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Comment by senkora | Hacker News Reader

+1 for this. It is difficult for me to imagine how this would not be a huge success for Google, given how ubiquitous ad-blockers are and how uncommon it is for people to configure them at all.

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How ubiquitous are ad-blockers in the wild with normal/average people?

Anybody know roughly what percentage of users have any ad-blocker installed?

Among certain types of people that frequent HN they're probably pretty common for desktop browsers but among regular folks who don't have tech savvy kids or grandkids I'm guessing they're somewhat less common.

"As of 2021, 27% of US Internet users used ad blocking software" - Wikipedia

It'd be interesting to look at why and how that 27% started using ad blocking software.

I'm suspicious that that 27% of users is mostly made up of a specific subset of tech workers and their family and friends.

I think we'd all be surprised. My elderly parents are not tech geniuses, but between my brother (who is in IT) and I, we keep them robustly geared up with web safety software like adblockers and antivirus. And you go visit their friends in the over-55 community, and these people aren't savvy enough even so much as open an E-mail client, but somehow every one of them has at least some kind of blocker installed. This isn't the days of grandma isolated in her house on AOL. Everyone knows at least one tech wizard, and the wizards spread the gospel and help to install.

I've told a number of people to get Brave since the ads have gotten so obnoxious. Watching youtube on my smarttv makes me uncomfortable enough to switch to the laptop or phone or just go to the computer. Watching someone suffer through them on any device is just sad.

This feels like napster all over again. Slowly, but surely, everyone will skip the junk. I don't imagine tech-savvy kids of today will forget that there's workarounds in 10 years time.

> I don't imagine tech-savvy kids of today will forget that there's workarounds in 10 years time.

If the iPhone is any indication of progress, I don't think tech-savvy kids will have a choice in 10 years.

It seems unlikely all operating systems will move to the model EU regulators are working to force Apple away from. But Google will try WEI again.

Unfortunately, "all operating systems" are not actually within the scope of the bill; only designated gatekeepers. Apple recently pulled out this clause to argue that only iOS needed to adhere to the Digital Market Act. Platforms like tvOS, FireTV and Android TV aren't actually covered by it.

> But Google will try WEI again.

Why single out Google? Apple already rolled out remote attestation, and unlike Google they didn't block theirs from shipping. Regulators have no interest in WEI, as far as I'm aware.

I did not say no operating systems would have the distribution model iPhones have now. I said it was unlikely all operating systems would move to it. The commission found the Digital Markets Act covered Android, iOS, and Windows. Nearly all phones and a large majority of desktops and laptops in other words. tvOS was not covered because it was too little used and too little profitable.

Mentioning Google after you singled out iPhones did not single out Google. WEI would have been useless if Android and Windows didn't have attestation. And they can't require attestation for YouTube until Chrome supports attestation. They could if Safari didn't probably. They could say everyone must use a browser with attestation or the official YouTube app.

Do you believe Google will not try attestation in Chrome again?

Regulators not having interest in WEI will enable it. Your point is unclear.

My point is "nothing ever happens", and from a regulatory/administrative standpoint I see no reason to think things will change.

I don't like WEI, remote attestation, or Google/Apple as companies. I don't like advertising or the way YouTube and Google propagate it. Your belief that users will continue to 'hack the planet' in 10 years is pretty funny though. There is zero interest, commercial, regulatory or otherwise, to ensure users continue to have control over their web browser or software. It's that simple; the battle against WEI for free YouTube is already lost.

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