If you click the ad does the company have to pay like a fraction of a cent or something for a click through? Like if I always click on the ads can I make them pay for having waisted my time if it’s only a little bit?

[–] I_am_10_squirrels@beehaw.org 3 points 23 hours ago

That's the idea behind the AdNauseum browser extension. "Click" on every single ad so that the data becomes worthless and the companies that are advertising have a negative return on investment. But it does mean that the ad server company gets more money.

[–] shneancy@lemmy.world 12 points 2 days ago (1 children)

you'll enjoy a fun browser addon then! - adnauseum

it clicks on every. single. ad both doing what you're doing, but also poisoning the data Google has on you. From their website:

As the collected data gathered shows an omnivorous click-stream, user tracking, targeting and surveillance become futile

[–] Dirk@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

That's a cute idea but it completely ignores that it isn't 2005 anymore. Algorithms are good enough to detect that.

[–] shneancy@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago

eh, on the off chance they aren't, why not. I don't see those ads anyway and I do enjoy being a nuisance, even if a minor one

[–] menemen@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Might be contraproductive if google earns more with longer adds.