Using Boost for Lemmy, I got an obvious political ad from the right asking to sign a petition to scrap the gun “ban” in Canada (it’s a registry not a ban).
Now I understand this is an ad but I don’t appreciate having propaganda from the right injected into my browsing on lemmy. Have better ads, or let us report them.
Press the icon on the top right and select report ad or block ad
If we’re talking about the little white block with a play icon on the top right, it does nothing.
EDIT: Well, I tried a few more times and you have to be very precise, the area where you can tap is very small, buy I ended up being able to report it. Thanks.
Yes, that icon. It is a bit difficult to press, due to the small size. I don’t think I can make it bigger since it is rendered by Google that way.
Thanks for responding to this.
What’s crazy is that a lot of times these ads don’t even lead to real petitions. They lead to email capture forms which then opt the submitter into email advertising and grifting campaigns. That type of scam was very popular on Facebook just a couple of years ago. Facebook cracked down on it a little, but there are still plenty of examples in the wild.
I did some digging on these also show its an American group paying for it. I’ve reported the group to google a few times for other complete lies.
there’s some instructions in there on how to remove all information that adsense has on you and your browsing history. After doing that i was flooded with ads for dating sites that had porn videos playing over them at a light transparency. Others have been less subtle. Reporting it at best well make it so you stop seeing the ad after a few months but everyone else still does.
I’ll just pop back over to an open source solution.
“American” group with 99% Kremlin funding, I’d bet my life on it.
How are you okay with ads being injected at all?
OP is using an app to browse the fediverse. Apps are not free to develop and the devs need to eat. I use sync and I’m paying for ultra so I can both support the dev and not have to see ads even though I do block ads system wide
So if it is my livelihood, I should be able to manipulate people?
I was feeling inhibited to do so but it makes more sense coming from that perspective.
So if it is my livelihood, I should be able to manipulate people?
Where above has this been mentioned?
In the serving ads as a form of getting to be paid part?
Ok. If that’s so, from the same sentence I can conclude that OP stated that working is a form of manipulation and nobody should work, ever. But, NO. No need to put words into one’s mouth unless it’s specifically written as such.
What? I have been talking about ads all along. If you reacted to me, you reacted to me asking about ads.
… Here we go again!
On our own
Going down the only road we’ve ever known
Yes
I tolerated them when using Boost but it may soon be a thing of the past.
You can pay for ad-free Boost. It is not a lot of money. Boost is my favourite app, and in my mind it was well worth it.
Try Voyager.
I switched to Voyager and it’s amazing. Plus there are no ads which is sweet.
And it’s ✨ open source ✨
I tried it but I can’t stand the interface. It feels so wasteful. It’s like ios.
Its because you have it on default ios mode change it to android Or use other options such as eternity or jerboa
I did change it to android mode while testing. Some fonts and icon sizes change, but all the information distribution and overall feel is the same. Things like the header or the footer not dissapearing while scrolling, a lot of information is visible all the time when usually I need it very little and being in a three dot menu would be preferable. It’s not a bad design per se, just different from what I’m used to and way too efficient? Idk how to call that, with the screen space.
Yeah i too hate that i would try jerboa if i were you it has many problems and missing features but the look and feel is great.
There’s no need since I use Android and I can use Boost. Take into account that all this comment chain comes from the fact that I was trying to refute that the apple store is the “popular store” since for the apps that I care, is the one that has less availability.
Sadly the developer doesn’t control what ads are shown, that’s entirely up to Google Ad Services and what it thinks you’re susceptible to.
That’s not entirely true. The publisher can still set some rules around what they want to allow, like no gambling, etc.
Boost uses Googles ad thingy so you’ll have to go through the Google routes. Boost just displays them
Yeah but idiot me never had to report a Google ad before. I did try to tap the white play button in the right corner before making a post, but it didn’t seem to do anything so I asked here prematurely.
if i recall correctly, the app developer can also block specific adverts too though (or at least some categories)
Have you considered using Lemmy Connect? I’ve been very happy with it
Connect is the first app that I used for lemmy. I switched to Boost when I kept upvoting and bookmarking stuff randomly because I was swiping sideways when trying to swipe up or down. I know it can be disabled but I wanted to try something else. Boost looked nice and I like it in general but the ads are pretty noticeable when I let them through (I could block them with adguard). I understand the devs want to earn a bit and simply use Google ads but the quality and quantity is less appealing. I might buy the ad free version of Boost but I don’t like to feel pushed to do that because ads are awful, so maybe I’ll go back to Connect.
1st world problems eh…
There are much better apps for Lemmy without trackers and tons of permissions.
No idea why that’s so scary to you. The only permission that’s understandable to be concerned about would be external write perms and that will at worst delete a bunch of your shit, not snoop through any of it. Trackers are also super typical, you’ll have a really tough time using your phone while avoiding all of these.
Hell all the OSS apps I use have some sort of crash reporting and way the fuck more permissions than boost does. Dude wants to make money off Boost and I think he deserves it. Most devs do, most OSS folks just accept they’ll never make a cent from their labor or rely on donations.
NextDNS, and duck duck go app blocker. Now you can use whatever app without those concerns.
Just pay for Boost. I’m sure you spend more on coffee.
It’s not the point. The point is that those 'ads" are spreading misinformation.
You see the same ones on youtube. Most of them point at Chinese propaganda (epoch times)
The ones I get on YouTube and constantly report are the ones saying the irs or government owes you thousands of dollars and they use like stock footage of celebrities with crappy ai voiceovers to trick people into falling for it.
It’s more like anti-Chinese propaganda since it’s owned by the Falun Gong
that just comes with the territory at the moment, which is why i either pay for ad removal (one-time payments only), use open source alternatives and use an adblocker.
That’s great for you and all, some of us would like to protect others from the harm this shit causes.
an admirable cause, and i won’t stop you. a report button would be great.
but i just avoid them, i stopped trying.
If I were an ad company I would make sure to check every detail of every ad, manually , one by one. Why? If something sketchy like scam are advertised, it will obviously ruin the credibility of the ad company
Yet, it seems like every digital ad company seems to not care about doing that. As a result something like this happens. I also sometimes see awful YouTube ads that are straight up a scam.
Credibility? To who? The people who you are attempting to forcefully inject information directly into the brain off? The only people they care about are cutting them checks.
There’s no point. We’re in the post-truth era. Everything is a fabrication and the powers that be don’t care.
Its not propaganda if its not made by a government
The term originated in religion, not government. And it has no definition that limits it to government creation. It’s not even limited to politics.
Companies basically own the government these days. Their goal is to lobby the government.
There are plenty of guns outright banned in Canada. Pretty disingenuous to claim its just a registry.
The picture is showing someone with a hunting rifle, which is not banned. Assault weapons and handguns are indeed forbidden, but guns are not blanket banned in Canada. You can still buy and shoot a hunting rifle, which this ad suggests is banned while in fact, it is not. There is a registry for those, but not a ban.
And anyway I wanted to know how to report the ad, not your opinion on the ad itself. It’s the community for Boost and I had a question on Boost, not political discussions.
The picture is showing someone with a hunting rifle, which is not banned
This Remington Model 742 chambered in .280 is a hunting rifle.
This Benelli R1 is a hunting rifle.
Both of those were on Trudeau’s list to be banned and confiscated not even a year ago.
Your own indigenous peoples were pissed off at this.
In October of 2023 the idea was brought back and expanded.
The Canadian Government is absolutely trying to ban (not registration) an entire class of firearms that does in fact include more than a few hunting rifles. People who care are once again trying to stop it…and that’s why there is an ad and that’s why it’s not “misinformation” no matter what you personally think.
I’m opposed to blanket gun bans, but I’m not sure I’d trust “The Gun Blog”as an unbiased provider of reliable information.
That said, the proposal that pissed me off the most was to ban all firearms that are capable of accepting a larger than five round magazine. You want to ban 10 round magazines, fine, I don’t need 10 rounds for my tikka. But banning my target rifle because ten rounders exist for it? Fuck right off.
Unfortunately, you made it a political discussion the moment you complained about the ad being about firearms. There is no civil place to discuss legality of firearms on the internet, and the introduction of the topic tends to bring out the worst in people on all sides of the discussion.
A little more info, there is no registry for long guns, only restricted firearms (handguns and those firearms arbitrarily determined by the government to be restricted). I am all for stronger gun control in Canada, and this ad is disingenuous, but it absolutely is a ban (amnesty granted to the owners of newly prohibited firearms until October 2025), not the registry that people are complaining about. A ban not necessarily grounded in facts or reality, as there is no consistency in what gets banned and what does not. E.g., AR-15s are restricted, while the more compact but functionally similar Tavor is non-restricted.
As a sport shooter/hunter (NOT right leaning), I just want consistency in the laws I need to follow haha
Lmao you’re really upset that you don’t just have an unbroken stream of the leftist slop you usually see?
Ah, if you’re against guns you’re now a leftist.
Well considering that it just so happens to be the left that’s looking for gun control in this situation, and op is crying like a bitch that he saw a right wing ad, yes.
No it’s anyone with remotely a brain that’s looking for gun control. Being able to rub two brain cells together isn’t a matter of a political spectrum, even though sometimes the matters can overlap.
Reading the way this person speaks to everyone, they clearly are a stable, thoughtful person who should have guns.
Lmao funny how you just jump to insults because your worthless position is indefensible.
Of course. Like I said before, don’t let something like facts or statistics about gun control vs gun bonanza countries crime stand in the way of your narrative. That’ll just destroy the mainstream media narrative you’re clinging to.
Lmao probably don’t talk about facts because they don’t support whatever crap you want
op is crying like a little bitch
funny how you just jump to insults because your worthless position is indefensible.
Pot, meet kettle.
And all the downvotes just mean they must be onto the truth! /s
As a Canadian Lefitst, I just have to mention that I literally don’t hear a single person other than the LPC discuss banning/restricting guns. Pretty much everyone I know owns one, likes them, or periodically goes to the range to fire a rental. It’s not like the voters who identify as “Left” are actively discussing taking anyone’s guns away. Everyone was in shock after the NS shootings, but everyone pretty quickly realized the guns were brought in from USA and not legally procured in Canada.
As a Canadian Lefitst, I just have to mention that I literally don’t hear a single person other than the LPC discuss banning/restricting guns
And what of people like OP in that calculation? He’s clearly behind Castro Jr’s anti gun agenda. Does he not count?
