Month: July 2017

Online advertising can be quite a nuisance. Flashy and noisy banners, or intrusive pop-ups, are a thorn in the side of many Internet users.

These type of ads are particularly popular on pirate sites, so it’s no surprise that their users are more likely to have an ad-blocker installed.

The increasing popularity of these ad-blocking tools hasn’t done the income of site owners any good and the trouble on this front is about to increase.

A few weeks ago Google announced that its Chrome browser will start blocking ‘annoying’ ads in the near future, by default. This applies to all ads that don’t fall within the “better ads standards,” including popups and sticky ads.

Since Chrome is the leading browser on many pirate sites, this is expected to have a serious effect on torrent sites and other pirate platforms. TorrentFreak spoke to the operator of one of the largest torrent sites, who’s sounding the alarm bell.

The owner, who prefers not to have his site mentioned, says that it’s already hard to earn enough money to pay for hardware and hosting to keep the site afloat. This, despite millions of regular visitors.

“The torrent site economy is in a bad state. Profits are very low. Profits are f*cked up compared to previous years,” the torrent site owner says.

At the moment, 40% of the site’s users already have an ad-blocker installed, but when Chrome joins in with its default filter, it’s going to get much worse. A third of all visitors to the torrent site in question use the Chrome browser, either through mobile or desktop.

“Chrome’s ad-blocker will kill torrent sites. If they don’t at least cover their costs, no one is going to use money out of his pocket to keep them alive. I won’t be able to do so at least,” the site owner says.

It’s too early to assess how broad Chrome’s ad filtering will be, but torrent site owners may have to look for cleaner ads. That’s easier said than done though, as it’s usually the lower tier advertisers that are willing to work with these sites and they often serve more annoying ads.

The torrent site owner we spoke with isn’t very optimistic about the future. While he’s tested alternative revenue sources, he sees advertising as the only viable option. And with Chrome lining up to target part of their advertising inventory, revenue may soon dwindle.

“I’ve tested all types of ads and affiliates that are safe to work with, and advertising is the only way to cover costs. Also, most services that you can make good money promoting don’t work with torrent sites,” the torrent site owner notes.

Just a few months ago popular torrent site TorrentHound decided to shut down, citing a lack in revenue as one of the main reasons. This is by no means an isolated incident. TorrentFreak spoke to other site owners who confirm that it’s becoming harder and harder to pay the bills through advertisements.

The operator of Torlock, for example, confirms that those who are in the business to make a profit are having a hard time.

“All in all it’s a tough time for torrent sites but those that do it for the money will have a far more difficult time in the current climate than those who do this as a hobby and as a passion. We do it for the love of it so it doesn’t really affect us as much,” Torlock’s operator says.

Still, there is plenty of interest from advertisers, some of whom are trying their best to circumvent ad-blockers.

“Every day we receive emails from willing advertisers wanting to work with us so the market is definitely still there and most of them have the technology in place to circumvent adblockers, including Chrome’s default one,” he adds.

Google’s decision to ship Chrome with a default ad-blocker appears to be self-serving in part. If users see less annoying ads, they are less likely to install a third-party ad-blocker which blocks more of Google’s own advertisements.

Inadvertently, however, they may have also announced their most effective anti-piracy strategy to date.

If pirate sites are unable to generate enough revenue through advertisements, there are few options left. In theory, they could start charging visitors money, but most pirates go to these sites to avoid paying.

Asking for voluntary donations is an option, but that’s unlikely to cover the all the costs.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.

Online advertising can be quite a nuisance. Flashy and noisy banners, or intrusive pop-ups, are a thorn in the side of many Internet users.

These type of ads are particularly popular on pirate sites, so it’s no surprise that their users are more likely to have an ad-blocker installed.

The increasing popularity of these ad-blocking tools hasn’t done the income of site owners any good and the trouble on this front is about to increase.

A few weeks ago Google announced that its Chrome browser will start blocking ‘annoying’ ads in the near future, by default. This applies to all ads that don’t fall within the “better ads standards,” including popups and sticky ads.

Since Chrome is the leading browser on many pirate sites, this is expected to have a serious effect on torrent sites and other pirate platforms. TorrentFreak spoke to the operator of one of the largest torrent sites, who’s sounding the alarm bell.

The owner, who prefers not to have his site mentioned, says that it’s already hard to earn enough money to pay for hardware and hosting to keep the site afloat. This, despite millions of regular visitors.

“The torrent site economy is in a bad state. Profits are very low. Profits are f*cked up compared to previous years,” the torrent site owner says.

At the moment, 40% of the site’s users already have an ad-blocker installed, but when Chrome joins in with its default filter, it’s going to get much worse. A third of all visitors to the torrent site in question use the Chrome browser, either through mobile or desktop.

“Chrome’s ad-blocker will kill torrent sites. If they don’t at least cover their costs, no one is going to use money out of his pocket to keep them alive. I won’t be able to do so at least,” the site owner says.

It’s too early to assess how broad Chrome’s ad filtering will be, but torrent site owners may have to look for cleaner ads. That’s easier said than done though, as it’s usually the lower tier advertisers that are willing to work with these sites and they often serve more annoying ads.

The torrent site owner we spoke with isn’t very optimistic about the future. While he’s tested alternative revenue sources, he sees advertising as the only viable option. And with Chrome lining up to target part of their advertising inventory, revenue may soon dwindle.

“I’ve tested all types of ads and affiliates that are safe to work with, and advertising is the only way to cover costs. Also, most services that you can make good money promoting don’t work with torrent sites,” the torrent site owner notes.

Just a few months ago popular torrent site TorrentHound decided to shut down, citing a lack in revenue as one of the main reasons. This is by no means an isolated incident. TorrentFreak spoke to other site owners who confirm that it’s becoming harder and harder to pay the bills through advertisements.

The operator of Torlock, for example, confirms that those who are in the business to make a profit are having a hard time.

“All in all it’s a tough time for torrent sites but those that do it for the money will have a far more difficult time in the current climate than those who do this as a hobby and as a passion. We do it for the love of it so it doesn’t really affect us as much,” Torlock’s operator says.

Still, there is plenty of interest from advertisers, some of whom are trying their best to circumvent ad-blockers.

“Every day we receive emails from willing advertisers wanting to work with us so the market is definitely still there and most of them have the technology in place to circumvent adblockers, including Chrome’s default one,” he adds.

Google’s decision to ship Chrome with a default ad-blocker appears to be self-serving in part. If users see less annoying ads, they are less likely to install a third-party ad-blocker which blocks more of Google’s own advertisements.

Inadvertently, however, they may have also announced their most effective anti-piracy strategy to date.

If pirate sites are unable to generate enough revenue through advertisements, there are few options left. In theory, they could start charging visitors money, but most pirates go to these sites to avoid paying.

Asking for voluntary donations is an option, but that’s unlikely to cover the all the costs.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.

Enlarge / Visitors line up to look at an Etihad Airways Airbus A380-800 at the Dubai Air Show in 2015. (credit: Jasper Juinen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Some of the Middle Eastern airlines barred from having laptops and other electronics in their main cabins have said their rules are returning to normal after receiving approval from US agencies.

Turkish Airlines and Emirates Airlines both announced the end of their respective laptop bans yesterday. That follows long-haul carrier Etihad Airlines, which told The Associated Press on Sunday it will no longer bar larger electronics on its flights.

Etihad runs 45 flights a week from Abu Dhabi to six US cities. Emirates flies to 12 US cities from Dubai International, the world's busiest airport. The AP reports that Emirates cut 20 percent of its US flights following the imposition of the laptop ban.

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Enlarge / Martin Shkreli arrives at federal court with his attorney Benjamin Brafman, right, in the Brooklyn borough of New York, US, on Wednesday, July 5, 2017. (credit: Getty | Bloomberg)

A frustrated US District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto on Wednesday scolded Martin Shkreli for indiscreetly commenting on his ongoing securities and wire fraud trial and potentially jeopardizing the trial—which is just in its second week and already a media spectacle. Matsumoto told the defendant to keep quiet about the trial while he is in or around public areas of the courthouse, despite Shkreli's lawyer’s appeal that his client is simply stressed and emotional.

Matsumoto's move comes after the prosecution complained in court filings(PDF) and in verbal arguments this week that Shkreli was secretly tweeting about the trial and making inappropriate comments. Although Shkreli was banned from Twitter earlier this year after harassing a journalist, the prosecution notes that he appeared to be tweeting using the account @BLMBro. In a June YouTube video, Shkreli clearly says that the handle belongs to him (video here, 6:13-6:16). And using that handle, Shkreli questioned the credibility of witnesses and evidence. He also claimed the media reports about the trial were untrue. The @BLMBro account has since been suspended.

The prosecution also pointed to a trial lunch break last week, during which Shkreli strolled into a courthouse viewing room that was packed with reporters. There, he loudly criticized evidence and witnesses and called the prosecution “junior varsity.” Shkreli only left the room after his lawyer came to retrieve him.

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Apparently, somebody didn't get the memo. On the afternoon of July 3, the Nasdaq stock exchange closed three hours early in advance of the Independence Day holiday. At that time, Nasdaq—in a test that had been announced to its data partners a week before—pushed out some manufactured stock quote data as part of a test of its systems. However, some of that data was apparently published inadvertently by multiple financial websites, including Google and Bloomberg.

The data errantly published was sent as part of a test of Nasdaq's UTP ("unlisted trading privileges") Quotation Data Feed, which serves up quotation data to a collection of market data vendors. "As part of its normal process, Nasdaq distributed test data and certain third parties improperly propagated the data," a Nasdaq spokesperson told Ars via e-mail. "Nasdaq is working with these third party vendors to resolve the matter."

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It’s taken a few years for Amazon’s Echo line of voice-controlled smart speakers to get any real competition. But these days there’s a growing number of alternatives, including Google Assistant and upcoming speakers from Apple, Harmon Kardon (and Microsoft), Essential, Samsung (maybe), and others. Now Chinese eCommerce company Alibaba wants in on the action. The company […]

Tmall Genie is Alibaba’s Amazon Echo clone (for China) is a post from: Liliputing

Enlarge (credit: Michael R)

As many as 44 US states are now refusing to hand voter data over to President Donald Trump and his administration citing legal and privacy concerns. This cache includes information such as voters' full names, political affiliations, addresses, dates of birth, criminal records, the last four digits of Social Security numbers, and other personal identifying information. The tussle continues despite the fact that some of the desired data, including whether individuals have voted in the past decade, is set to become part of the public record separate from this situation.

This wave of refusals comes a week after the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity sent a letter (PDF) to the nation's 50 states seeking the information so the newly created Trump commission could "analyze vulnerabilities and issues related to voter registration and voting." Trump signed the executive order in May to create the commission amid his own claims that there was voter fraud on a massive scale during the 2016 election. Trump alleged that millions had voted illegally, but so far those claims have been unfounded.

Bring out your dead

According to a CNN inquiry, many states said that some of the data—like dates of birth and Social Security numbers—could not be released because it was a breach of state laws. But the Election Integrity commission sees value in such data points. Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, the commission's vice chair, has said SSNs could be used to determine how many people who are dead remain on voter rolls and whether they have recently voted, for instance.

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The $50 Amazon Echo Dot is already one of the cheapest gadgets you can buy to interact with Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant software. From time to time you can pick one up for even less (right now Amazon is offering $20 off when you buy 3 and use the coupon DOT3PACK). But today Amazon is […]

Deals of the Day (7-05-2017) is a post from: Liliputing

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If you have a Samsung smart TV from 2016 or 2017, now you can play PC games on your TV… without plugging in your PC. Valve and Samsung launched a beta Steam Link app for Samsung smart TVs, allowing you to use Steam’s in-home streaming technology. That means as long as your PC is turned […]

Steam in-home streaming now works on Samsung smart TVs is a post from: Liliputing