Quick thought about ads

[afuna]

I don't mind seeing ads, and I don't mind ads that blend into my current context, but I do mind all the tracking that ad networks think is necessary in order to serve up ads to me.

This is why, for example, I don't mind the ads on Ravelry, but I do mind a lot of the third-party ad networks, and I do feel uncomfortable whenever I am on a webpage with a Facebook "like" button.

In that respect, adblock is actually the other way around, because it blocks the ads that you see, but it may not block the tracking mechanisms explicitly. Chrome adblock, especially, just hides the ads using CSS; it doesn't prevent the image from loading, so whatever web bugs get pinged anyway. Meh.

(Entry spurred by someone random's comment about how adblock is depriving websites of their livelihood, and my realizing that I use adblock mostly for blocking garish images and annoying site sections, but don't depend on it to protect me in any way)

Comments

[marahmarie]

I used Ghostery for a while (and it's great) but now that I'm using NoScript, I'm thinking Ghostery is not so necessary anymore? Or should I still use it to block unwanted tracking cookies? I'm trying not to use redundant add-ons since my laptop needs all the extra firepower it can get...I guess I need to compare features on the two to see how much they overlap or not.

[jumpuphigh]

I am actively running both partially because I started using Ghostery then added NoScript later and couldn't be bothered to check out the differences and partially because anything worth doing is worth overdoing. :D Thus two different Cookie deleting add-ons.

[marahmarie]

You know (forgot to say this last night), you can use the Web Dev add-on to disable all cookies, too, but as far as I know, it's not a persistent setting, so every time you restart Firefox, you have to check off "disable cookies" again. Which is why I almost never bother with that feature.

Right now I have Firefox set to block all third-party cookies, and NoScript is preventing (I think) any cookies from being set when I use it to block scripts globally, but sometimes, on certain wireless networks, I have to disable NoScript or the networks are unusable (because the IT who runs them tracks you through certain tracking websites, which ugh, I hate). So I'm thinking, since I have to disable NoScript so often, I might as well re-install Ghostery. :)

[jumpuphigh]

Since this conversation, I have been watching how Ghostery and NoScript behave on different websites. I like the combination of the two. Ghostery gives me more information about what they are blocking which I like. Plus, it is way easier to permanently block things with Ghostery. However, NoScript blocks more items than Ghostery because Ghostery just blocks trackers.

Since all my cookies except the few I've white-listed (like from Dreamwidth) get erased every time I shut down my browser and Ghostery blocks trackers, I don't worry about cookies as much. Plus, I just redownloaded Tor and it is soooo much better than the last time I tried to use it.

[marahmarie]

Is it quicker now? I would use it if it were just quicker, but the slowness has always killed it for me (especially on wireless, which around here, is not just slow but incredibly wonky - it's not unusual to have to switch through three networks repeatedly in a half hour just to stay online at all).

[jumpuphigh]

I am not noticing any speed reduction and I've been running it continuously for a few days now. Before, it was so super slow which was made me stop using it.

[marahmarie]

Thanks for the heads-up. :)