Personally I just closed the tab when the SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER dialog obscured the article. I didn't expect to get much value from the content anyways so can't be bothered to deal with their crap.

uBlock Origin allows you to filter custom elements on webpages. I can zap those elements and next time I visit that site I won't have to put up with it. It's game-changing although I wish there was a way we could share custom filters with others so I don't have to do this for every site each time

Oh, but there is a way to "share custom filters with others" :) https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Filter-lists-from-aro...

There is also a cool site that aggregates custom lists and allows you to search for specific filter-lists and narrow down choices by using filters on top. You can then subscribe to them directly - most are hosted on github. Just keep in mind some of them haven't been updated in years - you can preview them, and check their last update - in most of cases anyway. https://filterlists.com/

BTW there are filters specifically designed to remove newsletter-signup messages, popups, popunders, as well as general "annoyances" :)

do you have the Annoyances filters enabled? most of them are filtered on my end

there is also this you can enable with 1 click if you've got ublock already: https://github.com/yourduskquibbles/webannoyances

And then they just keep saying over and over:

- Spiders are smarter than you think

- Wow are they smart

- Here’s a scientist who says spiders are smart

- A lot of people don’t think spiders are smart but they are

They should just cut everything in the article before the part where they finally start describing some smart things the spiders do.

I guess the article is written for spiders, they have no problem with context switching since they are so smart.

Agreed, but be grateful it doesn't have an obnoxious and hostile cookie consent form, or is full of ads mixed with the content. This is actually a relatively enjoyable website compared to similar ones in this category.

SEO has really ruined the internet

This is not about SEO, this newsletter and you may also like serve no purpose for this. It's user acquisition.

SEO gets you in the door, the newsletter gets you coming back, and you may also like pays the bills. It's all related.

Advertising has really ruined the internet

And many other things. It biases the consumers, which has futher repercussions on the economy.