Please stop ads via speed dial entries
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A Former User last edited by
Dear Opera team,
I really like Opera a lot, and I also realize that software development cannot be free.
But I also think that we users want to be the only ones deciding what is worth to be included in our speed dials.
I believe that by placing ads regularly in such a personal area as our speed dials - and even if we have already deleted this advertising in the past and expressed in doing so that we see no added value in it - it is more likely to harm than benefit your partners. As for me, for example, I am allergic when I even hear the name booking.com in the meantime, no matter where and in what context. Because I feel massively molested by booking.com; because booking.com repeatedly invades my personal sphere of life, against my will.
I am very grateful that future Opera builds will have an opt-out option. However, given that this option will not be displayed in the settings by default (if I understand this post correctly), most users will probably not find it.
Perhaps another form of advertising could be found that enjoys a higher degree of acceptance. Respective proposals could be discussed in this forum.
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blackbird71 last edited by@yanta said in Please stop ads via speed dial entries:
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I am very grateful that future Opera builds will have an opt-out option. However, given that this option will not be displayed in the settings by default (if I understand this post correctly), most users will probably not find it.Perhaps another form of advertising could be found that enjoys a higher degree of acceptance. Respective proposals could be discussed in this forum.
That may be true that most users may not find the setting. On the other hand, the thinking may be that if a user is truly disturbed by the speed dial ads, they'll track down the setting wherever it's placed. Something to keep in mind is that if one makes ads too easy to disable, the market value for companies to place ads in your product declines. Personally, I believe the flaw lies in the "free" revenue models associated almost universally with things Internet these days... it's the source of many current online ills (assaults on user data privacy, the ads vs. ad-blocking war, etc).
Philosophically and economically, I'm old-school on much of this: if I value a product or media offering, I'm willing to pay money for it - as I've long done with printed media and for ordinary products. But somehow, the idea of competing for cash payment on the basis of quality has largely been submerged in the deluge of the modern Internet's "it has to be free or nobody will use it," which merely means other forms of payment besides monetary must be extracted from the user to cover the costs of production.
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A Former User last edited by
@leocg Is there an official or even tentative release date for when Opera 56 is coming out? I also find these annoying and invasive. I deleted 2 this morning, launched it again just now, and found 8 more spam sites added.
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A Former User last edited by
@leocg - What is the functional difference between "opting out of promoted speed dials" and turning off "Speed Dial Suggestions", which I've already done??
Sneaking fake Bookmarks into people's lists of links is BS. Why not add links to Pornhub or Torrent sites and blackmail users into paying to remove them? Gee, that'd be great for quarterly earnings!
It's a huge violation of trust and a big disappointment. Shouldn't have to wait for an update to turn off an unethical idea that never should've been allowed in the first place.
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blackbird71 last edited by blackbird71
@nobiznis said in Please stop ads via speed dial entries:
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Sneaking fake Bookmarks into people's lists of links is BS. ...It's a huge violation of trust and a big disappointment. Shouldn't have to wait for an update to turn off an unethical idea that never should've been allowed in the first place.
The bookmarks being added aren't "fake", they're real. You've simply assumed that the bookmarks on the browser's link lists would only be ones you've added. To the best of my knowledge, there's no assurance in Opera's ToS/EULA or browser promotions that such link additions won't occur during updates. Moreover, the added ones can easily be removed by users following an update.
Violation of trust requires the breaking of a promise, assurance, or guarantee; unethical behavior involves a violation of professional or moral standards. Neither has occurred with Opera's ad-placement practices. What has occurred clearly represents (to you) a disappointment or something below what you appear to have expected, but it does not rise to the level of your accusations. Nothing is served by such rhetorical over-reach.
In any case, Opera is responding to user objections (such as yours) to their practice and is providing users an avenue for remedy if they so choose.
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A Former User last edited by
I found that emptying the bookmark trash after deleting the unwanted Speed Dial additions prevented them from coming back.
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slytheringirl last edited by
@concretable That is so, however, after you update Opera again, they'll sneak them right back making emptying the trash a temp workaround. Hopefully the opt-out setting in Opera 56 will truly fix this reprehensible issue. Opera needs to clearly state upfront that they will be adding 'default' bookmarks with each update so there will be no surprises. Hey Opera, News Flash -- NOT EVERYONE likes surprises!
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A Former User last edited by
Do those things travel with the automatic updates? I disabled that and I do my updating entirely manually, and I have not seen unwanted junk in the Speed Dial for the last several updates, not even the last major one.
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slytheringirl last edited by
@concretable I don't let Opera auto-update and I still get the unwanted bookmarks. They may skip an update or two, but they did show up the update before last with me.
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abusivefather last edited byHow can opera team make money then??
Partnership ads is far better than ads who collect ur cookies.
