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AdNauseam is a uBlock fork that goes further: it actively attacks marketers by auto-clicking every ad before blocking (adnauseam.io)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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It garbles advertisers' data as a result, but you must disable uBlock Origin to run it; they can't work simultaneously. I recently moved to it and, so far, am never looking back!

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[–] 143 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Couple of issues I'm wondering about...

First, wouldn't clicking on everything just make you easier to track?

Second, how much bandwidth would all this use?

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  • [–] 177 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (42 children)
    1. not in this way
    2. not enough to matter

    the way it works is sending an HTTP request that registers as a "click" to the advertiser (thus costing them money), but then doesn't actually let the browser download any content and fetch the webpage, basically pi-holes the destination site and any attached tracking cookies. Combined with the fact that it does this to every ad, it would basically poison any click tracking.

    edit: pedants

    and before I get any more of you, this is just what I remember reading about adnauseam, do not take it as gospel, go look at AdNauseam's FAQ.

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  • [–] 26 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Yeah, I can't find an answer whether the "click" is behind some obfuscation, or if the "click every ad" is the obfuscation step itself by attempting to poison the data. The latter may work but yes, may actually increase tracking. Wish that answer wasn't so hard to find on their site.

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  • [–] 12 points 1 year ago (1 child)
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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago*

    Thanks, I didn't see this, there was a different embedded FAQ that didn't have the specific Q & A below.

    But, if anything, it seems to confirm the ad itself is just legitimately clicked from the user's IP address and hidden from the user, and that there is code execution protection, but not that there is any privacy protection? It's still very ambiguous.

    How does AdNauseam "click Ads"?

    AdNauseam 'clicks' Ads by issuing an HTTP request to the URL to which they lead. In current versions the is done via an XMLHttpRequest (or AJAX request) issued in a background process. This lightweight request signals a 'click' on the server responsible for the Ad, but does so without opening any additional windows or pages on your computer. Further it allows AdNauseam to safely receive and discard the resulting response data, rather than executing it in the browser, thus preventing a range of potential security problems (ransomware, rogue Javascript or Flash code, XSS-attacks, etc.) caused by malfunctioning or malicious Ads. Although it is completely safe, AdNauseam's clicking behaviour can be de-activated in the settings panel.

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  • [–] 19 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    Also wouldn't this be directing a ton of money to google? (or I guess any other ad provider)

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  • [–] 59 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    The advertisers are paying for the opportunity either way. Clicks cost them more money than just displaying the ad. Useless clicks cost them money for nothing.

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  • [–] 9 points 1 year ago*

    In the short term, I would think so.

    In the long run, it makes it less appealing for companies to advertise, because they would have larger costs while having less sales. That, in return, hurts Google as advertisers don't want to pay as much anymore. If 80% of all users used this extension, advertisers would have to pay more than ever, while having only 20% of all users can be reached (simplified, of course).

    Or in short, it's designed to hurt the system as a whole, not specific companies.

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