Preventing targeted advertising based on public IP

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#2698165 26-Apr-2021 15:13

gbwelly:

I'm sure I'll sound like one of those "I don't own a TV" type people, but I'm amazed Geekzoners are seeing adverts? I kinda just assumed everyone would be running uBlock Origin for their computers and a Pi-hole for everything else.

Why? I'm somebody who believes content providers should get paid.

gbwelly

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#2698166 26-Apr-2021 15:15

sbiddle:

Why? I'm somebody who believes content providers should get paid.

Fair point, I prefer using mechanisms like Patreon and paying for subscriptions.

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#2698193 26-Apr-2021 16:32

gbwelly:

sbiddle:

Why? I'm somebody who believes content providers should get paid.

Fair point, I prefer using mechanisms like Patreon and paying for subscriptions.

When that is an option, sure, but some random fox news site in the US isnt something I am going to cough up money to just to read an article that someone shared to me.

Richard rich.ms

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#2698194 26-Apr-2021 16:35

sbiddle:
gbwelly:

I'm sure I'll sound like one of those "I don't own a TV" type people, but I'm amazed Geekzoners are seeing adverts? I kinda just assumed everyone would be running uBlock Origin for their computers and a Pi-hole for everything else.

Why? I'm somebody who believes content providers should get paid.

Yeah well most of us don't, that's why most of the posters on this thread are saying so.

Oblivian

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#2698323 26-Apr-2021 19:12

And timely. FB and apple are throwing stones at each other.

https://www.facebook.com/business/apple-ios-14-speak-up-for-small-business/impact-on-ads-marketing

14.5 is about to do this. https://twitter.com/tim_cook/status/1339720611313065984

Senecio

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#2698335 26-Apr-2021 19:55

TENKAN:
sbiddle:

Why? I'm somebody who believes content providers should get paid.

Yeah well most of us don't, that's why most of the posters on this thread are saying so.

No one on this thread is saying that all. We're questioning why we're getting someone else's adds not why we are getting adds at all.

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#2698337 26-Apr-2021 20:00

sbiddle:

Why? I'm somebody who believes content providers should get paid.

It is not a binary proposition. There are different ways of 'getting paid' and different ways of determining value. If I am just passing through a web site while following a link, I'm not going to disable my ad blocker for that. If I find myself coming back to a site, and getting value from it, I will gladly subscribe (as I have with Geekzone).

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

ripdog

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#2698519 27-Apr-2021 03:35

I believe in paying for content, but ads are a downright abusive, dangerous and harmful method. They are designed to psychologically manipulate the viewer, entice people to buy junk they don't need, track people in a way which ad publishers KNOW everyone hates (look at the way facebook is throwing a tantrum over Apple asking users whether they want to be tracked - obviously nobody wants to be tracked) and can sometimes harbour malware. I install adblockers for all my family and friends when I work on their PCs. Not only does it reduce annoyances and speed page loads, but it also reduces the chance that I'll have to go and remove a virus. I can't see any disadvantages.

If web publishers were serious about tackling the abuses and excesses of the web tracking and advertising monstrosity, we'd have some kind of micropayment system by now. Ideally, one which solves the biggest problem with micropayments - the purchase decision. Ideally would be a fixed fee which my browser splits between the websites I view automatically and privately, meaning I don't have to worry about deciding to spend money on each link I click.

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#2698637 27-Apr-2021 09:52

Senecio:

No one on this thread is saying that all. We're questioning why we're getting someone else's adds not why we are getting adds at all.

Exactly.

I'll have a look at setting up Pi Hole at home. But does Pi Hole stop any of the tracking, or does it simply block the ads from appearing (I assuming it just blocks the ads)? I.e. Will house hold members devices be associated with each other since they spend a lot of time on the same public IP, and as a result still get each others ads even when they move onto networks without Pi Hole (e.g. 4G when out and about?).

Fred99

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#2698655 27-Apr-2021 10:02

I've been using this:

https://optout.aboutads.info/?c=2&lang=EN

So still get ads but "less" targeted, I assume the content provider still gets paid.

There seem to be a few members of the alliance who are permanently unreachable to "opt out" and I guess without looking further about how it works is that a cookie is stored, those cookies expire, so it slowly stops working - you need to periodically repeat the process for each browser on each device.

I suspect google also evade the system they claim to support by linking accounts, I still see some ads for things that family members have searched for on other devices.

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#2698660 27-Apr-2021 10:11

"I believe in paying for content, but ads are a downright abusive, dangerous and harmful method. They are designed to psychologically manipulate the viewer, entice people to buy junk they don't need, track people in a way which ad publishers KNOW everyone hates"

Yeah Exactly as most of us are saying, it's a real pain, one that really got me was when watching a YouTube music video and I couldn't believe it, part way through the song up popped a advertisement! Right in the middle of a song is just plain annoying,
Whether it's targeted or not.

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#2698668 27-Apr-2021 10:33

Paul1977:

But does Pi Hole stop any of the tracking, or does it simply block the ads from appearing (I assuming it just blocks the ads)? I.e. Will house hold members devices be associated with each other since they spend a lot of time on the same public IP, and as a result still get each others ads even when they move onto networks without Pi Hole (e.g. 4G when out and about?).

That is a good question, lots of sites on the internet including wikipedia say "Pi-hole is a Linux network-level advertisement and Internet tracker blocking application" but I don't have any detail on that claim about trackers.

I am quite certain that the IP address contributes to targeting of adverts. A company I worked for had a lot of very old staff, and I would get adverts for the weirdest stuff like hip replacements and joint health, prostate remedies, dentures etc, on the work PC.

You could look at a multi layered approach to avoid tracking:

uBlock Origin - Claims to block trackers

Pi-hole - Claims to block trackers

Firefox for Android - can use uBlock Origin add on

Firefox Focus for Android - Claims to block trackers

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#2698682 27-Apr-2021 11:16

The privacy terms and conditions updated on LG TV. This may have been in last terms and conditions but on skimming the last tick box, it had that advertisements could be targeted by IP address to other devices.
Looked like didn’t lose any functionality by not ticking this box, so I didn’t tick.

cyril7

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#2698706 27-Apr-2021 11:55

Hi, a Pihole is simply a DNS filter, but not just advert sites, but sites and sub sites that do the tracking, so in mitigates that, however it will not mitigate trackers that a directly built into the likes of FB etc.

That said, I rarely see adverts due to the PiHole, and very rarely see evidence of tracking (ie when I google x product start seeing promotions of that product type) except when I am out on 4G.

Cyril

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#2698727 27-Apr-2021 13:02

TENKAN: "I believe in paying for content, but ads are a downright abusive, dangerous and harmful method. They are designed to psychologically manipulate the viewer, entice people to buy junk they don't need, track people in a way which ad publishers KNOW everyone hates"

Not only that but more than once a big advertising network has either been compromised or allowed ads which used exploits to install malware on PCs.

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