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Comment by Donald | Hacker News Reader

This particular blocker is insidious - even blocks incognito.

  We noticed you're browsing in private or incognito mode.
  To continue reading this article, please exit incognito 
  mode

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Wow. What would be the possible reason for blocking incognito?

You still get the full ad experience? I can't support any company that is demanding that they not only serve their ads but also be allowed to track the visitor after.

> Wow. What would be the possible reason for blocking incognito?

This is what the blocking page reads:

> Visitors are allowed 3 free articles per month (without a subscription), and private browsing prevents us from counting how many stories you've read.

They explain this on the blocking page:

------------

Why we made this change

Visitors are allowed 3 free articles per month (without a subscription), and private browsing prevents us from counting how many stories you've read. We hope you understand, and consider subscribing for unlimited online access.

-----------

It's not about ads, it's about free access before a paywall.

Yeah but I mean, if the mechanism they're using relies on not using incognito, that means you should just be able to delete their cookies and keep getting access.

Retargeting.

It says in the 'error' screen why they are blocking incognito.. so that they can accurately count how many articles you have read. Seems fair enough to me.