8 ms·

Considering that Facebook makes its revenue from ads and that providing relevant ads needs data and tracking, this move is not so bad. Users that don’t accept

by fuscy 8y ago

Considering that Facebook makes its revenue from ads and that providing relevant ads needs data and tracking, this move is not so bad. Users that don’t accept the terms or use various tech to block this, would receive misappropriated ads. Bad ads make companies lose revenue while annoying the users with extremely irrelevant info. This method should be extremely effective in removing false positives. Personal observation: ads are never going to go away and I personally prefer receiving ads about some local beer brand and not about lipstick or sake in Japan.

drb91 8y ago
uBlock Origin makes the ads go away pretty well. I'm also open to paying.
- matty22 8y ago
  Does uBlock Origin actually have any effect on ads or sponsored posts in Facebook? I run ABP and there are still ads all over the place in Facebook. I've taken to reporting every ad I see in my Timeline as spam.
  - stan_rogers 8y ago
    Fluff Busting Purity (formerly Facebook Purity). Nukes everything; maintainer is hugely on the ball, rolling out fixes for FB's breaking bugs within hours (and occasionally within minutes). If it's not in your browser's extensions/addons "store", you can find it at https://www.fbpurity.com/ https://www.fbpurity.com/
  - drewmol 8y ago
    Ive heard but can't confirm that ABP sells the ability for ad servers to be white listed. Ublock + enabling various lists is better. Check out Umatrix.
Guest9812398 8y ago
Why can't we simply choose relevant ad categories that we would prefer to see? Why do the options need to be (i) see random advertisements that are likely irrelevant, or (ii) allow us to track your every move, including your location, each site you visit with the Facebook widget, your message and call history, and your every click. Or non-Facebook related, why can't my smart TV just let me choose PC Gaming, Technology, and Concert advertisements as highest priority. I might actually look forward to watching an Oculus or Vive advertisement, instead of putting the TV on mute, or leaving the room when I see another health insurance commercial for someone 60+.
- gukov 8y ago
  Because ads are about selling you something you didn't think you wanted.
  - kalleboo 8y ago
    Then why do I keep getting ads for things I already bought?
- SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago
  Why can't ads be relevant to the content of the page like they used to be in the good old days? As an example of stupid targeted ads: I bought a Casper mattress a couple of months ago and pretty much every single ad I've seen since then (on devices where I don't have them blocked) has been for mattresses. How many mattresses does the internet think I need? If I'm reading about something on the internet it's generally because I'm interested in it. Why not try to sell me something related to that rather than something I already bought!?
  - ams6110 8y ago
    My guess, some people buy a mattress and end up unhappy with it, return it, and buy something else. This is enough people that it's worth showing mattress ads to all recent mattress buyers.
ams6110 8y ago
With ublock origin and a hosts file, I can't remember the last time I saw an ad.
kalleboo 8y ago
I would have loved to get properly targeted ads, but even with all of Google and Facebook's data, my ads are all complete and utter crap. Right now Facebook is showing me ads in Thai language selling me a visa to visit Japan as a tourist. I don't speak Thai and I already live in Japan. Facebook knows this. Why am I getting these horrible ads? The online ad business is just complete and utter bullshit. They have all this data and have utterly failed at using even the most basic data points ("where does he live?" "what language does he speak?"). And all they can think of is "hmm probably need more data"
- zaarn 8y ago
  I think the most basic and simple solution is to target ads not on the user but on the webpage and it's contents. If the webpage is written in french (or visible as such) that reviews computer hardware, pick hardware ads first and if available in french. That is IMO a reasonable assumption to make and I don't believe that a lot of users will be mistargeted that hard. Bigger publishers like newspapers could run ads depending on section, ie the politics section shows political ads and the weather section shows a raincoat ad. The only downside I see is that localized ads don't work as well (ie, "local restaurant has cheap burgers" and "99+ women in <your area> want to talk to you on tinder!!!!"). Such places could put their ads on relevant pages though, ie the internet page of a local newspaper or the local communities' internet presence.

by fuscy 8y ago

drb91 8y ago

uBlock Origin makes the ads go away pretty well. I'm also open to paying.

matty22 8y ago
Does uBlock Origin actually have any effect on ads or sponsored posts in Facebook? I run ABP and there are still ads all over the place in Facebook. I've taken to reporting every ad I see in my Timeline as spam.
- stan_rogers 8y ago
  Fluff Busting Purity (formerly Facebook Purity). Nukes everything; maintainer is hugely on the ball, rolling out fixes for FB's breaking bugs within hours (and occasionally within minutes). If it's not in your browser's extensions/addons "store", you can find it at https://www.fbpurity.com/ https://www.fbpurity.com/
- drewmol 8y ago
  Ive heard but can't confirm that ABP sells the ability for ad servers to be white listed. Ublock + enabling various lists is better. Check out Umatrix.

Guest9812398 8y ago

Why can't we simply choose relevant ad categories that we would prefer to see? Why do the options need to be (i) see random advertisements that are likely irrelevant, or (ii) allow us to track your every move, including your location, each site you visit with the Facebook widget, your message and call history, and your every click. Or non-Facebook related, why can't my smart TV just let me choose PC Gaming, Technology, and Concert advertisements as highest priority. I might actually look forward to watching an Oculus or Vive advertisement, instead of putting the TV on mute, or leaving the room when I see another health insurance commercial for someone 60+.

gukov 8y ago
Because ads are about selling you something you didn't think you wanted.
- kalleboo 8y ago
  Then why do I keep getting ads for things I already bought?
SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago
Why can't ads be relevant to the content of the page like they used to be in the good old days? As an example of stupid targeted ads: I bought a Casper mattress a couple of months ago and pretty much every single ad I've seen since then (on devices where I don't have them blocked) has been for mattresses. How many mattresses does the internet think I need? If I'm reading about something on the internet it's generally because I'm interested in it. Why not try to sell me something related to that rather than something I already bought!?
- ams6110 8y ago
  My guess, some people buy a mattress and end up unhappy with it, return it, and buy something else. This is enough people that it's worth showing mattress ads to all recent mattress buyers.

ams6110 8y ago

With ublock origin and a hosts file, I can't remember the last time I saw an ad.

kalleboo 8y ago

I would have loved to get properly targeted ads, but even with all of Google and Facebook's data, my ads are all complete and utter crap. Right now Facebook is showing me ads in Thai language selling me a visa to visit Japan as a tourist. I don't speak Thai and I already live in Japan. Facebook knows this. Why am I getting these horrible ads? The online ad business is just complete and utter bullshit. They have all this data and have utterly failed at using even the most basic data points ("where does he live?" "what language does he speak?"). And all they can think of is "hmm probably need more data"

zaarn 8y ago
I think the most basic and simple solution is to target ads not on the user but on the webpage and it's contents. If the webpage is written in french (or visible as such) that reviews computer hardware, pick hardware ads first and if available in french. That is IMO a reasonable assumption to make and I don't believe that a lot of users will be mistargeted that hard. Bigger publishers like newspapers could run ads depending on section, ie the politics section shows political ads and the weather section shows a raincoat ad. The only downside I see is that localized ads don't work as well (ie, "local restaurant has cheap burgers" and "99+ women in <your area> want to talk to you on tinder!!!!"). Such places could put their ads on relevant pages though, ie the internet page of a local newspaper or the local communities' internet presence.