Better tracker needed

Granite1

The Tracker feature is not good enough.
Example: open any RT.com webpage and look at the address bar. You'll see this suffix:
utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS.

Then open the same page with the Adguard extension enabled: the suffix is not there.

Request: add Adguard to Vivaldi as a built-in extension.

DoctorG

@Granite1 If you need be tracked, switch off Vivaldi Blocker. The the trackers of websites work 100%.

I guess you mean something different?
You should edit title to "Better Tracker Blocker needed".

@Granite1 said in Better tracker needed:

Request: add Adguard to Vivaldi as a built-in extension.

Adguard is not free software and can not be added.

But i guess you mean to add a filter which cuts the tracking parameters from URLs?

Granite1

@DoctorG said in Better tracker needed:

If you need be tracked
I guess you mean something different?

Yes, I mean something different, the opposite.
Nope, I don't need to be tracked, on the contrary, I don't want to be tracked. That is why I ask for a better system.

@DoctorG said:

Adguard is not free software and can not be added.

There is a free version and there is a premium version. I am using the free version and I can assure you it is quite rich in blocking features.
Why can the free version not be added? A number of browsers have 1 or 2 extensions from the Chrome Web Store as standard tools.

@DoctorG said :

But i guess you mean to add a filter which cuts the tracking parameters from URLs?

Yes, that would be great. However, since those filters are not there in the 1st place, even though the URL tracking parameters are 1 of the basic trackers, I wonder how good the quality of the rest of Vivaldi's built-in Ad and Tracker blocker is.

barbudo2005

@Granite1

The options are only the following for each feature that the software has.

1.- The built-in feature satisfies me, so I don't need to use an extension.

2.- The built-in feature does not satisfy me, so I have to use an extension.

Granite1

@barbudo2005 said:

The options are only the following for each feature that the software has.

I am aware of those 2 options, which reflect the current situation. That is why I have filed a feature request for an improvement.

barbudo2005

@Granite1

Requesting the built-in improvement is fine.

What doesn't make sense is to request that the extension be put inside Vivaldi.

Granite1

@barbudo2005 said :

What doesn't make sense is to request that the extension be put inside Vivaldi.

Why not? Like I said, some other browsers do it – saves reinventing the wheel, I guess.

Furthermore, Adguard is a know, reputable extension that has rich feature and works well. In view of the fact that the built-in Vivaldi tracker blocker does not filter out all trackers, it makes me wonder about its ad blocking and other tracker blocking qualities.

barbudo2005

@Granite1

Said:

Why not? Like I said, some other browsers do it – saves reinventing the wheel, I guess.

You have joined my select group of unreasonable people.

Granite1

@barbudo2005 said):

You have joined my select group of unreasonable people.

That's funny: you make a statement, and when I ask you for an explanation, you don't answer and instead add me to what you call a select group, despite my giving an extra explanation for my request.

So, I ask you again: why does my request not make sense??

WildEnte

@barbudo2005 is it really necessary to say that? Doesn't help the forum culture, I don't see who gains anything from such comments. Why not just shrug and close the tab and move on...

barbudo2005

@Granite1

For the simple reason that the extensions accompany the browser in achieving a goal, and of course nothing else is achieved by incorporating them ‘inside’ Vivaldi.

WildEnte

@Granite1 said in Better tracker needed:

why does my request not make sense??

I see it as a matter of priority. Things that can easily be achieved with a very well maintained extension to add extra capabilities for a select few (for the vast majority, the built in functionality is often enough) is not a good way to spend resources. Those should go to things that cannot easily be achieved with extensions, or where extensions make the browser more cumbersome. Everyone has their own reasons to assign weight to something or not.

barbudo2005

@WildEnte

Said:

I see it as a matter of priority.

You have missed the point.

We are not talking about resources here.

The team defines which features are incorporated and which are not because they are well served by an extension.

Here we are talking about the advantages for the user to put inside Vivaldi an extension like Adguard or uBO as many have asked before.

It would not have any benefit!!!

And we'd better not talk about the licensing issues and the huge work involved in incorporating it every time Vivaldi is updated on its different platforms.

WildEnte

@barbudo2005 it's beyond any doubt that having a superior ad blocker integrated in the browser would be a great advantage in the market. If there were no fantastic extensions out there, they'd implement one. Since there are fantastic extensions, it is indeed a matter of resources. Look at Brave, their entire product positioning and raison d'être is their ad blocking (actually: ad serving) concept.

@barbudo2005 said in Better tracker needed:

We are not talking about resources here.
[...]
And we'd better not talk about [...] the huge work involved in incorporating it

So ... I think we are talking about resources and priorities .

The team said that they are working on continuously improving the implemented ad blocker but for the reasons you mention (= I agree with you) and maybe more they don't or can't just integrate some extension, in particular when that extension works great as it is.

Granite1

@barbudo2005 said:

nothing else is achieved by incorporating them ‘inside’ Vivaldi.

I don't agree. Vivaldi claims to have a good built-in Ad and Tracker blocker. I have shown that the blocker does not work against a very common tracking URL suffix.

So, in order to improve the situation there are 2 possibilities:

improve the built-in tool, which will take time and resources, if the chief dev is even prepared to spend those resources, or
use an off-the-shelf 1st rate free extension, which will take virtually no time and resources to incorporate in Vivaldi.

WildEnte

@Granite1 said in Better tracker needed:

use an off-the-shelf 1st rate free extension, which will take virtually no time and resources to incorporate in Vivaldi.

and that is an incorrect assumption, it will require significant resources. Just use the readily available extension.

edwardp

Vivaldi doesn't support the use of outside extensions. If someone wants to install and use one, they do so at their own risk.

barbudo2005

@Granite1

Said:

…...incorporate in Vivaldi.

Understand this at once.

When you click this button you are "incorporating" the extension in Vivaldi.

Granite1

@WildEnte said:

and that is an incorrect assumption, it will require significant resources. Just use the readily available extension.

If I can add an extension from the Chrome Web Store by clicking that blue button Add to Vivaldi, why can't the dev do the same before releasing a new version of the browser?

I know that in practice it makes no difference whether I or the dev add it, but if it is an add-on to the browser, at least the claim of good ad and tracker blocking capabilities are true, based on facts, which what Adguard's reputation is based on.

As it stands today, we don't know much about the Vivaldi blocker other than that it uses the EasyPrivacy list. What I discovered is that the blocker does a far from good job with 1 particular type of ubiquitous tracker – for me that is cause for concern because that situation may also apply to the rest of the blocker's functionality.

I have disabled Vivaldi's blocker and have installed Adguard.

Now, it is no skin off my nose to have installed the extension myself, nor that Vivaldi ships with a so-so blocker.

My FR is meant as a small improvement to the browser. It is up to the dev to run with it or reject it – again, no skin off my nose either way.

Granite1

@barbudo2005 said:

When you click this button you are "incorporating" the extension in Vivaldi.

So?