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Ask HN: Would you sign an anti-ad pledge?

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Re: Ask HN: Would you sign an anti-ad pledge?

#11

Post by dylz »

Someone1234 wrote: post #2

> I'm also willing to pay for an ad-free It has been tried multiple times, particularly in print media. Most people, regardless of what they claim, aren't willing to pay for ad free. Just the pure fact that it used to be free, often makes it even harder to convert them. You say you're willing to pay for ad-free, but I'd ask why you aren't paying for ad free already. Many websites now offer it, and few pay it (e.g. al…

I'd pay for ad and analytic and tracking free. Not just making the ads invisible, but the other code along with it disabled.

Re: Ask HN: Would you sign an anti-ad pledge?

#12

Post by evanwarfel »

dylz wrote: post #11
Someone1234 wrote: post #2

> I'm also willing to pay for an ad-free It has been tried multiple times, particularly in print media. Most people, regardless of what they claim, aren't willing to pay for ad free. Just the pure fact that it used to be free, often makes it even harder to convert them. You say you're willing to pay for ad-free, but I'd ask why you aren't paying for ad free already. Many websites now offer it, and few pay it (e.g. al…

I'd pay for ad and analytic and tracking free. Not just making the ads invisible, but the other code along with it disabled.

That's a great point. People should be able to opt-out.

Re: Ask HN: Would you sign an anti-ad pledge?

#16

Post by evanwarfel »

marssaxman wrote: post #15

I already behave this way. I'm not sure what I would gain from the pledge you suggest. I don't think the advertisers would care.

They may not! But there is information asymmetry between the advertisers and us individuals. Also, if enough people signed it, such a pledge could be used as a collective bargaining chip, one that could be used to convince C-suite executives to change how they do things.

Re: Ask HN: Would you sign an anti-ad pledge?

#17

Post by evanwarfel »

shanecleveland wrote: post #14

No. Ads in general and bad/abusive tactics are not unique to the web. I’m willing to take the good with the bad and be discerning with my clicks and quick with the back button. And that includes paying for valuable apps and services.

Great, thanks for answering.

Re: Ask HN: Would you sign an anti-ad pledge?

#19

Post by yellow_lead »

Even if you were to sign this pledge, ads aren't as simple as "I see, I buy". Lots of branding seems to be around changing your perception of or just making you aware of a company or product so that several months later, when you're purchasing something in that category, you'll think of them. You can't possibly remember all the ads you have or haven't seen, so trying to restrain yourself from buying products which youve seen ads for seems futile.

Re: Ask HN: Would you sign an anti-ad pledge?

#20

Post by muzani »

I would.

Ads are a lazy way to make money. It works for FB & Google because they can focus all efforts on making the best product. But this was an era before ad blockers.

Ads pay badly and also significantly drop user experience if done to a certain extent.

When we did a recipe app, it was a conscious decision not to use ads. If we had recipes, the only fitting ads are food related, not dating related, not car related. Anything other than food would be dishonest to advertise.

So instead of advertising food, we skipped the middle man and sold ingredients directly. As we had a niche (keto recipes), the sold product was also a niche of keto alternative ingredients.

My partner later did a different startup, focusing on a football blog. They tried ads, but it was terrible; made about $300 for millions of pageviews. Sponsored articles, e.g. for football injuries recommending a product, would pay several times more. This is also advertising but more precise, and gave the sponsor a huge SEO boost for exactly the thing they were selling. The company eventually landed a deal with a sports supplier which made up a big portion of their revenue.

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