Debate: Browser Hijacking Ads

[Alolan_Apples]

You are allowed to discuss whether or not you think it's okay to have ads that automatically open the app store on your phone or tablet while browsing some page on Safari.

Here's my opinion:

Seriously, they are getting on my last nerves. I want to read the news, others' opinions on media, and other interesting articles, but all of the sudden, the whole screen gets covered by the ads. That may be one thing, but if it's going to hijack my browser and start opening weird pages or forcing me to the app store, that needs to be stopped. It's annoying since day one, and it's on my last nerves. Usually, it tries to get me to buy Candy Crush, Game of War, and some other game. Look, I'm not interested into it, and there's no need to force me to go to the app store even if I wanted them.

Apple needs to have an option to prevent that, but I'm more in favor of outlawing browser hijacking ads. This is worse than ads in paid programming (or apps ypu have to pay rather than get free).

 

[Beardo]

yes

jfc I'm tired of casually browsing like DA or something and then being taken to some appstore ****

 

[Earth Wolf-Howl]

Um... I kind of voted the wrong option. I meant yes, sorry.

But yes, I'm thoroughly convinced that those should be blocked completely. I hate just innocently browsing a website and finding myself in another tab because of some stupid ad. Heck, I was even thoroughly convinced that it was a virus causing that! I hate them!

 

[Celestefey]

Adblock saves the day. I forgot how annoying those things are. Sometimes they can be quite terrifying too. They pop up and tell you you have a virus on your phone or computer or whatever - at first I genuinely thought they were real and I'd freak out. Thankfully I realised they aren't real, but unfortunately, a lot of people probably don't.

 

[Colour Bandit]

Yes, yes, yes and yes a billion times.
I think the worst one I have come across was when I accidentally clicked on to a clickbait news website and before I could close it it opened up a very, very explicit porn website which kept opening up a dialog box when I tried to close the tab, I had to shut of my laptop to get it to go away... Also the ones that tell you your computer is infected with a virus are horrible.

 

[That Zephyr Guy]

Adblock is fantastic.

 

[Ashtot]

Adblock is the best option imo.

 

[Alolan_Apples]

I would love to see an ad advertising adblock. That would be hillarious.

Yes, ads in paid apps with no "ad free" option or in-app purchases are annoying, and so is charging people to read news articles, but not any worse than what we're talking about.

No King, I don't wanna buy your Bejeweled rip-off.
No Machine Zone, I don't wanna buy your Warcraft rip-off.

 

[radical6]

i dont care usually. it can get annoying on mobile but most the time i only browse reddit and archiveofourown on my phone, i have apps for other stuff i use.

chrome i use adblock so yeah

 

[mintellect]

I've never encountered this but ads alone are a huge annoyance. I get they need to make money but is it really necessary for ads to just wildly appear everywhere? I cannot tell you how many times in endless runner apps have wild ads appeared in the middle of my game, and I die and have to start over. This sounds far worse and more annoying and isn't necessary at all.

 

[N e s s]

I misread and voted No, but yeah I think it should be.

 

[jiny]

I hate those kind of ads. They're dumb. I swear whenever I see them, I press the screen really fast, but I accidentally click on the stupid ad. I have to wait for it to load, then I finally get out of the ad. I hate them, so YES they should be illegal.

 

[Alolan_Apples]

Yes, yes, yes and yes a billion times.
I think the worst one I have come across was when I accidentally clicked on to a clickbait news website and before I could close it it opened up a very, very explicit porn website which kept opening up a dialog box when I tried to close the tab, I had to shut of my laptop to get it to go away... Also the ones that tell you your computer is infected with a virus are horrible.

I don't even get why that **** is allowed on the internet. I know that is a very large percentage of the internet (while the extreme majority of users go to the smaller percentage, which includes facebook, tumblr, gaming sites, and shopping sites), but why even allow this?

Yes, we are responsible for what we click, not ads that hijack our browser.

 

[tybalt_cake]

Fack,i accidentally clicked no T - T
Whatever,its pretty annoying when suddenly,Wild ad appeared!
Always on DA this happens :/

 

[visibleghost]

i use asblock on my computer but it gets annoying when im on my phone

 

[Captain Crazy Chicken]

WHITE SAND WHITE SAND TRIPE SAG

SHUT UP, you stupid tourism ads!

You OBVIOUSLY use Los Angeles for the beaches of Strife Hag, and you're actually awful!

 

[ShinyYoshi]

I'm another one of those people who clicked NO thinking the question was something else :'( I would definitely want to keep them from being allowed to just hijack what I'm doing. It's so freaking annoying, I wish it would stop.

 

[Caius]

I don't understand why this would be a debate. In order for an ad to open an app on your phone/tablet it has to execute a programming script that runs a command. The same thing is also how just browsing the web on any other device implants malware/adware/spyware into your registry files. So no, it shouldn't be legal, but that's another issue alltogether. It's mostly just 'bad taste.'

The problem is that Ads have evolved so quickly there really isn't a mandate on how certain things should, or shouldn't be run. When I did some software company work for Google to test ads and browsing conditions, those kinds of ads were always an instant "0" score because it doesn't follow Google's "unintrusive" policies. You have to consider that ad companies don't want you to install adblock, they want you to not be bothered by their ads or at least look at them. It's mostly the malicious ones that force you into it.

As for the legality of it, you can't claim something is legal or illegal online for the most part.. it's based on where a server is held. So, say we have a server in Sweden that allows for popup obtrusive ads, but those kinds of ads are illegal in the USA. Because you browse to that site you agree to the terms and conditions of the server location, therefore no action may be taken. It's a super gray area.

TL;DR: They're annoying and I don't like them but making them illegal is impossible.

 

[Alolan_Apples]

TL;DR: They're annoying and I don't like them but making them illegal is impossible.

I think the longer explanation best described this than the summary. I still don't understand why third parties and advertisers want to force you into going to the app store, disrupting your reading of the forums. I would say that freemium game making companies need to stop doing this. If they want to make ads, they better not put a command script that forces you into the app store. If we don't want their games, we don't have to.

I also get the legality issues of these. Yes, just because something is illegal in one region doesn't mean all regions can make them illegal. In Germany, they have a special food called Kinder eggs, where a toy can be found in a capsule covered in chocolate. While they are on the market in Germany, that is one of the few foods and drinks outlawed in the United States. In Japan, all media that makes references to America's conflict with them during WWII (especially in comedic ways) are required by law to be censored or banned altogether, but in America, we're allowed to have comedies and other media that references any event in World War II. So I can see your point why we can't outlaw them from doing it in US phones when they are international, but I still hate this idea.

 

[Hypno KK]

I hate browser hijacking ads and recently some of them have been slipping past my ad block. It's especially bad when I'm looking at a site and that site's ads try to direct me to their shop or whatever... it's just shooting their own foot.