I have a friend who’s alcohol consumption has gotten out of control. Me and his other friends/family are planning an intervention and so I’ve been doing a lot of research/reading on the topic.
NEVER and I mean NEVER have I seen so many fucking ads for alcohol in my LIFE. Instagram? 15 ads in a half hour of scrolling reels. YouTube? Ads. Google results? Ads. Twitter? Ads.
It’s fucking everywhere and it’s SICK. I’m researching how to help someone stop drinking and I’m getting inundated with ads for anything from gin, beers, vodkas and more. I can’t even imagine having an alcohol issue and trying to find help for myself with the web being this way.
It’s fucking sick.
“Why should I care about privacy? I have nothing to hide, who cares if they target advertising at me?”
Not to make light of your situation, but if anyone in the crowd has said this to themselves at some point, the answer to why they should care is “shit like exactly this.” This is a prime example of “not illegal stuff to hide but targeted advertising actively making your life harder purposefully in an attempt to manipulate you into buying their products.”
Take back your privacy, use alternate solutions and avoid shit tier companies that attempt to take it from you for their own financial gain, even at the expense of your own financial ruin. Make “unsecure” a black mark companies have to crawl their way out of or else their products won’t be used or bought. Fuck them. Is it possible to gain 100% anonymity online? Likely, no, but you can put in a little effort to stop it as much as you can, and use adblockers of course to block what they would send. There is effort to it to be sure, but it is worth it, and the more people take their privacy seriously the more tools will be developed, improved, etc.
Again sorry to sort of hijack your post for this comment, that sucks and fuck whoever is serving you (and by extension actual alcoholics seeking recovery) those targeted ads. I just feel it’s necessary to point out real world examples of “this is why” because when you’re just talking about privacy as a concept people always pretend that since they aren’t a Sicario for Sinaloa they have no reason to care. You do, something as “small” (legal) as this is a reason.
Lots of really good privacy tips etc in this thread. Many I knew. Some I didn’t and loads that will help others. It’s actually great to see.
First thing everyone should do on a new phone ( or old phone, any phone )
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go to Internet & Network Settings
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Enter “dns.adguard.com” for Private DNS
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Profit: never see ads anywhere on your phone. Not in apps and in no browser.
It’s as simple as that.
Iirc there are different DNS servers from adguard with custom filters. Some are more strict and others more loose on the blocking.
This instruction is for Android, since it’s what i use, but I’m sure, similar setting exists in iOS.
Well shit I’ll have to look into this, fist I’m hearing of it. Thanks!
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You can’t help anyone with a substance abuse problem.
They either choose to fix themselves or they die.
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Install uBlock Origin. Ads are a legitimate malware threat.
Hope things go well and your friend is receptive to the message. It might not change the trajectory right away but at the very least, it’ll be something to encourage them to examine their habits. If your friend does seem to take it to heart but has a hard time cutting back, there’s a medication called naltrexone which may help reduce alcohol cravings. I’m just some internet guy though so that’s more of a conversation between them and their doctor, it’s something I didn’t know about before starting treatment but I think it was helpful. Carbonated (seltzer/sparkling) water was useful as a replacement for the alcoholic drinks in my case but if that brings to mind stuff they used to mix together, it may not be an ideal solution.
If they’ve been drinking heavily over a long period, there are also some risks associated with complete cessation so it couldn’t hurt to encourage them to schedule an appointment with their doctor anyway. I’d imagine that’s come up in your research already though.
Shit like this is why I use ad blockers and route all my home network traffic through a Pi Hole.
If Google gets their way with their evil “Web Environment Integrity” bullshit this is going to get so. Much. Worse.
The whole internet at that point would be pretty much 100% ad and 100% unusable at that point with the “wEb InTeGrItY” bullshit they’re pushing.
Really hoping it fails or it’s just another abandoned Google project, but it’s deeply worrisome for us netizens.
Hey! My husband is thinking about doing something similar with his, can you share any resources you used? He’s done programming before but never with a raspberry pi, and he’s not sure where to start.
You can follow pi hole website to do it https://pi-hole.net/
Very easy, straight forward, and well explained.
The only thing you might want to check before buying something or trying this is if your router allows to set custom dns servers. Basically,connect to your router, and check the step 3, and see if it has the option for it. From my understanding some might not have the option.
Not necessary, but a next step can also be to install a VPN and route your mobile phone thru it too. Means you are also covered on the go, so no ads on mobile too , when you aren’t home too !
Very helpful! We are already looking into a VPN, just undecided which one to go with, so I’ll send this comment to him. Thank you!
This is great advice. The other advice I would give is to make sure the household is prepared for the impact of routing everything through a pihole. There are quite a few things out there on the internet that will simply stop working with the default block lists. Yes, that is obviously the point. But it is helpful to prepare everyone with how to do temporary allows, and have a strategy for what type of things you might want to whitelist and which you’re content with leaving blocked. Otherwise it can be very jarring especially at the beginning.
Thanks for the heads up! That’s definitely something we hadn’t considered. We’ll start looking into it!
That’s why I use NextDNS. It’s like Pi-Hole, but better IMO.
What makes it better?
NextDNS and similar services basically host the pi-hole on your behalf. Pi-hole setup involves installing packages on a device that will handle your ad content filtering and related network configuration; NextDNS involves getting a URL to copy-paste into your phone, computer, or network’s DNS configuration settings. The latter is far less labor-intensive. The trade-off is that you have less control over how things get blocked. Pi-hole is more of a local solution than NextDNS, but if you don’t want to fuss with the tech and just want to start blocking more ads, go with NextDNS (or similar).
Here is an article that covers info about how to set this up on an Android phone and several private DNS provider options: https://www.theupdatebox.com/how-to-enable-private-dns-on-android/
I’m guessing you can’t run it alongside a VPN then, right?
You can, but you can’t use the app. Instead, you configure your DNS to target NextDNS IPs.
Ah okay. Guess it’s not much different than using Mullvad’s content blocking DNS then.
Facebook briefly offered you the option to select topics you didn’t want to see advertised at all, I chose alcohol and politics. Want to guess what 90% of my ads on that garbage site are?
I had the same experience. Those settings didn’t seem to change a thing.
You can disable targeted ads on most platforms, which will make the ads you see less relevant.
However, you’re right—ads for alcohol shouldn’t appear when searching for information on quitting drinking. I recall a liquor store offering discounts on drinks in exchange for the sobriety tokens people receive.
that’s why I pay to remove ads.
You can turn off targeted ads on most platforms so the ads you get are useless.
But you are right, when searching for anti drinking info ads for drinking shouldn’t appear. I seem to remember there was a alcohol shop that was giving discounts for drinks if you gave them your sober token things you get.
A lot of bars will give you free drinks if you give them your sobriety coin from AA.
Unethical life pro tips: visit AA meetings to get sobriety coins and exchange them for free drinks.
You can probably just buy the coins online lmao
But they would not be free.
Are they less than a drink? I sense an arbitrage opportunity.
and you get to fuck over a bar owner who is a piece of shit so there is that
AA sourced sobriety coins cost a LOT trust me. You dont ever want to have to find out. Not that they charge you for the coins (they do not), but whatever landed you in there likely cost you more than some online coins would, is my point.
People are talking about going to AA just for the sobriety coins. I don’t think they’re actually doing it earnestly because they really have a problem they want AA to help them with. So nothing actually “landed” them there.
Been there, you have to actually have been a regular member for those said months until you can earn tokens. I don’t think the elders give them out to randos on the street.
You’re fun at parties huh
You never know, maybe my problem is lack of money for drinks.
No they don’t.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trade-aa-medallions-free-drinks/
A simple google search disproves that.
A “simple goodge search” is not the same thing as some shit snopes article that i can tell isn’t right, from direct life experience. IDGAF what snopes says. its a real thing, and its stupidly easy to find. I’m not telling you how to google, even though you clearly suck at it.
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I don’t believe this
I’ve definitely heard of bars offering free non alcoholic drinks to DD’s but I can’t imagine any trying to get AA coins in exchange for alcohol that’s crazy.
It’s very common, Google it for your location
it’s a big world. Any conceivable promotion you could think of us being done in at least a few places. Can’t imagine its common though
Holy hell, that’s straight up evil if true. I hope the bad PR ran them out of business.
You can buy the coins for as little as £0.75 each (~$1) https://www.recovery12.co.uk/newcomer-aa-medallions-67-c.asp Then go to a bar and get a drink for almost nothing.
😀
I would say the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon plays a bigger role here. Alcohol ads are super common and wouldn’t be surprised if you just zoned them out before.
I am not going to deny that searching for anything alcohol related can increase the amount but I highly doubt it would be by such a large margin.
I searched for husavara images once because we were watching an old b sci-fi movie where they dressed one up with crappy “prosthetics” but didn’t paint it and I wanted to prove that’s what it was.
I got huskavara and John Deere ads all over my socials pretty much exclusively the next day and extremely frequently for a week afterwards. There’s just no way those were there prior to that search. I turned off targeted ads and never saw them again.
I believe op when he says he was inundated with them.
Interesting. I live in Poland and liquor advertisements are illegal here, in fact all alcoholic beverage commercials are banned except for beer (I think even with that there used to be some restrictions that in tv they can be only aired after 23:00 or 11 PM, I’m not sure if it’s still the case). According the law definition, it should also apply to social media and internet in general, but it might or might not be completely regulated (yet?). In general however, I don’t see such adverts and even beer adverts are quite rare, to the point that I forgot they could exist, just like cigarettes commercials.
Last beer advert I remember was some some billboard with 0% Free beer with raspberry flavor or whatever
Wait - are you really the real Blizzard?
Why did you do this to us?
I wish they had an official account on Lemmy because I’d like to ask them some questions:
- why do giant slugs and porcupines keep bound prisoners?
- why do mobs suddenly come out from underground? Just becasue it made sens with zergs, doesn’t mean it will make sens with everything
Don’t let me start talking about movement because it’ll turn into a rant.
This treats the symptom, not the illness.
This is a vaccine that will make you immune to the illness.
Most of my devices have all the relevant blocks and filters etc. my iPhone doesn’t and given I’m mostly in a few paid apps it hasn’t really been an issue in the past at all.
I really just wanted to call attention to how sick of an issue this is for someone who might be trying to help themselves.
Yes, it is a dick move. Companies don’t care about consumers, they care about sales and their brand. You could document this with some screenshots or a short video and send out an e-mail to a bunch of popular newspapers. If any of them pick up the subject, it could hurt those assholes.
Yeah I learned stuff was spying on my voice because I was talking to my wife about how I need to take a break from drinking for a bit to recalibrate my habits and then for several days literally nothing but alcohol ads. No searches were made.
If they can’t resist doing this then maybe they shouldn’t be allowed to advertise alcohol.
It’s possible that she looked up information about cutting down on drinking, and because you’re connected in the ad network system, you also got ads from it. They like to learn who is connected to who and target ads that way. Facebook is, as you might predict, one of the most notorious.
Na, it’s parsed from conversations. I don’t know why everyone always tries to explain the connection when it’s quite obvious your phone is designed to use your spoken words for ads.
It’s not. On the one hand is however many people saying “it’s obvious!” and on the other hand is no evidence of network traffic transmitting audio data. Why spend all the power to transmit audio, autotranscribe, and parse for specific keywords when they already track your browsing habits and those of your housemates?
It’s decoded on the device with the dedicated audio processor built into every smartphone since about 2010.
Is there any proof of this?
Listening to, and understanding, everything said within range of the phone should use noticeable processing power.
If that’s the case, I’m glad I keep my goddamn smartphone’s permissions locked as tight as I can. I’m so pissed off that Samsung decided to lock down their phones’ bootloaders that I bought a 512GB Google Pixel Pro and installed Graphine OS.
I will never use Google Drive as phone storage and it will be my last smartphone unless Fairphone starts doing business in Canada; I’d buy from a UK reseller but if I’m going to buy a phone I want to have access to the official warranty, which was not offered by the reseller I found, and repairable by even the best right-to-repair standards still means nothing if the local repair shops tell me they can’t order in Fairphone parts.
I disagree. Consider the average internet user and how much they willingly give up about themselves online. Most of them use social media and have everyone they’ve ever met added on it, they post directly about what they’re doing and often who they’re doing it with, and they lend their engagement at things they like. They use Google for a search engine and don’t block ads.
So really, for the probably 80-90%+ of the population that captures, the massive surveillance network in place just at that level is perfectly sufficient to gleam anything they might want to know. Even if someone does protect their privacy, people they’re connected with still influence their profile through their lack of concern for privacy.
So really, with all that in place, what’s the incentive to have a top secret voice surveillance system built on top of all that? It would destroy the market for any phone doing it if it was ever proven. Why take that risk when you can get everything you want from all those other sources instead?
Yeah if I didn’t trust her to tell me specifically if she’d done it I’d’ve thought that. But she’s been there in the past herself and was less concerned than I was. Also she’d’ve definitely told me when I complained about the ads
Bless you for using two different double contractions
I’dn’t’ve even noticed if you’d’nt mentioned it lol
There could also be cues from the rest of your observable behavior even if it wasn’t explicitly searched for. They have a lot of data to work with and your circumstances probably aren’t unique, maybe there are signs they are aware of that you wouldn’t be.
Also, his purchases of alcohol may have made it to an advertiser. He may simply not have noticed he was getting ads until his wife talked to him about drinking too much.
The whole “phones are listening all the time” thing could be true, and wouldn’t surprise me, but to my knowledge no hacker or privacy monitor has ever found evidence that they do. Always just seemed more likely to me that people just expose information without realizing these systems are much more ubiquitous and complex than just microphones illegally listening.
Alcoholic here. Super bowl ads are toxic. All hail the protective ad blocker.
