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Adblock Radio: An adblocker for live radio streams and podcasts

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Re: Adblock Radio: An adblocker for live radio streams and podcasts

#231

Post by olalonde »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #43
smhost wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

at the same time, i don't know how comfortable i feel about incentivizing ad distribution companies to become more stealthy.

Take a closer look at that feeling. If you're not comfortable with what they're trying to do, but also not comfortable with trying to mitigate it, as it'll only incentivize them to do worse - then how comfortable are you with them existing? The problem is ad distribution companies here and now. The problem won't be gone until they're gone.

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one on HN who is not bothered by ads and doesn't like paying for stuff.

Re: Adblock Radio: An adblocker for live radio streams and podcasts

#232

Post by lotsofpulp »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #198
mbrock wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People routinely pay $3 for a single cup of drip coffee or $6 for a shot of liquor

Coffee and liquor are made of matter, not information, and thus cannot be infinitely copied for near-zero energy expenditure. This is what gives them a practical price floor.

This is all speculation and without knowing concrete numbers, one can't make any definitive statements about why coffee costs $x and a podcast costs $y. I'm sure performing quality research costs many man hours, traveling, opportunity costs for stories that don't pan out, legal costs, etc.

At the end of the day, however, all you need is the fact that there are no successful paid podcasts, and the most successful ones use advertising. There's nothing stopping anyone from creating one, and it's not a novel idea. Same with newspapers. The very fact that one doesn't exist, when the alternative (paid version without advertising) is a known idea and easily executable, must mean that there is a problem with the business model itself.

Perhaps the problem is that it can't compete in the same environment with media that uses advertising. Perhaps a sufficient number of people simply aren't willing to pay a sufficient price for them to exist without advertising.

Re: Adblock Radio: An adblocker for live radio streams and podcasts

#233

Post by munk-a »

olalonde wrote: post #231
TeMPOraL wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Take a closer look at that feeling. If you're not comfortable with what they're trying to do, but also not comfortable with trying to mitigate it, as it'll only incentivize them to do worse - then how comfortable are you with them existing? The problem is ad distribution companies here and now. The problem won't be gone until they're gone.

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one on HN who is not bothered by ads and doesn't like paying for stuff.

I'd urge you to value your time more, it isn't worth the price of your attention and productivity to be forced to listen to banal advertising.

Re: Adblock Radio: An adblocker for live radio streams and podcasts

#234

Post by bootlooped »

tudelo wrote: post #228
dest wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My dream would be that people that are fine with ads should have them, while people against should be able to subscribe to the content. Like Spotify actually, but radio does not offer that.

Is this sustainable?

Sam Harris' podcast runs entirely on donations, so I think that model is at least viable for certain audience demographics.

Re: Adblock Radio: An adblocker for live radio streams and podcasts

#235

Post by munk-a »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #53
TeMPOraL wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Take a closer look at that feeling. If you're not comfortable with what they're trying to do, but also not comfortable with trying to mitigate it, as it'll only incentivize them to do worse - then how comfortable are you with them existing? The problem is ad distribution companies here and now. The problem won't be gone until they're gone.

The problem is people are willing to pay for certain products with their attention, via ads, but not with money. Given the choice of paying $1 for a podcast or pirating said podcast, sufficient number of people would not choose the first option to make it a viable business.

I don't get where people found this expectation to be paid for random crap thrown out into the world. Once upon a time a lot of the things that are ad-supported now would be considered hobbies that people did because they like to do them, there wouldn't be any sort of expectation of recouping losses you were putting money into your activity in exchange for the joy of doing it. Now everything has become much more money focused and rather than sending out a podcast episode to start a discussion or voice your opinion people are doing it to get paid.

This is why I love Patreon, it has the possibility to shift us back into the "for the joy of it" production - removing the need to shill on a month-by-month basis. If enough people support you directly then advertising loses it's appeal by spurning potential listeners. Meanwhile your hobby is getting support from the other hobbyists and people with a slight interest can dip their toes in and explore the world.

Re: Adblock Radio: An adblocker for live radio streams and podcasts

#236

Post by kevin_thibedeau »

munk-a wrote: post #233
olalonde wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one on HN who is not bothered by ads and doesn't like paying for stuff.

I'd urge you to value your time more, it isn't worth the price of your attention and productivity to be forced to listen to banal advertising.

Some reciprocity is warranted when you're getting something for free. The problem isn't advertising itself. Too much will just drive people away. The problem is unnecessarily intrusive advertising.

Re: Adblock Radio: An adblocker for live radio streams and podcasts

#238

Post by Fargren »

dmix wrote: post #120
fiblye wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I block ads because I don't want to be conditioned to buy things I don't need or legitimately want. I don't want the mega rich to gradually chip away at my mind day by day, hour by hour in order to make themselves another fat pile of cash. If a site shows me some sad puppy image about me stealing their money by blocking their brainwashing, I just add their whole site to my filter. Content on the internet powered by a…

That’s nice. Do you use gmail and other services? Because those were built and delivered for free based on the same ideas you dislike.

I find this argument very weak. Should communists not buy anything? Should anarchists not use roads?

When your political beliefs are at odds with the current legal framework, you have no choice but to compromise to some degree. That doesn't mean you don't actually believe what you claim.

Re: Adblock Radio: An adblocker for live radio streams and podcasts

#239

Post by zeta0134 »

olalonde wrote: post #231
TeMPOraL wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Take a closer look at that feeling. If you're not comfortable with what they're trying to do, but also not comfortable with trying to mitigate it, as it'll only incentivize them to do worse - then how comfortable are you with them existing? The problem is ad distribution companies here and now. The problem won't be gone until they're gone.

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one on HN who is not bothered by ads and doesn't like paying for stuff.

Ehh, I'm kinda on the fence. I'm not bothered by certain kinds of ads. Anything static and non-moving, or advertising that's done tastefully, gets a pass in my book. For example, talk show hosts verbally running an advertisement in their natural voice; that doesn't bother me one bit. Neither do static images on websites, or anything in print media. I'm not that bothered by blog articles that are clearly sponsored reviews, provided the reviewer is still giving their honest opinion. These are, understandably, harder to pull off than simply sticking an iframe on the page and calling it done, but I think it's worth the effort.

Where ads starts to bother me is when they get invasive. If it moves, dances, or otherwise gets in the way of the content I am actively trying to consume, then I'd prefer to block it. The third party tracking is a little creepy; I understand the need for analytics, but most ad networks go too far. Even in the real world, when advertising becomes too saturating, like the billboards that blanket my city and blot out the skyline, in my opinion that's crossed a line. So... balance in all things I guess.

Re: Adblock Radio: An adblocker for live radio streams and podcasts

#240

Post by CodeMage »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #116
abdullahkhalids wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The problem is people are willing to pay for certain products with their attention, via ads, but not with money. 1. People who are adblocking are saying that they are not willing to pay with attention. You can only compare their relative willingness to pay with attention vs money when you provide both options fairly. 2. I don't take it as given that businesses have the right to make money however they want. There a…

> 1. People who are adblocking are saying that they are not willing to pay with attention. No. As a person who's adblocking, that is not what I'm saying. I'm perfectly willing to pay with attention; I'm not willing to pay with my data, I'm not willing to be tracked across sites, and I'm not willing to let my browser execute whatever garbage the ad network is sending down the pipe at me.

Different folks, different strokes. I'm also adblocking and I started way before it became a privacy thing, because I don't. Want. Ads. In my content.
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