undefined | Better HN

0 pointslloeki2mo ago0 comments

You missed one of the worst: mandatory interactive ones.

My wife is a sucker for these horribly generic flashy F2P puzzle-ish games. There are these ads that pop up every N action or something; some of these look like a mini-game and are actually an ad for another of those F2P games, and you have to play the mini-game that showcases some dumb simple mechanic of the game it advertises for a little bit before you can dismiss the ad.

Some come complete with two trivially easy levels ONLY 20% OF PLAYERS CAN PASS SOLVE THIS that glorify you OMG YOU HAVE SUCH HIGH IQ then one impossible that taunts you into installing the game.

The predatory dark patterns are so obvious they should be trialed to oblivion but no apparently this kind of abuse is legal.

0 comments

jason_s2mo ago

whoa -- I've never run into these. I've seen interactive puzzle ads, but the "X" to close always pops up in 20-30 seconds.

Melonai2mo ago

I noticed an interesting hybrid – you get an interactive ad, if you interact with it, complete the level, engage with the ad etc. you get the close button immediately, if you idle you have to wait ~30 seconds. Feels very deplorable to me.

shaftway2mo ago

Google's AdMob has been doing these. Often it's something simple like completing a puzzle. I hate that I prefer these ads because it shortens the time until I get back to my game.

basisword2mo ago

You don't have to play it. You can but you don't have to. The skip or close button will appear after a set amount of time (like in any video ad). It feels like you need to play or you'll be stuck but you won't.

georgefrowny2mo ago

I don't think I'm especially stupid and I try very hard not to interact with ads more then I have to, but I have often found it impossible to escape those ads without ending up being delivered to the app store page.

Maybe I didn't notice the X in some part of the display or whatever, but even if by making a concerted effort to not do it, you still "convert", their click though stats must be crazy.

pc862mo ago

Some of these ads are annoying, almost all of the them are dumb, but if you think they're abusive, I don't think you know what the word abuse means.

bloqs2mo ago

the word is ab-use and it means to misuse

Forbo2mo ago

If you don't think lying/tricking/manipulating people is abusive, then you might want to reflect on that.

ImPostingOnHN2mo ago

abuse

noun

/əˈbyo͞os/

1. the improper use of something.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse