MacKeeper - a new ploy.

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I keep getting pop ups about MacKeeper wherever I go. It's like they immediately know you're using a Mac, and try to sell their horrible software to you.

Pathetic.
 

vansmith

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It's like they immediately know you're using a Mac
It's surprisingly easy to figure out what OS the user is using as they browse the web. In fact, I just whipped up this quick example (here) in about ten minutes that detects your OS, browser and the version of the browser.
 
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I was going nuts with ads for MacKeeper on seemed like every page I went to. I installed Ad Block Plus (I'm using Chrome) (http://adblockplus.org/en/) and have not seen the ads since. Wonderful!
 
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I was going nuts with ads for MacKeeper on seemed like every page I went to. I installed Ad Block Plus (I'm using Chrome) (Adblock Plus — for annoyance-free web surfing) and have not seen the ads since. Wonderful!

While I agree that the MacKeeper ads are absolutely everywhere, I wouldn't opt to use any sort of adblocker because the internet is free mostly (solely?) because of ads.
 

vansmith

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While I agree that the MacKeeper ads are absolutely everywhere, I wouldn't opt to use any sort of adblocker because the internet is free mostly (solely?) because of ads.
I disagree - the internet is littered with ads. In fact, it can be quite obnoxious in some places and can detract from the content.
 
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harryb2448
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Free of ads? As van smith states littered and obnoxious. Essential AdBlockerPlus.
 
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What I said is that the internet's content is free BECAUSE of ads, not that it is free OF ads. I know there's ads everywhere, and that's where services such as Instapaper, Readability and Read It Later come in. Also, you can hit the Print button for distraction-free reading.
 
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While I agree that the MacKeeper ads are absolutely everywhere, I wouldn't opt to use any sort of adblocker because the internet is free mostly (solely?) because of ads.

I know there's ads everywhere, and that's where services such as Instapaper, Readability and Read It Later come in...

I'm struggling to see what the difference is here. Apart from one allows you to read offline, both remove adverts.

While the Internet may be free because of the huge amount of ads there are online, I don't want to have them flashing up all over the place when I'm trying to look at a webpage, hence why Ad Block Plus is the first plug in I install for any browser.

If I want to buy something, I'll go looking for it. The same reason I record most of my TV shows, and then fast forward the ad breaks. :)
 
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I just learned to ignore the ads. I believe that's the case with most people. I won't use AdBlock because I'd rather the site owners get the money they deserve for their content, no matter how flashy the ads are, it's their content, their website, their rights. I have no right to take the content without 'paying' the price they want me to pay for it.
 
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I just learned to ignore the ads. I believe that's the case with most people. I won't use AdBlock because I'd rather the site owners get the money they deserve for their content, no matter how flashy the ads are, it's their content, their website, their rights. I have no right to take the content without 'paying' the price they want me to pay for it.

What on earth are you talking about man?! I PAY my ISP in order to use the internet, and it is totally MY choice as to whether or not I want to actually click on a link or not. But to have a flashing ad in my face which I'm forced to click on in order for it to disappear is very much a form of sleezy advertising. Your claim that the internet is mainly free because of ads, is OH SO WRONG! I suppose you think that watching television commercials before a movie is cool too, eh?

Why then are ticket prices so expensive then? What about concessions? Shouldn't all the advertising take care of that for us? Or what about ads on the subway and busses? Brother...

Yeah, if someone asks me nicely to click an ad in order to support their website, I certainly will. Case in point: Steve Huff of stevehuffphoto.com I love his camera/lens reviews because he's a street shooter with a soul. He loves shooting and does reviews from a real world perspective, and not from a cold, clinical standpoint. He has stated in different places on his site that by clicking on the links to other websites, all money goes to keeping his shooting habits/reviews/website going. I have zero problem with that, and in fact, encourage it. But don't go waving your sleezy and pushy ads in my face, because I'll tell you to stick it.

Yep, Adblock Plus, Adblock Pop Up ad on and Better Privacy are an integral part of my setup.

Doug
 
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It's surprisingly easy to figure out what OS the user is using as they browse the web. In fact, I just whipped up this quick example (here) in about ten minutes that detects your OS, browser and the version of the browser.

Pretty cool. But detected my browser to 5.1 when in the real world its 5.1.3. Is that a glitch or was it written to detect i suppose the core version of the browse? That make sense?

But back on topic. Thanks Harry for sharing bc as with you i detest MK and there affiliates bc of there flooding advertising. There more it gets out there the better.

Mods maybe someone can share this thread via Twitter and FB ? Hasn't been much traffic on FB lately.

Cheers
 

vansmith

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Pretty cool. But detected my browser to 5.1 when in the real world its 5.1.3. Is that a glitch or was it written to detect i suppose the core version of the browse? That make sense?
Oh yeah, it's by no means "super accurate." It only seems to get the major and maybe the minor version number (so, X.x). For instance, it tells me that I'm using Chrome 19 when I browse in Chrome but the full version number is 19.0.1084.15. However, it correctly reports 11.62 when I browse to it in Opera.
 
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What on earth are you talking about man?! I PAY my ISP in order to use the internet, and it is totally MY choice as to whether or not I want to actually click on a link or not. But to have a flashing ad in my face which I'm forced to click on in order for it to disappear is very much a form of sleezy advertising. Your claim that the internet is mainly free because of ads, is OH SO WRONG! I suppose you think that watching television commercials before a movie is cool too, eh?

Why then are ticket prices so expensive then? What about concessions? Shouldn't all the advertising take care of that for us? Or what about ads on the subway and busses? Brother...

Yeah, if someone asks me nicely to click an ad in order to support their website, I certainly will. Case in point: Steve Huff of stevehuffphoto.com I love his camera/lens reviews because he's a street shooter with a soul. He loves shooting and does reviews from a real world perspective, and not from a cold, clinical standpoint. He has stated in different places on his site that by clicking on the links to other websites, all money goes to keeping his shooting habits/reviews/website going. I have zero problem with that, and in fact, encourage it. But don't go waving your sleezy and pushy ads in my face, because I'll tell you to stick it.

Yep, Adblock Plus, Adblock Pop Up ad on and Better Privacy are an integral part of my setup.

Doug

You pay your ISP, but none of that money goes to the people who make the content you read. And no, I don't think cinema ads are fair or anything, because you pay for a ticket a sum of money that goes to both the cinema and the makers of the movie. That is not similar to the case of internet ads.
 
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chas_m

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To put this another way: if everyone on the internet used adblockers, this site (and most other sites) would cease to exist. There'd be little left beyond personal blogs -- a lot like the internet was in 1996, but with better coding skillz. :)
 
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Fair comment on ad blockers and revenue... but. In the case of ABP (only one I have used) it works like an on off switch. I can easily disable it for sites, such as this forum, and ads appear. If I go to a website where I have flashy, in your face ads, then I prefer to have them turned off. By default I prefer to surf with ads off and make my own choice when I activate them. I think some ads (and websites that pack them in by the bucketload) have got so annoying that ad blockers are not going to go away. Equally warning users that they will take the internet back to the stone age, :), will probably not get rid of them. Middle ground is out there somewhere I guess. I think in the Firefox version of ABP it now allows certain types of ads, so I guess it is evolving. Anyway chalk up another victory to MacKeeper - it was the reason I put a blocker on in the first place - so I guess I can blame it for loss of revenue to multiple websites;D
 
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Last night I read a MakeUseOf article. It's a plead to turn off adblockers on their site, but it also offers good explanations on why the current adblocking method isn't perfect. The author of the article suggests, like you Pigstick, a middle ground, and he/she say it's already being worked on. The people who make the filters for AdBlock Plus are trying to find that middle ground, to only block flashy and other highly distracting ads.

Until that type of filtering is perfectly implemented, I suggest you turn ABP off by default, and only turn it on websites you've specifically found to have unbearable ads.

The article.
 

vansmith

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What I said is that the internet's content is free BECAUSE of ads, not that it is free OF ads. I know there's ads everywhere, and that's where services such as Instapaper, Readability and Read It Later come in. Also, you can hit the Print button for distraction-free reading.
I was addressing both your choice not to use one and your assertion that the internet is free because of ads. The internet is littered with them and many are obnoxious so regardless of whether or not that makes the internet "free", it's still problematic and detracts from the content.

The people who make the filters for AdBlock Plus are trying to find that middle ground, to only block flashy and other highly distracting ads.
That's a noble cause but my question here is simple: who gets to decide what's distracting? That's a slippery slope that I fear will solve nothing.

Until that type of filtering is perfectly implemented, I suggest you turn ABP off by default, and only turn it on websites you've specifically found to have unbearable ads.
This is where you and I diverge. I am ruthless with my adblocking and will continue to be that way. In fact, I've set up CSS injection to hide content on certain pages that adblockers don't catch to make for a more streamlined experience. Sure, ads are a nice way to implicitly support a website but I'm not going to subject myself to advertising for the sake of it.
 

robduckyworth


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It's surprisingly easy to figure out what OS the user is using as they browse the web. In fact, I just whipped up this quick example (here) in about ten minutes that detects your OS, browser and the version of the browser.

Haha. Classic vansmith.
 

vansmith

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Hey, I have a reputation to keep up. I don't want the "program an example to make a point" title to go to someone else. ;)
 

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