Ask HN: How Does Adtoniq Work on the Back End?
For the second time in recent days, I've been presented with a choice on a website (dzone.com most recenlty) to opt into supporting a site via "heavily vetted ads" that "will not track you". I was curious enough to click "Support" so I could maybe figure out what it does on the client side.
It injects an iframe pointed at cloudfront.net. There is javascript in the iframe but, since uBlock Origin is still enabled, it should block the stuff I want it to if whoever controls that content decides to do something shady.
From what I can gather on their site, there is some component the publisher "installs" on their servers so Adtoniq can inject some javascript into the pages that will handle the UI and storing the cookie that saves the users choice to opt-in or out. But that's about all the detail they give.
In typical internet ads, my machine is the mediator between publisher and advertiser. They use me to ensure both of them are holding up their end of the deal. This appears to take that burden off my machine and maybe puts it on the publishers server, but I'm not sure I'm understanding the full picture.