Not relevant to the topic, but how do sites expect you to read articles like this on your phone when they have 50% of the screen taken up by ads, many of which slide onscreen as you scroll, covering part of the content you were reading? This is so intrusive I couldn’t finish reasing it.
I know they have to have some way to pay the bills, but does this technique really work where people get so frustrated they decide to subscribe rather than close the site like I did?
BadCookie 226 days ago [-]
The ad load isn’t heavy to convince you to subscribe. It’s heavy because many readers use ad blockers, and the publisher wants to stay in business somehow.
Hijacking the back button, on the other hand, is just rude.
browningstreet 226 days ago [-]
I haven’t had this thought since installing 1Blocker on my iOS decide years ago…
slaw 226 days ago [-]
I didn't see any ads on Firefox mobile + uBlock Origin
cko 226 days ago [-]
Look up Hindustan Times on YouTube and tell me based on thumbnails if they are a reputable news source.
AkshatM 226 days ago [-]
The Hindustan Times is widely known in India, and is considered reliable as a source of information.
I wasn't sure which thumbnails you were referring to on a quick perusal of their YT channel, but my mind instantly assumed you meant the sensationalism associated with Indian media - that's regrettably a feature, not a bug, in that ecosystem.
samarthr1 226 days ago [-]
The physical copy is. Not the online wing. That's mostly clickbait
cko 226 days ago [-]
All the "Putin utterly defeats NATO" over and over again thumbnails
notmyjob 226 days ago [-]
Trends are towards a more violent world. I wish that weren’t the choice but the world is as it’s always been a broken place where evil reigns.
FridayoLeary 226 days ago [-]
Oh. There might be some nuance and rational reasons behind this decision. Who would have imagined.
wpm 226 days ago [-]
Yeah, the reason is “any company can have the $100k fee waived if they bend over which is great leverage to have”
226 days ago [-]
harshalizee 226 days ago [-]
The HN generated headline turns this into clickbait.
The actual headline is really ".. White House (says)".
This headline just turns it into a qualified fact when it isn't.
Rendered at 13:52:56 GMT+0000 (UTC) with Wasmer Edge.
I know they have to have some way to pay the bills, but does this technique really work where people get so frustrated they decide to subscribe rather than close the site like I did?
Hijacking the back button, on the other hand, is just rude.
I wasn't sure which thumbnails you were referring to on a quick perusal of their YT channel, but my mind instantly assumed you meant the sensationalism associated with Indian media - that's regrettably a feature, not a bug, in that ecosystem.