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Comment by josh64 | Hacker News Reader

I would love to ban the audiovisual advertising in some Sydney train stations. You used to be able to avoid the static paper billboards but these days they have giant video screens and very loud speakers spread all around the platform so you can't escape hearing the constant pollution from advertisers.

I've started blocking ads on my devices again just so I can have a break from advertising in my life.

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Wow. I've always assumed that the US would have the most aggressive and terrible ads, but real-life auto-play videos are a level of evil I hadn't even imagined. I can almost imagine the IAB's explanation of how blocking inter-uterine advertising is "stealing" from someone.

We have some like that in italy as well and they are not that bad. They are not on public spaces so they might be at least regulated. Milano train station has some

However there also are bans on billboard along highways for safety reasons and on some old buildings for decency. That didn't stop renovators working on the Duomo side to make an huge billboard out of their scaffolding, however.

Australians will slap an ad on anything. For example, in the US, football has a ton of advertising all over the place, but the pitch is relatively neutral and there are severe limits on the advertising a player can wear. Not so here in Australia - shove advertising on the hoardings (unsuprising) on the goal posts, on the players, on the grass... and while we're at it, shove advertising on the damn football itself...

I noticed this in Bangkok. They have a nice sky train system that is cheap as shit and seemed to run well (on time, clean, not too crowded at rush times). However, all the cars have constantly looping video ads with audio. I don't know Thai so it was easy for me to tune out, but if I did and had a daily commute on those trains I think it would drive me nuts.

Do you make a complaint? That is the only way this stuff will get changed.

I sure did and they responded with "blah blah tickets only cover 30% of the cost of public transport". I've noticed the most obnoxious advertising in public seems to be provided by the company "APN".

The company I work for rents office space in a tower downtown. The elevators have video screens running advertisement loops. There's no audio, at least, but it's still incredibly irritating to have advertising pushed in my face when I'm just trying to get in or out of the office.

I bought a roll of translucent contact paper which has a diffusing texture and cut it into squares. When I leave work, I take a square with me and cover the screen in the elevator on the way down. The advertisement video becomes unrecognizable under the soft kaleidoscope effect. The building staff is pretty quick about taking them down again, but it still makes me feel good to fight back.

This type of advertising is starting to get traction in Cologne, especially at bus stops and train station. Captive audience, right? It is mostly visual at the moment, however I think the level of consumer backlash will increase once audio starts to appear.

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