8 votes

Most Amazon search results are ads

5 comments

  1. [4]
    balooga
    Link
    Interesting! I just did my own test with a search for "cat bed" and found that uBlock Origin already blocks most of the items highlighted here, as I have it configured (not sure if it's a...

    Interesting! I just did my own test with a search for "cat bed" and found that uBlock Origin already blocks most of the items highlighted here, as I have it configured (not sure if it's a third-party filter list doing the work here, or one of the defaults).

    I don't spend a lot of time on Amazon so I was surprised to find an "Articles Related To Your Search" section in the middle of the results. This wasn't mentioned in the WaPo article but feels like an ad to me, or at least unwanted content. I was able to nix it with a custom uBlock Origin rule for [class*="shopping-adviser"]. After that my search results were nice and clean.

    Moral of the story: You mean there are still people out there who aren't running uBlock Origin?

    8 votes
    1. [3]
      cfabbro
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      Yeah, I was actually surprised by this too. I have been using an adblocker for over a decade now, and I honestly don't know if I have ever viewed Amazon without one. But after turning it off just...

      Yeah, I was actually surprised by this too. I have been using an adblocker for over a decade now, and I honestly don't know if I have ever viewed Amazon without one. But after turning it off just to check... whoa, that's a lot of space per page taken up with ads!

      Although TBH, I often end up buying Amazon Basics shit anyways even with their ads being blocked. It's definitely not the best quality stuff, but for the price it's usually pretty decent. E.g. I actually own that Basics raised dog bed that the author was complaining about showing up in their results. :P

      2 votes
      1. [2]
        Thrabalen
        Link Parent
        They've got some great USB hubs, if (like me) you find that you never have enough USB ports for things.

        They've got some great USB hubs, if (like me) you find that you never have enough USB ports for things.

        2 votes
        1. cfabbro
          (edited )
          Link Parent
          Hah! I actually bought a Gigabyte B550 VISION D-P motherboard for my latest build specifically because of the ungodly amount of USB ports (plus 6 internal headers) that it has... and that's still...

          Hah! I actually bought a Gigabyte B550 VISION D-P motherboard for my latest build specifically because of the ungodly amount of USB ports (plus 6 internal headers) that it has... and that's still not enough, so I have a powered 10-port USB hub too. :P

          I seem to have awful luck with my hubs dying though, so thanks for the heads up about the Basics ones being worth considering. I will be sure to check them out next time I need to replace a broken hub.

          1 vote
  2. PantsEnvy
    Link
    Unrelated - I am amazed at how many products on Amazon are counterfeit. Even if you block all the ads and scroll down to find the highly rated product, there is a solid chance you are buying a...

    Unrelated - I am amazed at how many products on Amazon are counterfeit. Even if you block all the ads and scroll down to find the highly rated product, there is a solid chance you are buying a cheap knock off...

    6 votes