1y ago

The type of ads are really frustrating

I get the reason for there being Ads in the sync app. I don't have the funds to pay for ultra and that's also fine.

But what I find concerning is the type of ads I see. I live in Germany for clarification and most of what I see are websites acting like news sites (right leaning at times). When I accidentally tap on them my browser immediately blocks the website for unsafe practices on their end.

Now I really don't mind the ads in apps if it's the usual app ad, random products or Amazon type of things. But I hate it when every ad is a boomer ass clickbait ad about how solar energy is definitely worse than anything else.

This is my main complaint about sync right now and it might push me to stop using it again as the ads are also very frequent...

114 comments

My feed was full of "How to get pregnant" ads. And not the porn type, but the medical faceless mannequin type.
Not sure if I successfully blocked big tech to spy on me and they have no idea what to offer me...or they know somethinh (•_•)

Set your DNS to dns.adblock-dns.com on your phone, and get uBlock Origin on your computer. It's been so long since I've seen any ads.
- That DNS didn't work for me. dns.adguard.com works and blocks 71% of ads according to this tool
  
  It works, maybe you've misconfigured something.
  https://adguard-dns.io/en/public-dns.html
  
  Nice tool! Happy with my 93% result!

NextDNS is free, and blocks all the ads on Sync as well as most others elsewhere
- doesn't hide the empty spaces though, but oh well
  
  I am using the non-rooted AdAway blocker and I am not seeing any empty space, in case you want to try.
  EDIT: Or maybe I am not being served adds because my location, so I cannot be 100% sure about the spaces.
  
  I'm running on a rooted android, magisk, lsposed and minminguard as chain to block ads and remove the ad spaces. I still have to see one ad I didn't want. (And those in games for 'goodies' just run unwatched)
  I'll check if sync has ads here, but I doubt I'll see them.
  About the type of ads, no app developer has any control over what is shown, as they offerl the space to ad providers and they select the junk they place there.
  Edit: Installed sync, added to lsposed list to run the minminguard module on, opened it and 'sponsored content' blocks, but no ads. (Saw one ad when I opened sync without the lsposed config change) I'm guessing I need to restart the device to get rid of the blocks which should hold the ads. (Or those blocks are standard and the regular content is replaced by sponsored content)
  Edit 2: those sponsored content blocks are just standard blocks with either the ad or "sponsored content" as text. Uninstalled it again, as I prefer Liftoff.

there is a button under privacy to revoche the gdpr consent.
i pressed it and i don't have any ads (yet) just gray boxes
- Same here. Thought it was just bugged

I'm still not getting any 🤫
- Same, I never got ads. But just to thank dev for his impressive app, I bought the noads version even if I never saw one once. Go figure... I'm in Canada btw maybe there's a prob with ads here I dunno
  
  Also in Canada, also didn't notice any ads, also paid for the ad-free experience anyways to support the app lol

My feed shows gambling apps 💀 (I hate gambling with a passion)
- They've shown up for me to later which made me uninstall sync and go back to jerboa
- Weirdly mine shows anti-gambling adverts.

I tried Sync but I like Jerboa better. Free, no ads
- Same here. Sync is a great app. It has a lot of great features.
  But jerboa is the first lemmy app i used. I feel home when using jerboa even though it is still in development.
- I never tried sync, or any other app. I started with Jerboa and very happy with it. I'm here to stay.
  
  Here where? Because you're in a Sync community. :-P
- [This comment has been deleted by an automated system]
- Voyager is on the App Store now as well: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/voyager-for-lemmy/id6451429762
  We’re pretty spoiled tbh!

Block them. Google NextDNS, takes about 10 seconds to set up with a simple change in your phone's DNS settings.
- I didn't know this trick, any downside to do this ?
  
  The team running NextDNS gets a log of all sites your devices connects to, and we don’t get much information into how they are running the business.
  On the upside, you also get a log of all the sites your devices connects to, and now you have multiple, easy ways to block what you want. Ads based on your choice of blocklists, brands (Samsung, Microsoft etc), Platforms (TikTok, Reddit, Snapchat etc.), categories (Cryptocurrency, Porn, Gambling, Dating etc.). It’s great!
  You can turn off logging and set logging to be stored in Switzerland for example. You’ll have to trust the guys running it that they don’t still have access and can turn it over to authorities though.
  
  Downside is you aren't supporting the Dev. Can buy it if you want.
  
  as z4rk said
  but I'd also like to add that you can use pi-hole instead on a local old computer
  it gives the same functionality, but self-hosted

Consider switching to https://www.ethicalads.io/
https://www.ethicalads.io/blog/2023/05/how-the-internet-ads-industry-works-players-tactics-pii-part-i/

ad is a boomer ass clickbait ad about how solar energy is definitely worse than anything else.
Is this an advert for a product or service? It sounds more like propaganda. Who is funding this stuff?
- Could be all kinds of people, right wing shit exists everywhere but it's especially on the rise in Germany rn with the right extreme party (AFD) growing rapitly in polls and the "conservative" party CDU leaning heavily to the right since they lost power.

Strange. I'm also from Germany and I did not yet see any ads
- I am in Austria. I am just getting simple ads - intermittent fasting these days for some reason.

I love the phrase "boomer-ass clickbait". Gonna have to work that into rotation somehow.

The developer is not responsible for the targeted ads users get AFAIK
- Of course he is. They can always set up their ads to avoid scammy clickbait shit. But those pay the most so this is what we get.
- The developer is responsible for putting ads in his app. Not saying I disagree with the sentiment behind your statement because it's technically correct, but the developer has to take some degree of responsibility when they decide to open up their app to basically uncontrollable outside information being displayed to the users. Which is why ad-supported free versions of apps are a damned plague in my opinion. Would rather the free version was missing some functionality instead encouraging users to opt for Pro or Ultra. Unlocking features, not paying to remove ads that weren't and aren't on the Lemmy platform itself in the first place.

AdGuard
- Can you give a little bit of information about this? Does it remove all ads on Android apps? Is there a free version?
  
  Yes it can block ads for all apps but you need to get the premium version. If you just use the free license it mostly just works on browser apps.
  If you are interested in this app then remember to grab it from their website directly and not the one on the Play Store. And if you ever decide to get the paid license you can grab a lifetime license on stack social at a discount.

I'm not a heavy lemmy user yet (been busy playing Baldur's Gate 3, woo!) but I've had Sync for Lemmy since the day it released, it's up to date, and I have not seen a single ad yet. I'm using a Oneplus Nord N20, and I don't have any adblockers installed, except the add-on in my Firefox app. Is it just me?
- I believe ads are only showing in certain views. The more compact views like List which I use, does not have any ad support lol. When I swapped to the larger cards view I immediately saw ads there.
  
  That would explain it. I've been trying to figure out why I never saw an ad
- I've been binging on Balders Gate, I'm at like 11 hours now lol. Btw try to get the animal speak skill as soon as you can, you'll miss a ton of content otherwise.
  
  Nice!!! :) I got it! I'm playing a barbarian tiefling, and had to make friends with Scratch! Such a good boy!

I don't have the funds to pay for ultra
There's also a cheaper ad-free version without the ultra features. Tap the profile picture in the top left, then "remove ads".
- It's not cheaper at all sync ultra is €3 a month and add free is a €20 one time payment.... If he doesn't have the €3 p.m. for ultra, what makes you think he can pay €20 upfront
  
  It's the Vimes boots scenario!
  
  It's not cheaper at all sync ultra is €3 a month and add free is a €20 one time payment
  I mean, you cannot really compare monthly payments with one-time payments. Since ad-free is only available as one-time payment it only makes sense to compare the one-time payment prices for each of them. The one-time payment for ultra is ~180€. The one-time payment for ad-free is ~20€. Is that not cheaper?

I still haven't seen any ads when using sync

I just get Temu ads really. They are few and far enough between that I dont mind them.
I'm grateful this is a step up from the ads I often get on Snapchat which are usually gambling sites or alcohol brands.
Would be curious how difficult it was for ads to be incorporated into a lemmy client though. Also how do they decide what ads to play.

Honestly I rarely see ads on the app. I mostly get temu ads.
Go to most news sites and they're bombarded with shitty ads taking up 80% of the screen space
On sync I may be see 1 small ad per 10-15 posts, tops.

Try installing an ad blocker. For example, Adguard is pretty good, but must be downloaded from their website instead of from Google Play (ad blockers that can block ads system-wide are not allowed on Google Play). The are also various dns-based ad blockers such as nextdns, which can block ads in apps as long as you can change your device's DNS.
- I`ve heard those system wide ad blockers got people blocked on other apps that have ads like tiktok or instagram... while I try not to use them as often and switch to fediverse platforms over time, 99% of my social interactions sadly happen on those corperate owned platforms still
  
  As someone who has been using AdGuard for years, there are a ton of settings. You can select which apps to whitelist if needed, while blocking everything else. You can put in any exceptions you may need. I had a couple that refused to work that I have to allow through. Make sure you get it from their website if you want to try it out. They even have a master toggle you can add on the notification drawer thingy if you need it.
  I don't use anything Facebook or CCP related, so I am unable to attest to any claims of being banned from using adblockers, but don't let that stop you from enjoying an adfree life. I can't stand ads and seeing them stresses me out.
  Here is how the screen looks like if you need to modify settings for a specific app:
  
  Toggle:
  
  I use a program called Blockada on my phone. (get it from their website, not from the Play Store) Blockada runs a VPN locally on your device to filter all ad traffic from your data usage.
  You can whitelist specific site requests that are getting blocked, or whitelist whole apps to allow ads in them specifically.
  I never saw ads in Sync (I presume because of my system-wide ad blocking), but I went ahead and purchased ad-free to support the continued development of Sync.

You can setup the type of ads you want or do not want on your Google account. Which will impact sync ads since it uses Google Ads

I'm getting Walmart ads (normal for me) and a lot of ads for intermittent fasting (odd). I'm in the US.
- An ad for not consuming? How strange.

Super weird, still haven't seen an ad in Sync and don't use any sort of ad blockers or anything. Is it regional maybe?

Connect doesn't have ads :3
- How does this solve OP's issue with using Sync? Neither does my toilet paper, but I wouldn't recommend OP scrolled through that.
  
  The options are ask for improvements, and then learn to tolerate the issue, mitigate it, or find an alternative, and an alternative isn't a bad choice since that doesn't necessarily mean it is a permanent choice. I'm sure that if the Sync developer can improve the situation, they will.

I went through each item on the cookie banner and declined everything (the banner isn't compliant). Since don't that I just see a grey square as a placeholder for where the ads should be.

I dont think its Sync problem. You probably visited similar websites few times and now the ad service is serving you these kind of ads.
- The ads i see in apps are completely unrelated to sites I visit. There's currently an obnoxious blinking one in an app both my wife and I use. We get the same ads at the same time.
- This is so far out of my interest of browsing habits I really doubt it. Unless the ad purposefully misuses the tagging system (or whatever ads use for the algorithm) this has to be random
  
  Ad algorithms might be using more complicated analytic combinations than just "similar sites" as a qualifier. Maybe you're a fan of a product or show (or combination thereof) that typically map to right-wing readers or likely converts.
  If they're getting (just making this up) a 5% click-throughs rate with this targeting vs 2% with just similar-site matching, then they probably don't care about a high rate of views by left-wing users.
- No, I get that shit from Google ads from time to time too, Google just doesn't moderate advertisers at all! :/

In really don't get it, why use it? Good UI? Really, that's it?
- I've been a pro user for a decade. I know how to customize it the way I like. It just feels right for me. Also, we asked him to make it.
- Sync was the best reddit app on an Android tablet and is the best lemmy app on that device as well. Lots of customization available.
- Much smoother experience for me coming from Jerboa. While I appreciate that Jerboa is an open source app. Until it gets significant improvement, I will use Sync. Even with ads and closed source code base, I am happy to make that trade off for now.
- To be fair there is not much else in a lemmy app so... yes?
- Yes. It's by far the best Lemmy app there is, UI/UX-wise
- Trying it out right now and it's much more stable, smooth and snappy than any other client I've tried.
- Ok so why not just donate to the Foss apps instead? The huge amounts that went to sync would have made any Foss app at least just as good.
  You do you, I just don't get it.
  
  Maybe? But I know what I'm getting with Sync. Donations to FOSS don't guarantee anything.
  And really, once we start talking about donating to free software with the expectation of specific returns, we're basically talking about paying for software. If a specific set of FOSS is only good when people pay for it, there's a problem with the incentivization to work on that set of software.

It's not Sync that determines what ads you're served.
- Then maybe unchecked ads weren't a good idea to begin with.
  
  Ads aren't a good idea to begin with. I can't think of any other app in the Fediverse that has ads.
  
  Then don't use the app and leave this community. Unless being a negative little troll is your hobby.
- In a sense it is. This kind of ads is typically forbidden by some advertising networks. And you basically choose which one you wanna put on your app.
  
  This is admob, which is supposed to have oversight to prevent the worst stuff. Amazing how often that fails, and how rarely anything is done to correct it. Which is one reason why ad blockers are so popular
  
  You basically don't. The company serving the ads decides which ads are served.

"Boomer ass"??? Ageist, are we?
- I keep forgetting boomer is an age group, it being the one my parents belong to...
  To me, boomer is more of a mindset that ranges a lot. I know quite a few ppl my age with said mindset.
  If I upset you by using this term in this negative manner I am sorry.

You can get ad free for less than 1/4 of the ultra price.
- The price/membership is a ripoff.
- I don't think that is really their point, it is the type of ads
  
  I don't have the funds to pay for ultra
  What's the point here then?

114 comments