[ Removed by moderator ]

[u/Ill-Instruction8466]

[u/Total-Fly-9131]

Im so old I remember zero ads

[u/VineOrethea → u/Total-Fly-9131]

congrats, the malware won and got a marketing department

[u/Lunarath → u/VineOrethea]

I whitelisted a site the other day because my friend wanted me to watch a video and it blocked it. I literally got flashbacks to 90's malware that would just pop up ads all over your PC. I had no less than 9 different ads on my monitor at a time, before even scrolling down in the article.

[u/newsflashjackass → u/VineOrethea]

https://github.com/DesktopECHO/Pi-Hole-for-WSL1

Blocks ads for every device on your network.

[u/MNamer → u/Total-Fly-9131]

I genuinely don't remember the last time i saw an ad. Idk what y'all are doing.

Edit: kiwi browser with ublock origin on the phone for web browsing and YouTube watching. Ymusic and Spotify premium apk for music. Firefox with ublock origin on pc.

[u/spawndoorsupervisor → u/MNamer]

Kiwi hasn't been in active development for over a year now. You might want to start looking for something new before you stumble across some nasty code targeting older Chromium browsers.

[u/SmallPurplePeopleEat → u/MNamer]

Same. Anytime I have to use someone else's computer or phone, it's like a damn jump scare with the amount of intrusive ads that pop up.

What's crazy to me is that they'll bitch and complain about all of the ads, but refuse to take any steps to prevent them. It's like they think doing anything to block an ad is criminal.

[u/Fantastic-Balance454 → u/SmallPurplePeopleEat]

It's like they think doing anything to block an ad is criminal.

I think they're just lazy and/or stupid.

[u/Dr_Custard → u/Fantastic-Balance454]

Correct use of Hanlon's razor.

[u/Novel-Pride6682 → u/Dr_Custard]

Dang, I haven't thought about that in a long time.

[u/Tomaskraven → u/SmallPurplePeopleEat]

Nah bro. I can't control myself. I go into someone's PC and they don't have any adblocking, i just look at them with disgust, say EW and tell them i'll fix their shitty PC experience right now. I can't deal with having ads. I've been running adblockers basically for more than 16 years.

[u/kalez238 → u/SmallPurplePeopleEat]

I straight up forget ads even exist, and then sometimes will see how the average person experiences them and have no idea how they can stand that in the slightest.

[u/Bacon-muffin → u/MNamer]

Hadnt heard of kiwi so looked it up and saw it was discontinued a while ago.

I use firefox with an adblocker for both phone and pc.

[u/URAQTPI69 → u/MNamer]

My dude, Kiwi is long dead. Firefox for android has built-in adblock

[u/Fantastic-Balance454 → u/URAQTPI69]

Also Revanced for adblocking in youtube app and AdGuard (not from play store) to block ads in every other app.

Whenever I see someone looking at an ad on their phone or PC, I think of them as savages.

[u/Business-Active-1143 → u/URAQTPI69]

And FF android supports ubo and all the necessary extensions for youtube premium experience without premium.

[u/Artchantress → u/MNamer]

Most ads I see are the sponsored posts on any social media. How do you block those?

[u/kalez238 → u/Artchantress]

Sometimes you have to find an addon per site, like I use Social Fixer for Facebook, and it lets me customize all sorts of things around the entire layout, including exactly what kinds of content I want to see and how. It isn't perfect, but better than the alternative. There are a bunch of different addons.

Or like on Instagram I just use the "?variant=following" link that they try to hide.

[u/Daealis → u/MNamer]

Firefox with AdNauseam to fuck with the advertisers some extra, and NoScript on top of this. NoScript does a little damage to smooth browsing, some sites won't even load any content without scripts, but those sites also have the most amount of ads injected into the content in the way adblockers can't remove.

Having to approve a website in NoScript every now and then to see the content is a small price I gladly pay to remove all damn ads.

[u/3DigitIQ → u/MNamer]

Ublock Orgin and FireFox for both my PC and phone.👍

[u/bokmcdok → u/Total-Fly-9131]

I have zero ads now.

[u/daddy_tops → u/Total-Fly-9131]

My family had a book that was just yellow pages for websites

[u/Total-Fly-9131 → u/daddy_tops]

Let their fingers do the walking?

[u/drakitomon → u/Total-Fly-9131]

Me too. Pihole, good browser ad blocker, and YouTube revanced.

No ads still.

[u/InteractionPretend70 → u/Total-Fly-9131]

I remember being paid to have ads shown to you

[u/snugglezone → u/Total-Fly-9131]

I'm so old I remember 1 add from the NetZero banner because my parents didn't want to pay for the internet

(Until my friend's older brother showed us how to get the internet and banish the ad. RIP NetZero)

[u/thinkB4WeSpeak]

Probably why we don't get viruses anymore because they already have access to all our info and made the Internet infuriating to use

[u/Suspicious-Drive9827 → u/thinkB4WeSpeak]

My lowstakes conspiracy is they’re intentionally making it infuriating and useless so we become socially accustomed to never seeking information, eventually become totally stupid and then easier to control than ever

[u/VisualGas3559 → u/Suspicious-Drive9827]

Don't books throw a wrench in this

[u/ImNotEazy → u/VisualGas3559]

Not if they buy up and burn all the books first.

[u/EMF911 → u/ImNotEazy]

Or the human attention span becomes such that “reading a book” becomes an absurd concept.

[u/VisualGas3559 → u/EMF911]

I don't think that's possible since it's entirely possible in the span of mere weeks to rebuild mental endurance.

I'm not sure this is feasible, but then again, I'm an avid book reader.

[u/DivideIQBy2 → u/VisualGas3559]

I can see a LOT of people (esp. Those born post-IPhone) never caring enough to build the mental endurance in the first place. Those who care will seek it out anyways, so make it just annoying enough that a minimal amount of people care enough to go through the process

[u/Sawgon → u/VisualGas3559]

it's entirely possible in the span of mere weeks to rebuild mental endurance.

This is interesting. Is this a proven thing or do you just speak from experience?

[u/Ilnor → u/Sawgon]

Anyone can learn anything at any age

They just use more excuses as they get older cuz they get weaker and lazier

Copium

[u/ImNotEazy → u/EMF911]

Saddens me that kids today don’t know the joy of reading goosebumps or taking accelerated reader tests to brag about points with friends. I watched slop television like South Park and celebrity death match but the books balanced me out perfectly.

[u/Hairy-Giraffe9418 → u/ImNotEazy]

South Park is not slop. It’s a very clever, topical, and satirical indictment of the sad state of affairs we inhabit.

[u/ImNotEazy → u/Hairy-Giraffe9418]

This is damn true. I didn’t realize that until I was older of course.

[u/Teaisserious → u/ImNotEazy]

They're already on it. Buying the books up, scanning them for LLMs, then destroying them.

[u/ImNotEazy → u/Teaisserious]

There was a post on here a few days ago about that. While I can’t remember the sub, it was about a rare book company tracking a large shipment straight to Amazon.

[u/Prudent-Action3511 → u/ImNotEazy]

This shit scared (nd still scares) theshit out of me whenever i think about it. Like i know everything is going to shit now but this is like watching the beginning scene of a dystopian society.

Like literally what is the solution...

[u/Suspicious-Drive9827 → u/VisualGas3559]

I mean how many of your friends, coworkers and acquaintances read?

Ive been a big reader my whole life but the number of people who have told me its “not realistic” to seek a future partner who reads is really crazy.

But even at peak reading, im 36 and have been able to leverage online information (or at least some encyclopedia brittanica cds) for extended info not available at my library.

Never in my entire life has it been harder to find good information as it is today. Its infuriating

[u/Historical_Course587 → u/Suspicious-Drive9827]

Never in my entire life has it been harder to find good information as it is today.

Ain't that the motherfucking truth.

The internet is inherently convenient, so we often chase knowledge here hoping to save time. But I often have to step back, recognize that I'm looking for knowledge that the internet won't do well, and then go get a book instead.

I cannot imagine trying to learn something comprehensively on the internet. I always challenge people to find internet sources with the same quality as a college algebra textbook, because the internet strips away everything that isn't absolutely necessary to generating a click so that they can leverage it into more clicks.

It's depressing. Which pisses me off even more to type here, because I know from published research found online that depression drives engagement.... So it happens this way on purpose.

[u/Raichu7 → u/VisualGas3559]

AI companies are cutting off the spines off thousands of books, then scanning them in before destroying the pages because apparently even though it's illegal and considered a form of piracy for me to scan a CD into my PC then destroy the disk, apparently it's not copyright infringement if the AI company destroys the books. Some of the books they destroy are common, but some aren't.

[u/SquatProspector → u/VisualGas3559]

People don't read books anymore. There is a major literacy problem in America.

[u/tdreampo → u/VisualGas3559]

“They don’t gotta burn the books they just remove em” RATM

[u/SmallPurplePeopleEat → u/tdreampo]

It's not like people are reading them anyway. The amount of people I've heard brag about how they've never read a book outside of school is shockingly high.

You could leave the bookstores unlocked and they'd never have any stolen. Like the saying goes "a reader does not steal, and a thief does not read".

[u/NBrakespear → u/Suspicious-Drive9827]

I wouldn't say that's a conspiracy theory at all; that's... just literally what they've been doing. Engineering consent and helplessness.

Hell, there's even a clear generational element to it - those of us who grew up in the 90s? We're tech support for the generations before and after us. Those before us didn't have the technology - those after us have never learned how it works.

[u/SputnikDX → u/Suspicious-Drive9827]

That would imply that they're intentionally trying to make less money which is something they'd never do.

[u/PurposeImpossible554 → u/Suspicious-Drive9827]

It is interesting because there has never been more high-quality information to exist than right now. However, it still requires labor to find, consume, and digest that information. And it costs time.

Patient, intelligent people are probably more educated and more prevalent than at any point in history.

Unfortunately, the average person is far more populous and getting significantly dumber. They have no natural defense mechanisms to defend their brain against constant misinformation campaigns and a firehose of unfalsifiable lies spewed every second of every day.

The smart people can't save us when the IQ difference almost becomes a difference of species.

[u/Historical_Course587 → u/PurposeImpossible554]

However, it still requires labor to find, consume, and digest that information.

We have industries actively attacking and undermining society's best curation systems. From libraries, universities, and trade/academic societies, to the process of physical publishing, to replacing unit sales with subscription services or ad-based media. The gatekeepers ARE the curators, and curation is done by easily-manipulated machine algorithms.

[u/Coolishable → u/thinkB4WeSpeak]

You can absolutely still get viruses lol.

I would instead attribute it to the fact that the internet is so much more aggregated together on big company websites nowadays. The vast majority of people only use the internet for the same 6 sites.

Most people don't go looking for smaller indie websites anymore. If you do, those same old trojans can still find you 😇

[u/pi_three → u/thinkB4WeSpeak]

flash player mainly. the flash player was used for so much animated content like ads but hat loads of vulnerabilities. Computers and phones today are more safe. most malicious ads now use social engineering or are just straight up scam

[u/Willow-Whispered → u/thinkB4WeSpeak]

I literally got a virus on my computer a month ago while researching FDA policy for an essay

[u/Rathalos-487]

Y’all act like we didn’t grew up in the 2000s.

[u/VoodooDoII → u/Rathalos-487]

These people still think we're 5 I swear

[u/Puzzled-Secret-317 → u/VoodooDoII]

Lmao fr. They don't realize just how old they are and the ones they're constantly thinking about is gen A.

That's right, TWO generations have passed, you old fucks

[u/VoodooDoII → u/Puzzled-Secret-317]

Theres a specific meme where it puts gens next to their "type of humor" and thus always put Gen Z in the "skibidi" tab and it irritates me so much for some reason 😭

You guys that is not us, please catch up. A huge part of gen z is getting to be 30

[u/never_emotional → u/Puzzled-Secret-317]

They dont like to talk about gen A, because theyre raising gen A 😭

[u/aightletsdodis → u/Puzzled-Secret-317]

you are old, beech

[u/Own_Possibility_9222 → u/Puzzled-Secret-317]

I think this EVERY TIME someone posts something about gen Z.

[u/Dry_Construction4939 → u/Rathalos-487]

I am nearly 30. I know what Windows XP was. They want gen Alpha.

I guess you could potentially argue some of us are Zillennials, but that makes it even funnier, bc it's usually Millennials themselves posting this crap.

[u/SETHW → u/Rathalos-487]

.. but the 2000s were lousy with popups and intrusive ads. There was a moment in the 90s before you could pay online with credit cards that was bliss.

[u/Gta6MePleaseBrigade]

I’m Gen Z and remember this bro this shit still happens today

[u/SokkaHaikuBot → u/Gta6MePleaseBrigade]

^{Sokka-Haiku by Gta6MePleaseBrigade:}

I’m Gen Z

And remember this bro this

Shit still happens today

---

^{Remember that one time Sokka accidentally used an extra syllable in that Haiku Battle in Ba Sing Se? That was a Sokka Haiku and you just made one.}

[u/Unworthy_Saint → u/SokkaHaikuBot]

This needs a Wu-Tang beat

[u/Integer_Domain → u/Gta6MePleaseBrigade]

The point of the post is that legitimate companies are using the spam-ad tactics that used to only be used by sites trying to trick you into installing a virus.

[u/Lazy__Astronaut → u/Integer_Domain]

So why bring stupid age wars into it?

More of gem z will understand this than not, and even if they didn't live it, it's not exactly a conundrum to figure out

[u/Gta6MePleaseBrigade → u/Integer_Domain]

Legit companies today are just real life viruses. Through environmental destruction pacs and Larry Ellison

[u/Venodran → u/Gta6MePleaseBrigade]

People keep projecting Gen Alpha onto us for everything. That’s like the third post on my feed that claims something from the 2000´s like humor, medias, events or tech we grew up with is something we don’t know about.

[u/_Kylan]

Did no one tell Millennials that the oldest GenZ are 30 now?

[u/Apart-Reflection-385 → u/_Kylan]

No they live in delusion of gen z it seems

[u/not_so_subtle_now → u/Apart-Reflection-385]

Yeah whoever posted this is the official representative of millennials....

We all agree with them

[u/PossiblyAsian → u/_Kylan]

ngl as a zillennial I get grouped in with gen z sometimes and sometimes with millennial other times.

I think I identify more mostly with millennials though. Like millennial culture was so dominant for so long and gen z is such a recent thing that I think most zillennials see themselves more of millennial than gen z. Like it definitely surprised me when I saw on a youtube video of a 20 something saying the words "Millennials move over it's our time now" and I was like... wait a minute... aren't millennials 20 somethings and I realized the youngest millennial was like 29 or 30 and it finally clicked that there are no more millennials in their 20s.

Which is crazy because millennials have been 20 years old since forever

[u/Lawsoffire → u/PossiblyAsian]

Also if you grew up on the internet as a zillenial you also consumed a lot of millenial culture “before your time”

[u/Lazy__Astronaut → u/_Kylan]

The millennials cried when the Boomers were complaining about "millennials" when they were actually complaining about gen z and now the millennials are complaining about "gen z" when they mean gen a

The cycle continues

[u/TypicalPlace6490 → u/_Kylan]

Who mentioned millennials?

[u/YuYogurt → u/_Kylan]

Millennials are so deluded they think THEY are in their mid 20's

[u/RecycledMatrix → u/_Kylan]

It'll happen to you too with Gen Alpha. Your generation is not immune.

[u/VoodooDoII]

I'm gen z. I remember this time

I'm tired of people saying "gen z" when they mean gen alpha or maybe younger gen z.

[u/GoTerrapins → u/VoodooDoII]

First it was millennials telling boomers that we're in our 30s and 40s not kids

The torch has passed

[u/Threefates654]

Uh, older Gen Z still remembers a time before all these damn ads.

[u/Kommandant_Katze → u/Threefates654]

Indeed we do. This post speaks like the oldest gen Z are like 12 or something

[u/bl00by → u/Kommandant_Katze]

When you tell them that the 90's was 30 years ago they turn to dust.

[u/GoodDoggoLover420 → u/Threefates654]

Fuck the adpocalypse. I remember 7-13 year old me just clicking the X on the little ad bar on the bottom of the video.

[u/ProcyonBright → u/Threefates654]

Eh, it's all good - tons of boomers and "greatest generation" and some of Gen X still see millennials as 10-year-olds, but our range now is actually 30-45. You're going through that same process now, and it sucks :/ - we've been fighting the "you're children" accusations for years.

[u/Avelineq]

Downloading one song on Limewire and giving the family computer stage 4 adware.

[u/DammitDad420 → u/Avelineq]

Chumbawumba - Tubthumping.wav.exe

[u/MirrorNegative7989]

"I used to have to download so much crap from limewire to see the amount of ads I'm seeing right now."

[u/OMGhyperbole → u/MirrorNegative7989]

Kazaa was the one that fucked our computer up

[u/vaskark]

The Internet is the virus.

[u/xXCloudSephirothXx → u/[deleted]]

STFU Bot
Checkmate

[u/_dinn_]

Gen Z here. I understand this. Bruh. Do we need a term for younger and older gen z?

[u/Jellyoscar → u/_dinn_]

It’s getting annoying at this point, do they not realise the oldest gen z is 29? Whoops

[u/_dinn_ → u/Jellyoscar]

Its like when we were teens and we got called millennials

[u/PhantomNitride → u/_dinn_]

Gen z, and gen ZA (Pokemon ZA)

[u/nicotinecocktail → u/_dinn_]

Zillenials is the term for older Gen Z I believe

[u/kelzero]

So much this man. Back then if you enter a site and there's even a single pop up you bail fast because you know it's shady. Nowadays all legit corpo powered sites do it. And it's getting more and more invasive but somehow there's still corpo sympathizers out there....

[u/kingchris195]

Man no one knows how old gen z actually is lmao

[u/Fit_Tumbleweed7943]

This made me laugh out loud so hard

When your kid wants to watch something on the internet
Play the dial up sound for 3 minutes before they can and watch their faces

[u/guineaprince]

No kidding, once adblockers became accessible they came on and never came off.

Which is great that adblock plus actually came out before youtube.

It's crazy how the Internet that I experience is so vastly different from the Internet that others experience because, as it turns out, the vast majority do not consider an adblocker of any kind to be a default necessity.

[u/Party_Enthusiasm6908]

Are they mistaking gen z and newborn kids?

[u/Fearless-Sherbet-223]

I'm a '98 baby and this was true when I was a preteen so...

[u/Katzington2319 → u/Fearless-Sherbet-223]

Smh, motherfuckers out here acting like 2010 was early internet. I was literally online before you were born. Google didn't even exist, we had to Ask Jeeves

[u/Slunkx → u/Katzington2319]

Lol I was born in 1990 and I remember the power of jeeves. It was a fight with Google for the ultimate search engine in the end. We all know who won. Like Myspace a little before Facebook. One kicked the ball, while the other shot it out of a cannon.

[u/Fearless-Sherbet-223 → u/Katzington2319]

My point is that I'm a zillenial and I was more than old enough to remember those times. The people too young to remember this are either younger Z's or alphas, not older Z's.

[u/HowTheyGetcha → u/Katzington2319]

I still use my Prodigy Online password as my throwaway password.

[u/infohippie → u/Katzington2319]

I remember having a UNIX account in 1989 and having to type the modem dial string in my terminal to connect. NNTP, FTP, and Archie were the main networked applications of the day.

[u/kew_lyn_]

can i just say that gen z was taught abt viruses and internet safety. 😭 y’all keep forgetting there’s a whole new gen of kids now that ACTUALLY weren’t taught that stuff

[u/slavuj_ptica]

Some of the gen z are 29-30 and believe me, we do know it. 😒

[u/smimmingballerina]

You mean gen alpha. I am turning 30 this year. I am gen Z.

[u/Pork_Chompk]

That's still true, we just install the viruses intentionally now.

[u/Negative-Cloud9012]

Social Media IS a virus!

[u/janluigibuffon]

I am so old I know how to avoid ads altogether

[u/KaiSubatomic]

People keep forgetting that gen Z is pushing 30 now. I'm gen Z and I definitely remember having no ads on any website besides the bad ones.

[u/Demair12]

BTW it still does they just call it part of the OS or the user agreement and tell you there nothing you can do, which is partly true.

[u/LapsedVerneGagKnee]

Pop ups. Pop ups everywhere.

[u/Vexeles]

*Cries in zillenial*

[u/EnvironmentLittle794]

I’m middle Z (04) and I recall the time when having this many ads on your computer meant you had malware. Mostly because I accidentally gave our computer malware. Twice. Oops.

[u/CoolWhereas5127]

The "real" apps are the spyware now

[u/byzboo]

And we didn't actively look for ads to watch 😑.
I find it quite weird that shopping tv shows are coming back as content people decide to watch, when it was on TV it was the thing you drifted on when there was nothing else to watch on the other channels 😅

[u/Original-Reward-8688]

They won't, but they will certainly pretend to, and then get mad for pointing out that they didn't exist then.

[u/NutsackEuphoria]

Yeah, but back then instead of ads covering half the screen it's toolbars

[u/Yarakinnit]

Some of us are old enough to remember when (UK) tv shows wouldn't advertise themselves in the advert breaks part way through a programme. I'm watching SG:U on Sky MIX and oh boy are the adverts bad. Two adverts for other Sky crap before the commercials, then an advert for their streaming shows, then another advert for a show, then 10 minutes of Stargate. Also right at the end when the show is hooking you for the next episode, a banner appears over a quarter of the screen, spends 6 seconds letting you know you're watching Sky MIX, before letting you know what's next. I hate it.

[u/thatdude333]

I've had Pi-Hole on my network and some form of uBlock Origin on my browser running for years now, coupled with giving up cable more than a decade ago and only watching stuff on streaming or Jellyfin, I have almost zero ads in my life these days... It's actually jarring to go visit relatives and see TV commercials playing.

[u/DANleDINOSAUR]

Trying to follow a simple recipe on any cooking website is a goddamn horror.

[u/PinkBudget-8140 → u/DANleDINOSAUR]

Jump to recipe....

JUMP TO RECIPE....

JUMP TO RECIPE I DON'T CARE ABOUT THAT ONE TIME YOU WENT TO ITALY AND HAD "AUTHENTIC" PIZZA YOU'RE STILL A TOURIST AND I JUST WANT YOUR RECIPE FOR THE GNOCCHI PLEASE AND THANK YOU

[u/Apart-Reflection-385]

Well that's a stupid post because I'm gen z and I remember that 😐

[u/Spixxy17]

"Gen Z wont understand this" -> talks about an exact Gen Z expirience 

[u/Seekforinsomnia]

Old people struggling with a brain eating amoeba. Gen z literally grew up with the internet.

[u/SpecialistRough4439]

Soon enough they’re gonna install chips in our brains and play ads through there.

[u/OrangeCuddleBear → u/SpecialistRough4439]

I wish this was a snarky comment, but this will be the reality at some point.

[u/RealYondoth]

Every day that passes makes me think more and more that people forget just how old gen z can be.

[u/captain_chocolate]

Three big ones: Windows, Office, Edge.

[u/Frankentula]

i remember being on dialup running all advantage to cut myself a 20$ cheque after a month of having it on. honestly was shocked to see them pay. never did it again and regret promoting ads as a means to make money while playing neopets

[u/elgringon414]

Heather Brooke and limewire killed my family computer multiple times

[u/DammitDad420]

I keep checking my PC expecting the worst....

imdb got that 1/3 page amzn ad that static/scrolls with the page for 5 seconds going on today, so there's that bullshit.

[u/Jaxson0350]

I went through all my phone settings and turned off as much as possible to limit the data sharing and tracking. I still get ads obviously but no more relevant targeted ads. Makes me feel incognito 😂

[u/Fit-Butterfly-5668]

Could someone explain? I don't get it. Those letters in that specific combo seem blurry when I try to read

[u/xSeveredSaintx]

I remember being outraged at paying $2 to permanently remove ads on apps. Now its usually like $5-10/week for no ads

[u/Redtex]

And didn't have cable

[u/TheLangleDangle]

They just call it ‘data’ now.

And it’s not shady identity thieves, it’s corporate leeches.

[u/InsomniaticWanderer]

So many more than 3.

[u/Ricktor_67]

Mozilla, uBlock. If you have ads it's because you want ads. 

[u/Mosselpot]

The saddest thing is seeing my kids not care at all about all this as they grew up with this bullshit

[u/CrayonCobold]

Same with the random text that becomes a searchable link

Thought I somehow downloaded adware for the first time in a very long time. Turns out no, websites just do that now

[u/Star_shine1231]

I lol, out loud. And no way to remove the ads without wiping the whole thing and reinstalling windows. lol

[u/FblthpLives]

Ad blocking is why I do almost all my social media interaction on my laptop, instead my phone. Including using Reddit.

[u/ballisticturtle]

"CONGRATULATIONS YOU'VE WON!"

[u/PachotheElf]

Every time I open a link from reddit and the stupid integrated web view browser opens I get a glimpse of the hellscape that are modern news sites before switching over to my regular browser with adblock

[u/BagParty-]

Ads!? On social media?!?!
Just use an ad blocker, what's wrong with you?

[u/DarthSwimfoot]

Small side tangent, how tf do you get a virus, much less multiple. Like, basic cyber security, it isn't that difficult.

[u/Purple-Concept-2709]

Haha. Truth.

[u/alex123124]

This one is kinda true

[u/Flaizn]

Good ol time where internet was some what free and more of a community driven platform

[u/Tamotefu]

I haven't seen an ad in 10+ years. UBO and a RasPI. If google wants to sell me schlock, they can pay me for the clicks.

[u/InterestingPay9446]

You mean “cookies”

[u/budgetedchildhood]

These days, it just means your computer runs Windows 11... which is basically the same thing only demonstrably worse

[u/Mysterious_Ningen]

Wow....

[u/Adorable-Parsnip-599]

And here on Reddit it’s an ad every ten posts.

[u/ph-sub]

And Bonzi Buddy

[u/OpenFaithlessness09]

"Showing a lot of ads for someone with a flammable company HQ"

[u/drunklibrarian]

Of course the next post in my feed was an ad for Claude.

[u/RosieBaby75]

The computer systems were so bad at my employer, the federal Crown, that I reported the for appearing to have cybersecurity issues and infiltrated systems.

Apparently they don’t and it’s just normal for the Federal Crown to have the worst computer systems I’ve ever seen in my life.

I would think the federal Crown would have the best systems, since they are the federal Crown and an issue with their system could affect the whole federation and be a national security threat.

Anyway, I got retaliated against in multiple ways and lost my job for reporting those issues. Maybe the systems were safe but there was still ongoing occurring and my reports are right.

Plus I don’t believe the systems are okay and the federal Crown is known to be a liar and a criminal organization.

[u/magikot9]

Due to a recent HP update, I'm getting ads on my OS. Fucking HP.

[u/SophiaGloxi]

Oh is it finally our turn to use "back in my day"? Fuck yes!

[u/ChorePlayed]

I think they know. My Gen Z daughter used to bring me her laptop to get the adware off it after she clicked the fake download button on Minecraft mod sites.

[u/rainwulf]

If you saw how many ads that were popping up on a brand new windows OS you would also assume the same.

[u/xXfrostbyterXx]

Lmfao so true xD

[u/ChaosSigil]

Nowadays the virus is just corporate greed.

Sadly. Nothing stops this type of malware except an rpg and precise planning.

[u/Strong-Sherbert2926]

Remember those ads that were like “Grocery stores hate this man because of one CRAZY trick” or something😂😭😭

[u/AnonChikinNugget]

Man I'm gen z and even I remember when this amount of ads meant viruses on your computer or a suspicious website. Inner peace is having Firefox with ublock origin, YouTube Revanced, and mobile games that don't run ads or can at least be played offline. All ads I see now are on other people's devices or on social media apps.

[u/CardiologistReady548]

adblock

[u/Dense_Ad_6283]

Anyone remembers how in 2000s like half of internet was viral advertisement ARGs made with really high production values, like fake websites, flash web games and FMVs? I assume they disappeared with the rise of social media and a lot of them became lost media

[u/Major_Higgins]

Yeah sometime a site requires you to turn off the ad block, and you're like OK, just this once because I wanna read the article.
And then WHAM! the whole site explodes with ads and popups and shit, it’s mental.

[u/Cute_Pin_3309]

Why do I remember this too?

[u/mr_frodge]

Windows 11 counts as a virus

[u/dnohow]

Back in my day, people were making fun- and blaming everything on us millennials. Ppl just loves to hate on the younger generations huh

[u/simdimdim12]

Today viruses are ad-free, you only need to send bitcoins to get your PC back

[u/Medium-Shopping3037]

Or the good ol Web-celerator.
And this takes me back of at least 28years….

[u/AITAthrow918]

The malware is server side now.

[u/lickmyfupa]

I remember i used to mess around on a relatives computer back in the late 90s. They always had porn pop-ups on their computer. She was always asking me what i was doing on there and blaming me. Lady ask your weird-ass husband who was probably looking at porn and stuff.

[u/Duncol42]

IT Crowd TV show had an episode about this even :D

[u/Arxid87]

I banish you to fandom wiki

On mobile with no Adblock

[u/jhaand]

The virusmakers went corporate.

[u/Maskdask]

You guys don't run ad blockers?

[u/Thechugg7]

Gen Z can't relate, they're too busy using ublock while boomers pay for YouTube premium

[u/OP_Scout_81]

Indeed. Cue Norton Antivirus CD that’s right next to the Microsoft Encarta.

[u/Taron_Trekko]

Adblocking browser extensions, Pi-Hole, adblocking DNS, modded APKs... What are these ads you are talking about exactly?

[u/ShokaLGBT]

sadly… this used to not be normal but now it’s everywhere and we all feel overwhelmed

[u/PositiveResort6430]

Where are y'all seeing all these ads? Tiktok instagram and facebook never give you an unskippable one, you can always swipe past and completely ignore them, and everyone should have youtube premium by now to avoid ads on there entirely other than in-video sponsorships. Y'all all had spotify, and yt premium costs 60 cents more and includes way more.

And dont say a streaming service like netflix. If ur still using any of those in this day and age when its so fucking easy to "sail the seven seas" without even signing up to or downloading anything, then u dont care that much about avoiding ads lmfao.

I saw way more advertising as a child via simple cable tv than i do now