sponsor rule

Girl, you should always be using an adsblocker of some sorts!
- uBlock Origin and SponsorBlock for the win.
  Just make sure to research products well before buying them or using them, wouldn't want to accidentally buy one of those bad ones.

If you piss me off on a regular basis by interrupting what I'm doing with your spam, at least make it entertaining in some way.
Don't force some scripted talking points on every content creator, give them free reign to provide their opinion about your product.
I would be 100x more interested in your product if I saw an objective review from somebody who I knew was being honest.
But if they only pay people to say good things about their product, I see that as the company admitting that their product is shit, because they're too scared to allow anyone to say it is.

This comic brought to you by Raid: Shadow Legends.

To this day, I will never ever ever touch any Mazda products. All thanks to their dumb fucking zoom zoom advertising campaign about 20 years ago that involved their adverts playing twice during every ad break. Plus they were sponsoring shit, so it was everywhere. I feel like I still have PTSD from it. Fuck Mazda.
- I'd say it was TV that gave you the PTSD. I bailed on TV at about 8 years old (28 years ago..) and every time I've been with people watching it since I was always amazed just how awful it all really was. But I guess it's just what becomes normal if you grow up with it
  
  Oh yeah it's definitely TV. But this was before the days of Netflix and shit and before I had uncapped wifi. I don't watch standard TV anymore either and when I do see it, same reaction as you. It's probably a bit different from country to country but I think standard TV is mostly geared towards older people now too because most under 40 have unplugged by now.
- I can't speak for modern Mazdas but I got a lowest trim manual, power nothing, in the mid naughties and it was still going strong 15 years later. So for all of their marketing annoyance it was absolutely a good product.
  
  You got it when they were still creating rustbuckets then. The newer ones have much stronger bodywork and don't oxidize within 3 minutes upon seeing salted roads. Can't speak for the long term reliability though, don't know anyone who's owned one for too long (only friend who owned a newish Mazda traded it in for a Volvo V90 after a few years because space)
  I am tempted by new Mazdas because they now have some real nice engines available and they don't do the whole "everything is touch" thing because apparently they actually care about safety... BUT... I'm salty that they don't sell the CX90 here, only the CX80. I could really use the extra space nowadays.
  
  Lol yeah they seem like decent cars actually. But I made myself a promise back then to never give them a cent and I tend to stick to my principles (or at least like to think I do). It's just a personal thing though. And also kinda funny, I think.

This is partly why I don't trust Ground News. They're putting way too much money into advertising for me to believe they're genuinely interested in providing an unbiased factual categorization of news sources.
I also simply don't believe it's possible to be unbiased, so anyone claiming to be is immediately suspect to me.
- They also reinforce seeing liberal and conservative as opposites. The only good service they have is showing who sponsors which sources. However, the whole "blindspot" system seems designed as a both-sidesism
  
  Exactly! It's really disheartening to me to see so many youtubers who are otherwise insightful be so uncritically supportive of Ground News because they "like what they're trying to do."
- Is it perfect? no but it is the best way to be able to read the news from multiple POVs. They also include every single news outlet I've ever heard of and then some
  
  I get that it offers a bunch of features that you can't get anywhere else, but I just can't shake the uneasy feeling that it's all a trojan horse for something more sinister. I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop and see it suddenly explode in controversy after someone exposes something not quite kosher going on under the surface.
  It's just too good to be true.
  
  I mean I get my news here on Lemmy and from other individuals on lotteries social media. I think awareness of local and world events no longer needs to be meditated through a news organization. As long as you don’t sit in an echo chamber and have some level of literacy it’s not too hard to stay up to date.

Smart thinking.

Magic spoon got me. I was looking for a protein cereal so I was excited for a podcast I listen to advertise one. All the flavors are the same gross base that cut up your mouth with different artificial powders put on top. Of course I start seeing a bunch ads more after
- If you want a protein breakfast, why not bacon and eggs?
  
  Convenience, variety, and I specifically wanted cereal but it doesn't fit a high protein diet. Also have you seen the cost of eggs?!

This was exactly how I felt about the Honey scam. xD
Very first thought was "how the fuck are they making money enough to advertise??"
- I heard about it, downloaded it, tried it. Then i googled for other coupons and found a better one. Deleted Honey right away for being shit.
  Im surprised so many people would just trust the app immediately and not try to see if there were better coupons.
  
  Maybe I’m just bad or slow at queries but I almost never found working coupons when I’m ready to purchase. When I used to have honey (when it somewhat worked), I got a few token percentage off compared to entering codes that were expired or otherwise no longer valid.
  Granted, once Honey moved to a rewards based model I dipped out since something didn’t sit right with me about it.
  
  Same thing here. I've been using "everything" for long enough to know not to trust.. anything.. an app is going to get the best discount available for me? Yeah, we'll just see about that. I just wasnt ever going to not search for coupons myself, so I removed it.
  
  I tried it but never got coupons, so I made 10$ in honey gold, then I forgot about it until I saw the controversy
  
  Most people are lazy, or don't even come up with the idea to do a web search. When they do, most non-techies don't know or struggle to write an effective search query

If they have the budget to mass advertise then that means they're earning probably 100x that, most likely directly from users.
- Or they're burning through their VC funds because they're out of ideas and have no customers.

Huh, this company is spending a lot of money on marketing. Guess I'll buy from a company doing less marketing so I'll get it cheaper.
- Or that is so good, they don't need anything more than word of mouth. And I mean real word of mouth, not the fake influencer shilling that relies on parasocial relationships "word of mouth"
  
  I exclusively buy from brands that are engrained in folk lore. Unless it's literally the stuff of legends, you won't see a penny from me

This is the rule I live by when being forced fed ads. I will actively go out of my way to not use whatever product it is.

I was blindsided by the monitor getting thought bubbles.

SponsorBlock FTW!
- also also, firefox on android supports extensions. never go anywhere without ublock origin and sponsorblock.
  
  If you're on android I'd recommend viewing youtube videos through newpipe as it strips out everything except for the stream. Only downside is that it doesn't have replacement functionality for sponsorblock.
  
  No need for the clumsy browser experience. Just download ReVanced.
  
  or just get tubular from f-droid, which has sponsorblock built in

Only advertised product I've ever spent money on is NordVPN which is fine for my use case - avoiding geoblocking a couple of times a week. Probably switching to Mullvad soon though, because American companies can eat dirt.
But yeah, honey was always super sus. If something seems "too good to be true", maybe it is.
- Funny to me because I can't recall the last time I ever saw a Mullvad ad but they had their little mole guy plastered over a bus in my (American) city. Thought it was cute and quirky because I doubt 80% of the people in my area even know what a VPN is. Better than the usual lame ads like for lawyers or health insurance.
  
  NYC is covered with mullvad ads. pretty crazy actually

Nothing feels worse than seeing ads for shit you've already got, too. That's when you know you've fucked up
- This is me when I see mullvad ads on the subway. Still think they are a great product but I'm starting to question their marketing.
  
  Oh hell. I literally left Nord for Mull and was thinking of that specific example when I made this joke
- yeah, the best time to advertise at me about a thing is while I'm researching thing to buy.
  Advertising at me after I bought the thing is useless, I already bought it!
  
  It does have a purpose. I found the name of it once, but it's basically choice confirmation. When you buy something and then shortly after see lots of ads of other people who bought the same thing and are really happy with it/it appears popular, it confirms to you that you made the right choice and should make it again if given the chance. This kind of "confirmation after the fact" advertising is especially used in larger purchases like a car. It reinforces the choice you made in your mind so you feel more satisfied with the brand itself.
  
  Bought a gift for a babyshower, I was getting ads for baby stuff for the following 3 years

I have a rule if they sponsor on multiple youtubers they are probably a scam and avoid. If i find the service interesting i search up alternatives that spend their money better
- yeah, the only good sponsorships are the sponsors of small niche channels, like a lens sponsorship on a photography channel.

I have noticed every YouTube sponsor, with no exception so far, is 1. A scam. 2. Overpriced.
- The 3rd option, "product of the creator," can actually be ok sometimes. It just depends on if the creator is the type to scam people.
- I have seen Proton as a sponsor once or twice and I don’t have any complains about the products they are selling.
  
  The "privacy" service that gobbled on orange fascist knob from Switzerland? With their public accounts?
  Yeah. Nothing sketchy behind that choice.

fuckin looking at YOU, OPERA GX.
- NordVPN and ExpressVPN are trying to hide behind Opera
  
  Express is, okay for what it is.
  Nord though is hiding behind the word "Nord". It's not even a Nordic company. It's based in British virgin islands just like Surfshark

RAID SHADOW LE- JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP, BRAND!
- I watched a review of raid shadow legends a while ago, and was unsurprising to see it was a very uninteresting game
- The funniest thing was when Alec Steele (blacksmithing/metal working YouTuber) did a Raid ad. Him following their standard script was ridiculous
  His phone he played the game on had a cracked screen
  It really showed me not to believe any of his ads in particular

Advertising is allllll subconscious. It’s not relying on your conscious choice and reasoning.
You will forget that you saw the advertisement. Then when you go to the store and are deciding between two brands, the idea is that you will pick the brand with which you have greater familiarity with (the one you’ve seen more adverts of), since your brain interprets familiarity with trustworthiness. All of this is done subconsciously without you even noticing.
Advertising isn’t a billion dollar per year industry for no reason. The reason being, that it works.
- Advertising isn't allllll subconscious, even if mere exposure and priming can be powerful. If ads were all subconscious, they wouldn't try to get your attention and make you actually think about them. On top of that, backfire effects can overwhelm the subconscious approval, as can consciously making note of it.
  I actually want to avoid products all together when I see ads. It makes me question whether or not I need it or alternatives, and often times, I decide that I don't. Every ad also represents the entire capitalist system to me. They remind me who the enemy is.
  edit: spellz

hmm enough profits to sponser all youtube. sus
- Especially if it's a free to play game
  That just tells me "you will definitely spend money to get what you're looking for in this game"
  No fucking thanks
  
  a free thing with suspicious amount of advertising requires a lot questioning at the least

This, but applied to all ads.

This is how I felt when Bambulab started giving all creators printers.
- To be fair, the hardware is pretty phenominal. The whole trying to lock customers into their ecosystem after they felt enough people had purchased their products was a whole next level of scummy though. We must be vigilant as a community in not letting them creep in antifeatures now they've backtracked. I keep mine in LAN only mode and will be switching to Orcaslicer as soon as the flatpak hits Flathub which should be soon.
- I'm concerned how they're now trying to normalize not having control over the things you own. Especially since their printers are popular with influencers

I feel this way about Aura. They'll stop other companies from using your personal data but do they ever say they won't use it?
- You can check the privacy statement.
  But considering it’s an American company I can tell you that it will abuse your data
  
  Knew it from the first time I heard about it. Giving anyone the keys to your personal data is D.U.M.B.
- This is what I hate about that whole model. Are they just trying to insert themselves as a middle man?
- I think it's safe to presume they are trying to capture all of the value of your data.
  They are certainly selling whatever data they collect, unless they're making their own advertising service

Me with Sponsorblock: gremlin noises

I assume if companies have a positive ROI for ads/sponsorships, they have very high profits (i.e. they're ripping people off).
- can’t afford ads if you have an honest product

This was me watching the Hims ad during the Superbowl lol.

That's how advertising works…

VPN is a scam~ 🥰🥰🥰
- If you are fine with torrenting using your real IP, then yes. However, here this can easily lead to high legal bills as rightholders can demand pay for damages even if a tracker just returned your IP as a participant of a swarm. There is no first strike here where you just get a mean letter. It goes into the thousands straight away.
  Personally, I wouldn't do that, especially here with law firms that specialize in that kind of behavior. I rather pay some bucks for that rare case where I want to get something from BitTorrent than risk all that hassle.
  
  Where is "here"? Germany? Italy? Most other EU nations don't give a fuck though. I've been torrenting straight from tpb proxies for over two decades without a single hitch.
  
  VPN, as it is sold by YT sponsorships, is a scam.
  
  If you're only interested in torrenting don't use a VPN, just get a seedbox. You can get one with minimal stats (1TB storage, 2TB/mo upload on a 50Gb connection) for like $6/mo. You use it to run all of your torrents and handle seeding (handy for getting access to private trackers) and then just download everything via SFTP/rsync/whatever. Or, you can spend a bit more and have them host the *arr suite and Plex/Jellyfin so you have your own private streaming service. Split between a few family members, this is a very affordable alternative to commercial streaming services.
  If you're looking for a VPN for privacy concerns, don't use a US-based provider. You have no guarantee of privacy, just a flimsy 'guarantee' from the company. Use a provider located in a place that has strong privacy and secrecy laws, like Switzerland.
- Yes and no. A lot of VPN ads are full of lies and misleading garbage, and they're also often pretty overpriced, but they can be a genuinely useful service for a lot of people as well. Just don't get the ones in the ads.
- some vpns are scams, yes, but that happens in every industry. Ignoring illegal shit, my Internet speeds are faster when I use a vpn vs not, and that's reason enough to have one.
  
  I used mine for a similar case because my previous provider had shitty peering which caused YouTube etc to not work well, especially Saturday evening (search for Telekom peering of you want to know more). VPN circumvented this. However I have since switched to a better provider
- they're misleadingly advertised, but still provide a useful service at a decent price

It's a great general policy to have, but there are exceptions. NordVPN and ExpressVPN are both great VPN services, and Nebula has been absolutely fantastic.
- NordVPN and ExpressVPN are both great VPN services
  Nord is absolutely not trustworthy. They have sleazy tactics like trying to charge you after cancelling your subscription, and also have had a lot of controversy in the past, revealing their no-log policy is likely a lie. I didn't do as much digging on Express VPN but I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't have the same issues.
  VPNs you see in Ads will always be less trustworthy than the ones who are... well... well known and Trustworthy. Ones like Mullvad which make an effort to protect and respect your privacy.
- Yeah, but the creators advertising Nebula also make the content, and there's definitely VPN providers I distrust less than those two.
  
  and there’s definitely VPN providers I distrust less than those two
  I find that a weird way to phrase it. Both Nord and Express are perfectly good. So is PIA, and probably more besides, but I didn't mention others because those are the two I've frequently seen advertised. Both Nord and Express have passed security audits with flying colours, and Express even had a case where their servers were seized but the seizure was unable to be of any value to the authorities, because their claims of not keeping logs were true.
- Nebula is a creater owned abs controlled coop isn't it? Way different beast.
  
  Yeah, more or less.
  But that's sort of the point, isn't it? Just because something's being advertised in a lot of places, doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad deal.
- When I was shopping for a VPN I skipped those two specifically because they advertised on most podcasts I listened to (I know they are good now but that made me skeptic back then)
  
  You're right to be skeptical of a VPN that spends that much money to advertise themselves. Especially when they fill the ad sections with lies about unencrypted content ans snooping your data.
- I tried Nord VPN and realized three things: 1: The "limited time specials" they boast are completely misleading. You pay more per month than what they make it sound like in their sponsored messages. 2: They try to automatically renew your subscription and charge your credit card for a significantly higher price with the hope that you wouldn't notice. 3: Unsubscribing is made to be a frustrating pain in the ass. You have to talk to their sales representatives and they will make you argue for it. And then you'll have to do it all over again because even though they said they cancelled your subscription it won't be because " technical problems".
  VPNs rely entirely on trust and Nord has proven to be completely untrustworthy.
  I use Mullvad now and it uses none of those deceiving tactics to lock you into an expensive contact. It also goes long ways to keep you anonymous and has periodic audits to prove they don't collect your data.