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TheRacoonist t1_iy3n8aq wrote

Now do every other site on the internet

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n00dlejester OP t1_iy3nb6p wrote

Submission Statement: For the first time in a little while, I visited nj.com to read an article about RU Football. The page wouldn't finish loading, because my blocker plugin counted 126 TRACKING AND MARKETING APPLICATIONS ON THE SITE!! Quite literally all of the content was labeled as ad content, or actually was ad content. This site is absolutely disgusting.

In perspective, ESPN.com has 21, Facebook has 6, CNN has 90, and FoxNews has 51.

So what are some good alternatives to NJ.com for local and NJ news?

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jaymon1974 t1_iy3nr2h wrote

Look up daily voice and see if they are in your area. It’s not the best website design but the local news is decent and no blocked articles behind a paywall.

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JimTheJerseyGuy t1_iy3nr86 wrote

Crap like this is why I use Brave as my browser and run a Pihole for DNS on my local network.

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Slavic_Dusa t1_iy3oecm wrote

Yes, of course they have. Now pay them $99 to see articles about McDonald's openings and advice with affiliate links on what toaster is the best on Amazon.

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lost_in_life_34 t1_iy3p2a1 wrote

oh noes, someone might know I live in NJ even though all my online purchases get shipped to NJ

−2

sirzoop t1_iy3pmg2 wrote

Yes? It's a private company that tracks your information and tries to profit off of your website visit. Not sure why you'd expect otherwise. Show how many reddit has!

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Warruzz t1_iy3ppqr wrote

Just use disconnect on chrome or swap to a different more private-friendly browser.

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dashingpandas t1_iy3qt9f wrote

Replying to n00dlejester (#732,422)

I also frequent the Patch for my local news. UBlock Origin blocked 13 ads there (compared to 9 on this current Reddit page, and 14 on nj.com). Edit: Those counts probably aren't accurate since I have multiple extensions blocking ads.

In a private window with just Ghostery running I get:

NJ: 27 ; Patch: 13; Reddit: 4

Not sure how OP got over 100 on NJ.com.

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felipe_the_dog t1_iy3rqns wrote

Like all local news, it's a sinking ship starving for revenue

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masterofmayhem13 t1_iy3stbv wrote

Replying to shbd12 (#733,346)

It's not a local news desert. There are a ton of opportunities for local news (NJ.com, patch, APP, etc...). They ALL however are heavily monetized and you have to deal with this. It is annoying, however is it really any different than paying for cable and sitting through all the commercials and sponsorships on news12? It sucks outright, and I am always looking for a better way to get my local news, but NJ is definitely not a news desert.

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rpithrew t1_iy3tk2z wrote

Blame private equity firms? Citizen journalism will come back

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CaptnSisko t1_iy3u6b1 wrote

Replying to masterofmayhem13 (#733,564)

APP used to be great (content probably still is) but their website and APP are horrible. I used to get the paper delivered 7 days a week when it was like $40/month or so for the delivery. Once they jacked it up to like $80/month I had to stop it. I called and got a lower rate a few times but every three months they wanted to raise it back up. I'm sure with less people getting the paper delivered the $40 wasn't covering the costs.

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impracticable t1_iy3uvbc wrote

Replying to [deleted] (#732,358)

I love the dichotomy here. "How DARE they try to run a financially solvent ad business!" right to "How DARE they offer a subscription service in diversify their revenue stream away from their ad business!" and no one bats an eye.

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mshoneynj t1_iy3wlzj wrote

42freeway.com is a very good blog about what’s being built in south jersey

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mathfacts t1_iy3wp46 wrote

Aw hell to the no! NJ.com, we're done

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Wonderful_Year_4422 t1_iy3xe82 wrote

I always thought the site was a joke or a gag by someone. To find out it’s the real irl nj site still gives me whiplash.

Getting downvoted for an opinion on software gore and the fact that living in New Jersey sucks. You can literally feel the dirt and smell the grim as soon as you hit the border from out of state.

−11

thebaddmoon t1_iy3xnny wrote

Replying to impracticable (#733,919)

You don't have to look far to see braindead people on the internet who have no concept of how businesses work.

Paywalls and collecting data for advertisers (aka "tracking") are two of the major ways that online publishers make money. How can they run a site without any revenue?

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thebaddmoon t1_iy40fai wrote

Replying to [deleted] (#734,720)

I am definitely a “classic Reddit user”. My gripe isn’t with you specifically. But there are so many people that still think that “Facebook is stealing my data”. Pictures all over the internet with Zuckerberg over a red background like he’s some sort of authoritarian spy master. It baffles me.

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vakr001 t1_iy416we wrote

Go on Firefox and search for the add-on Lightbeam. That will pick up all 3rd-party requests (not just marketing). NJ.com has 150 3rd party requests, just on the homepage.

Lightbeam does a great graphical representation of the third-party trackers. It also connects the trackers when you visit multiple sites.

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Wonderful_Year_4422 t1_iy4384k wrote

Replying to mikeputerbaugh (#735,429)

New Jersians are such a buzz kill. Yawn, I know buddy pal I’m making a joke that everything that comes out of this state is trash. I don’t need a history lesson on my own history. NJ even markets this site as the go too. It’s a fuxken joke mate

−11

heynow941 t1_iy44fkt wrote

Their iOS app has lots of trackers. Really almost all iOS apps have them. Use Lockdown to block them.

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TodayTime8321 t1_iy45eeh wrote

Do all websites? Is that why none work anymore

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EbolaFred t1_iy49adf wrote

Replying to masterofmayhem13 (#733,564)

I have ZERO issue with sites monetizing to pay their bills.

But there's a huge difference between lots of ads and the site being usable, e.g. CNN and Fox, and so laden with ads and trackers that the site doesn't even render half the time, e.g. nj.com and some of the other mainstream news sites.

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A_Downboat_Is_A_Sub t1_iy4dax1 wrote

Replying to cityhawk (#734,751)

Which is part of the reason the comment sections went away. Why pay people to moderate a cesspool when you majority own a discussion website that will link to your content, and that people voluntarily mod?

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Wooden_Mission_8641 t1_iy4eghj wrote

Remember nothing is free. Take out the ads and you will be forced to pay a subscription for every single app you use. That would get expensive real quick

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TintedGL t1_iy4id20 wrote

Replying to thebaddmoon (#734,909)

Awful take, facebook is stealing your data. You dont even need to be a facebook user for your data to be scooped up elsewhere by one of facebooks tracking pixels. Its damn near unavailable for the average person

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Morningnewsandcoffee t1_iy4jwxu wrote

NJ.com is a sad shell of a reporting website that lost its way. It wants $10 a month to view click bait exclusives of random pizza joints that I would expect to see posted next to a quiz to figure out what Harry Potter character you are. Getting rid of the comments on the website was smart since the comments were so toxic but I wonder if they under estimated how many people that commented also shared content. Their aggressive, overpriced, subscription model, overzealous use of adds for non-subscription users and weaning amount of content has pretty much killed whatever usefulness they provided a year ago. It’s sad to see local journalism die. It’s even sadder to see it die into the the media equivalent of Sméagol hissing at is user base for its precious ad money.

I get they need to pay for local journalists but their content points to the ad dollars going to the executives who are hoping to hold on long enough to retire rather than anyone who is writing news articles. But I guess they used tableau once to look at the cops.

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thebaddmoon t1_iy4lp89 wrote

Replying to TintedGL (#738,290)

I work in digital marketing. I understand very well how pixels work. The data it collects is used for advertising, that's it. Nobody cares what kind of porn you watch. It's just how the internet is monetized.

Think of it like this – one of those "drop your business card in and win a $100 dollar gift card" things at restaurants. The restaurant is going to take your contact information and do something with it. Maybe they will put you on an email list for the restaurant. Maybe the company owns a bunch of restaurants and it will send you coupons for other places they own. Maybe they will sell the contact information to another local business as you are active in the area and have money to spend. This stuff happens all the time. They're not "stealing" your data, you opted to give it to them in the first place.

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TintedGL t1_iy4ne4z wrote

Replying to thebaddmoon (#738,953)

I never opted to give facebook my data tho thats the difference. Its still stealing regardless of what they do with it. Whether it's legal to do or not it isnt consentual if i don't know about it. Dropping your business card is a deliberate act, going to a website completely unrelated to facebook only to have facebook trackers hiding there is not

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thebaddmoon t1_iy4o46m wrote

Replying to TintedGL (#739,290)

A lot of sites require you to consent in the form of a "This site uses cookies" popup. Ever seen one of those?

You say the site is "completely unrelated to Facebook". The site itself is the one that chooses to install the pixel, in order to extract profit via data collection itself. You can put equal blame on the site owner. Again, assume this is happening to every single commercial website you visit. You are consenting by just going there, because by now you should understand, this is how the internet is monetized.

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Special_FX_B t1_iy4oey4 wrote

Replying to TheRacoonist (#732,404)

Yes. I have a special garbage site on my phone. It’s an iPhone. I always had Androids prior. The iPhone has a ‘do not track’ option I deploy. I’m not certain if that’s what makes the site so bad. weather.com. Every time I reenter it’s locked. I have to swipe it away and reenter presumably so it can load ads. If I want to click on the radar it displays an ad before I can see the radar. I recall from years ago on my laptop that all of the content on the site was garbage clickbait. Just like their television station that became all junk content long before that. They’d have to pay me to tune in.

0

LateralEntry t1_iy4q9rc wrote

A website that provides free local journalism is selling your data? Shocking.

If you don't like it, subscribe to a newspaper

0

thebaddmoon t1_iy4qw0j wrote

Replying to TintedGL (#739,764)

I don't know what to tell you. Personally it doesn't feel unethical to me. There are zero negative outcomes for me because of it. I understand the rules of the game and I consent to playing it by visiting websites. Instead of random ads I get more targeted ads, why would I lose any sleep over that?

PBA cards are also considered "unethical" to some, but you still gotta get in the car and drive to work. My advice if you are really concerned with your privacy is to not use websites that have pixels installed. You can also use VPNs and other means to further prevent companies from following your consumer habits. For 99.9999% of people, this is a non-issue, and they are confused when people tell them "Facebook is stealing your data" because it's not really as nefarious as everyone makes it seem.

2

SkyeMreddit t1_iy4z490 wrote

nj.com increasingly sucks. Tons of clickbait articles, paywalls, and relentless attempts to redirect to scam sites. In the era of social media and so many accessible news sites, it’s extremely expensive and unnecessary to pay for each of them.

2

love2Vax t1_iy547s3 wrote

Replying to EbolaFred (#736,554)

I have loading and rendering issues all the time on nj.com. it sucks, but there are times when it is the best source of info, so I still look from time to time.

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icecoldcoke319 t1_iy5ehi2 wrote

Brave browser, LocalCDN, and PrivacyBadger. Will spoof your fingerprint and make you anonymous to all the garbage tracking on the web. Will also make browsing faster by not having to load all that.

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SirMctowelie t1_iy5p627 wrote

Not with firefox and ublock origin it doesn't.

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Vivid_Pin791 t1_iy610cs wrote

The timing of Bob Menendez getting investigated by the feds and the following puff pieces on the front page were comedic. I wish someone would follow up....but you know, state subsidized news.

1

Flaky_Plastic_3407 t1_iy62erb wrote

So???? What do you expect for free?

I honestly just block them and forgot about it. Every site has ads these days, and due to the fact that it's a small local site, I kinda of expect it. Why one sure site has more than others? Probably just poor design and bad maintenance/upkeep.

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Meekois t1_iy6lg49 wrote

Everything those assholes post on social media is a crap ton of buzzwords to rile up conservatives to drive their clicks. It's pathetic and really bad for our state.

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WeCanDoThisCNJ t1_iy6x8bz wrote

The irony is many of you pay for nj.com so they’ve monetized you twice.

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1bohan t1_iy7c3k8 wrote

70&73.com mainly sj stuff

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FartFragrance t1_iy7t1ih wrote

I run pi-hole and Adblock+ and could not be happier. Not that I dislike ads but most of these websites have shot themselves in the foot with overdoing the ads and trying too monetize every single click I make. I refuse to participate anymore and just ignore any site that feels threatened by my ad blockers. Worse than the ads are the trackers. Screw them I'm done.

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