-health-products/marketing-drugs-devices/illegal-marketing/prescription-drugs.html#a6

[–] fennesz12@feddit.dk 56 points 1 day ago (4 children)

I have very few ads in my life, because I hate them with a passion. As an autistic person, ads don't even work on me to the same extent, and I hate having to sit through them.

I have opted into a government program, that means I don't recieve ads or "free newspapers" in my letterbox. I use special webapps with integrated adblock and curator extensions on my browsers, and even custom scripts using scriptmonkey to get it away. On my TV I run SmartTube, which not only removes ads, but also automatically skips sponsor and other filler from videos, as well as removes clickbait titles where possible using DeArrow.

I run Linux, I have set up all my devices to use adblocking DNS, and I have run a PiHole for years. The only thing in my home that shows ads at this point, is my google TV that will suggest a show on viaplay or prime or whatever, and it is the only thing I cannot get rid of.

The reason I dislike ads, is that these corporations are fucking scum. They collude to ruin people's self-esteem, and to overflood the market with needless materialist bullshit that we don't need, by exploiting our deepest insecurities. As AI becomes more normalized, it will get even more insidious. People talk to their chatbots like they are their friends, and soon those chatbots will subtly manipulate them into buying hair products that don't work, because they see a picture in your photos gallery of you slightly balding, and see you talked to it about feeling insecure about your appearence lately.

Ending my rant with a quote by banksy:

“People are taking the piss out of you everyday. They butt into your life, take a cheap shot at you and then disappear. They leer at you from tall buildings and make you feel small. They make flippant comments from buses that imply you’re not sexy enough and that all the fun is happening somewhere else. They are on TV making your girlfriend feel inadequate. They have access to the most sophisticated technology the world has ever seen and they bully you with it. They are The Advertisers and they are laughing at you. You, however, are forbidden to touch them. Trademarks, intellectual property rights and copyright law mean advertisers can say what they like wherever they like with total impunity. Fuck that. Any advert in a public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours. It’s yours to take, re-arrange and re-use. You can do whatever you like with it. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head. You owe the companies nothing. Less than nothing, you especially don’t owe them any courtesy. They owe you. They have re-arranged the world to put themselves in front of you. They never asked for your permission, don’t even start asking for theirs.”

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