Qualia: Living Ad-Free and Breaking Away from Dark Patterns, Hidden Fees, and More

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Welcome to Qualia

Tired of dealing with ads everywhere, hidden fees, sneaky tricks, and endless subscriptions? You’re not the only one. Here in our community, we come together to help each other avoid ads, point out shady tactics, and call out companies when they try to pull one over on us.

Qualia refers to the unique, personal experiences we each have—how we individually perceive the world around us.

Here’s what we’re about:

Sharing tips for avoiding ads and recognizing dark patterns designed to manipulate our choices
Exposing the tricks companies use to push us into buying things we don’t need
Calling out hidden fees and price hikes in everyday services
Discussing why it feels like everything is turning into a subscription
Finding ways to step back from the constant pressure to consume
And more: covering additional topics that help us make better decisions in an increasingly complex world

When every aspect of daily life feels like it’s designed to push you into spending more, it’s time to take a step back. We are about making intentional, informed choices and living on our own terms without the constant pressure to buy, subscribe, or upgrade.

Join us and take control of your choices. Together, we can create a life with less distraction and more clarity.

Rules

1. Be Respectful

Debate and disagree respectfully. Personal attacks, name-calling, or harassment will not be tolerated.

2. No Spam

Avoid repetitive posts, irrelevant links, or anything that could be considered spam. This includes posting the same message across multiple threads or promoting unrelated websites

3. No Politics

This community is about simplifying life, not debating politics. Let's keep the focus on practical ways to improve our daily experiences.

4. No Piracy or Illegal Content

Posts promoting or discussing piracy are not allowed. Let’s keep the community safe and legal.

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qlya

Prime Video to add even more ads (arstechnica.com)

submitted 1 month ago by qlya to c/qualia

2 comments fedilink hide all child comments

It looks like it’s Amazon’s turn. They’ve decided people are enjoying the ads enough that they won’t cancel their Prime Video service. So now, they’re planning to ramp those ads up even more—because why stop a “good” thing?

Steps We’ve Already Seen:

Introduce an ad-free experience for a fee (e.g., original Prime membership)
Gradually introduce ads, offering a higher price to maintain the ad-free option.
Ramp up the number of ads, pushing users to consider the ad-free option.

What’s Next:

Raise prices across the board, even for those paying extra to avoid ads.
Further increase ad saturation for all users.
Repeat the cycle endlessly, ensuring the price hikes and ads never stop.

When they first announced adding ads, I canceled my subscription. I wish more people would follow suit so these companies stop getting away with it.

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[–] qlya 1 points 1 month ago

That’s a good idea. I’m going to start doing it.