RANDOM Ads in Chrome for Android on LMF...

[Portreve]

Oh, this is getting absolutely f*****g ridiculous. There's now slide-down ads at the top of the page which cover up all the stuff at the top (general site navigation, etc.) and now forces the user to pause, pull the page further down to re-expose stuff at the top, and then you can tap on whichever item you were interested in.

I get that on my computer I can look for and install the appropriate plug-in; but what about within the Android environment, where there isn't a way (maybe within Firefox) to block all this stuff? And why do I need to install a blocking tool just to regain access to basic site functionality?

[DAMIEN1307]

PopUpOFF https://github.com/RomanistHere/PopUpOFF sounds like a useful extension, it's supposed to also block overlay ads like these.
It's available for Firefox, Chrome/Chromium and few other browsers:
- for Firefox: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefo ... /popupoff/
- for Chrome/Chromium: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/deta ... ckdenlmhgh

Hi xenopeek,

FANTASTIC extension for my Brave browser on my home computer...Just took it out for a test drive to fine tune it and even lets me into so-called paid only sites like the Wall Street Journal...This sucker really works and behaves well with Ublock Origin and Privacy Badger...Many thanks...DAMIEN

[DAMIEN1307]

And why do I need to install a blocking tool just to regain access to basic site functionality?

Android is a Google entity and unless you do use some sort of blocking tool, or do what i did to make my android a "stupid" phone, You will have no choice than to suffer through this Google annoying nonsense...DAMIEN

[punkbiscuit]

Yep, just checked again.
This crap is getting worse.

A real pain on a mobile device trying to navigate the site.

[DAMIEN1307]

A real pain on a mobile device trying to navigate the site.

Not to mention how much more resources it will use, sucking up more of your battery power as well...A total pain in the backside all the way...DAMIEN

[xenopeek]

There's now slide-down ads at the top of the page which cover up all the stuff at the top (general site navigation, etc.) and now forces the user to pause, pull the page further down to re-expose stuff at the top, and then you can tap on whichever item you were interested in.

I don't normally visit the the forums on my phone but trying it now I can't manage to get overlay ads to be shown. I use Firefox Focus on Android, that blocks trackers and also blocks many ads (it forgets your browsing history when you close it). Perhaps it blocks this (though I doubt that) or whatever setting in AdSense disabled Google testing overlay ads on desktop didn't work for mobile, or it's still testing despite the overlay ads being disabled for the site. Firefox Focus might be worth a try.

Is it still active for anybody on desktop?

And yes we don't want this. It's super annoying. It's up there with TV manufacturers putting ads in their TV interfaces...

[DAMIEN1307]

And yes we don't want this. It's super annoying. It's up there with TV manufacturers putting ads in their TV interfaces...

Or Microsoft injecting ads into the Windows 10 Operating System...DAMIEN

[punkbiscuit]

Just for info I've found that -

Firefox desktop + Ublock Origin = No ads
Firefox Mobile = No Ads
Chromium barebones straight outta LM repo = No Ads so far.
Chrome on cell phone = adverts plastered all over the place.

Whilst I think ALL browsers need a kick up the butt these days, I think FF wins.

[Portreve]

Well, I'm still not getting them on my desktop (trying this now that I'm back at home) using either Chrome or Firefox.

How ironic considering that just yesterday we had the on-going thread about how to improve Linux Mint Forums.

Maybe one way would be not using Google's ad services whatsoever.

---

¹ I'm running several plug-ins in both my desktop Firefox and Chrome browsers: Adblock Plus, Privacy Badger, and DuckDuckGo Privacy Essential in FF, and no plugins whatsoever in Chrome. However, as a precautionary, I just installed Privacy Badger and DDG Privacy Essentials as I typed this message in FireFox.

[DAMIEN1307]

Maybe one way would be not using Google's ad services whatsoever.

I would even vote for that one...DAMIEN

[karlchen]

Well, I'm still not getting them on my desktop (trying this now that I'm back at home) using either Chrome or Firefox.

No more Google vignettes, since they have been disabled in the Google Adsense configuration.

These Vignette ads are super annoying. Clem has disabled them.

[punkbiscuit]

Disabled?
Really?

Nope, still happening with increasing obtrusivness.

A total pain in the arse for cellphones using Chrome.

[DAMIEN1307]

Disabled? Really?

Disabled, as in Clem disabled Google from doing it on the Linux Mint Forum as well as any other Linux Mint sites. on your computer.

That has nothing to do with your browser on other sites using Google Adsense, or Google Adsense on your Android cell phone...Clem can't control your Android phone to stop it...DAMIEN

[RollyShed]

Does this site provide anything of use -
https://www.androidauthority.com/best-a ... id-954917/

[Pierre]

it would seem that I've also seen those Full Screen adverts on my Smart Phone, as well.
- primarily on Google Chrome, but not on MS Edge, that I've noticed.
you can actually, just scroll past them, as an rule.

there hasn't been any tie in with the LM forum, as those adverts were quite random, in their nature.
& even the adverts on the LM site(s) are usually quite random, in their nature, as well.

this may be because I've got the Personalise Your Experience, in my Google Account:
- Turned Off.

[Portreve]

Well, I hate to speak to soon, but it seems as though it's now well and truly shut down. Thank goodness.

And I've done another nuke-n-pave and got my phone now 100% set back up as I want it.

[karlchen]

About resetting your Android "smart"phones to factory defaults:
I cannot comment on whether resetting to factory defaults was really required in order to see the effect, after Clem had disabled the Vignette Ads on the Linux Mint website.

On my LM 19.3 Cinnamon (not Anroid obviously), all I have done is this:

By now, shut down Firefox 87.0. FF emptied its history and cache on exit, because configured to do so.
In addition, deleted the content of ~/.cache/mozilla on the filesystem.

I suspect even those mild steps had not been required. But they did not require any reconfiguration from my side, and they will never cause any harm. So no hassle here.

About the scope:
Vignette Ads are off again on the Linux Mint website, this does not mean that they may not be enabled on other websites. So we may face them elsewhere.

[Portreve]

About resetting your Android "smart"phones to factory defaults:
I cannot comment on whether resetting to factory defaults was really required in order to see the effect, after Clem had disabled the Vignette Ads on the Linux Mint website.

On my LM 19.3 Cinnamon (not Anroid obviously), all I have done is this:

By now, shut down Firefox 87.0. FF emptied its history and cache on exit, because configured to do so.
In addition, deleted the content of ~/.cache/mozilla on the filesystem.

I suspect even those mild steps had not been required. But they did not require any reconfiguration from my side, and they will never cause any harm. So no hassle here.

About the scope:
Vignette Ads are off again on the Linux Mint website, this does not mean that they may not be enabled on other websites. So we may face them elsewhere.

Uninstalling recently-installed software, flushing browser caches, using a virus/malware scanner, and factory resetting (in roughly that order) are (or were) appropriate steps in this case because, at the time, I had no knowledge that what I was experiencing was not, in fact, localized strictly to my phone. I started this thread just before I'd gone to that step, and since there was yet to be any feedback at that time by anyone else, nuke-n-paving was an appropriate next step.

When I started seeing the identical behavior across the three web browsers installed at that point (well, both pre- and post-nuke) that made me think something more central on my phone had been (or was somehow continuing to be) compromised.

Given how the ads were presenting, there was every reason to believe that there was at least the potential of compromise on my end of things.

[karlchen]

Given how the ads were presenting, there was every reason to believe that there was at least the potential of compromise on my end of things.

As a matter of fact, when I encountered the Vignette Ads for the first times, without having any idea what was going on, I suspected some sort of browser hijacking as well. Or more likely, I thought, some of the ad-servers, which provide the advertisements displayed at the top of each forum webpage, might be being misused to provide "something fishy and unasked-for" in addition.
As the LMF pages were the only pages, where the Vignette Ads were displayed, I convinced myself that a browser hijack was very unlikely. In that case it should have happened on other webpages as well.
In case the phenomenon had not been cleared up in less than 24 hours, I would have started up another machine (e.g. the one where I am typing now), which had not been used for several days, and would have checked whether the same phenomenon would be observed there as well.
Glad things got cleared up, before I decided to resort to drastic steps.

[Portreve]

I don't understand why anyone (I'm specifically thinking folks working at Google) would have thought this sort of experiment made any sense whatsoever. Surely they're hiring adults and not immature little fifth graders. There's no universe in which pop-over ads are unobtrusive or in which they do not interfere with the normal user use of a website.