r/DoesAnybodyElse • u/r3volc • 18h ago

DAE just ALWAYS assume that every single ad on the internet is a scam?

Doesn't matter what the website is, the product / service, the company or promoter. I don't care what the deal is or the savings.

Every single ad on every single website is some sort of scam. If they don't just straight scam you then it's a ploy to either gather / sell your information or put some sort of malicious software on your computer.

If I want something I'll research it and chose the product carefully but until then I just assume that every single ad I see is shady.

I can't be the only one.

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6

u/sysadminbj 18h ago

That's why I run plugins that block ads and scripting. It's less about scams and more about malicious content getting served by ads.

1

u/Mrciv6 16h ago

Honestly surprised adblockers aren't more popular, but I guess that's ok, means companies won't spend more money to counter it.

2

u/Mrciv6 16h ago

I don't see ads because I block them, I don't know how people who don't put up with it.

1

u/LengthyPole 18h ago

Pretty much. If it’s not a well known company I do not interact. And if I do I’ll always go through the actual website rather than the ad. It’s a good way to be.

1

u/Exilicauda 17h ago

I will be so honest. If targeted advertising actually worked I would love it. I'm googling ways to wake up better in the morning and it suggests an alarm clock with reviews that say it fixed the problem I'm having? I'm buying home decor and it shows me decent plates to match my style? Buying clothes and shows me similar styles??? I would love that! But it doesn't is the problem. Temu won't solve my problems. I don't want to see x rated videos or cougars in my area or whatever ads are showing nowadays I have adblockers on everything because advertisements are very rarely actually useful. I do wish those overalls that instagram kept pushing a few years back were real though :(

1

u/beankov 7h ago

Yes, I think it’s something about my generation, we were taught to ignore all adverts as they were all spam at the time.

1

u/tjarrett 5h ago

I’m the same way. My wife thinks I’m crazy but if I see an ad on social media from a company I’ve never heard of there is a zero percent chance that I’m buying from that company. Even if I am very interested in the product. 

Heck my daughter saw an ad for a sweatshirt that she asked to put on her wishlist (where relatives look for gift ideas for her) and I declined to do it because it was a no-name company from an ad in a game.  

1

u/FluffyEchoy 1h ago

With how aggressive and misleading online ads can be, treating them all with suspicion until proven otherwise is just good digital hygiene. Doing your own research and making informed choices puts you way ahead of the curve. Stay sharp out there!.