1 yr. ago • 100%

Trackers blocking without (total) ads blocking

After thinking about it for a long time I came to the conclusion that I'm OK with ads. They are not so annoying to me and as long as they are not popping out or really interfering forcefully I fine with them being there. As far as I can see ads are the de-facto fuel for a broad part of the content-creation monetization system which I consume heavily (mainly YouTube).

so, I want to configure my set-up so it won't block all the ads (especially not on YouTube). But, I do think that the amount tracking this days sites have is highly exaggerated and unnecessary (I worked on data-science so I can say that with a bit of confidence). Therefor I do want to block trackers and third-party cookies if possible.

Currently using Firefox both on my Macbook and my Android phone (with Duckduckgo as my search engine).

Is the above possible? Which extensions might be relevant?

Thanks And please don't kill\cancel me :)

15 comments

In Firefox, install the uBlock Origin extension. Go into ublock settings, disable ad blocking filterlists, enable tracking filterlists. Personally, I'm blocking ads too as they're sometimes abused as malware vectors.

Or if you only want ads that aren't interfering, there's Adblock Plus with its acceptable ads programme. Can't vouch for whether that's a good or bad thing.

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- Thanks! Just curious, is AdBlock intentionally programmed to block only such advertisements? Or is it just a slightly "worse" ad blocker?
  
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  In adblock plus, acceptable ads are on by default, but optional:
  
  https://helpcenter.getadblock.com/hc/en-us/articles/9738480686483-About-the-Acceptable-Ads-program-and-non-intrusive-ads
  
  "Slightly worse?"... I haven't touched abp in years, so I couldn't say. However, here's a comparison:
  
  https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/uBlock-vs.-ABP:-efficiency-compared
  
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  Google is paying copius sums of money to in AdBlock Plus (asuming this is the extension you are speaking about), makes sense to avoid it completely and run uBlock Origin.
  
  https://www.insider.com/why-google-has-to-build-its-own-adblocker-2017-4
  
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- Sorry to bother but what about mobile?
  
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  Yes, uBlock Origin add-on is available in Firefox Android: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/android/addon/ublock-origin/
  
  Adblock Plus... I don't know!
  
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My solution to this problem (which is only tangentially related to your technical question) is to block everything and really make an effort to donate to all developers of my open source programs, content creators, website hosters etc. in the services themselves or on platforms like Liberapay/Patreon.

Sorry that I cannot help with the technical stuff but maybe an idea if you don't manage it your way.

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- That is great! But can I ask how much do you donate? I feel that if I try to donate to all the creators that I use the tools they develop or consume the content they create, this expense will bypass my rent (unless I will give everyone a really, really small donation).
  
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  Maybe you could donate a small donation to multiple projects/creators every month? Even 1$ per month is 12$ a year per project which is of course better than nothing
  
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  Talking on the YouTube front, a trivially small donation will support them far more than watching ads ever could. Even something as small as $1/year is often far more than they would ever make from you in a year. As far as donations to developers go, it depends entirely on what you feel comfortable with. Most people who work on open source projects are unpaid volunteers, so it isn't expected that you donate, but if you choose to do so it can be quite helpful to sustaining the project. If many people in the userbase were to make small donations, that would go a long way.
  
  In reality, ads almost entirely benefit exploitative multi-billion dollar companies such as Google and Facebook, so my personal philosophy stands against them. I much prefer donating to people directly to cut out the exploitative middle-man.
  
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  Yeah, that's what I haven't figured out yet either. How do you make it a fair amount between a content creator and an email client developer, between one person, a corporation and a non-profit?
  
  I have settled on not trying to make it a science. I can only give what I have, so always when I feel that I have financial breathing room (paycheck comes in and no urgent payments due) I am going to the relevant places and donate what I feel I can afford. While not perfect, I feel I should be proud about doing what I can rather than beat myself up over whether I could spend more, which a lot of free users will never think about in the first place. Otherwise I'd only go crazy.
  
  The donations will go to what/who I feel like I have used/appreciated most since the last donations. So it's mainly donations, not subscriptions which also helps not losing track and giving more than you can afford. Come to think of it, I also do not donate to the big creators whose content I consume as I guess they are rich enough. If you want a number, my last donation was 20€ to a small ASMR content creator. And for stuff that I use regularly like programs and apps (e.g. NewPipe 4€/month and KeePass 0.5€), my OS (3€), the hoster of the Piped instance I use (4€) etc. I have set up regular payments on Liberapay and such according to their tier system. I cannot afford all that much, so I am going for the small/medium tier according to my amount of usage (and I guess you should think about if they have running costs or not). If you are not constrained by money I guess you can just go for their higher tiers and vary them according to usage.
  
  I realise it does sound like a pretty bad science now as it's both complicated and does not sound fair at all (e.g. OS gets too little, no?), but well… This write-up actually helped me understand my own 'system' better, so thanks for asking! :)
  
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I don't have a problem with ads, per se. I don't have a problem with billboards or magazine ads or little league team sponsorships. Hell, I run them myself at a local club.

What I have a problem with is the type of targeted advertising that depends on collecting data about my every click, location, and thought. The type of data that is used to profile me to such a degree that they know more about me than my closest confidants and even than I do about myself. It's just fucking insane. And it's just so wildly profitable that almost every piece of software is doing it.

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Permanently Deleted

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- I agree that the system is getting a bit out of control. But take Spotify for example, most of the users are using the free tier which is one of the reasons what Spotify, which has really minimalistic ads, simply can't make enough profit to cover the costs. Sites which throw countless ads at you are terrible indeed but there could be a place between removing all the ads and sites which have pop-up full-screen ads every 2 minutes.
  
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