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Should I Block Ads?

shouldiblockads.com

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Re: Should I Block Ads?

#91

Post by collyw »

inetknght wrote: post #60
Hamuko wrote: post #2

How many people actually disable their adblockers when sites don't allow you to access them if you have one enabled? It's just much easier to close the tab.

> How many people actually disable their adblockers when sites don't allow you to access them if you have one enabled? It's just much easier to close the tab. Some sites intentionally break if you're using an adblocker. It's really easy to argue to not use those sites. But... What about government sites? Government sites don't work with strong ad blockers. What about bank sites? Bank sites don't work with strong ad b…

I have used a few different bank sites and they all work with ad blockers.

Re: Should I Block Ads?

#92

Post by bit_logic »

Ad blocking is a security issue now. When the ad networks started serving malware, what were the websites response? Basically nothing, they just said it's not their problem and pointed the finger at the ad networks. Ad blocking is now vital to having a safe web experience. This is not some trivial issue. Computers and the web are critical for modern life now. The same computer that people use for browsing news sites is also used to do online banking, pay bills, apply for unemployment, do work with sensitive data (for example a work laptop), and so many other things.

And computers are also used by minors. Some of these ads are really disturbing and not something minors should see. Again, when this started happening, how did the websites respond? They did nothing.

Re: Should I Block Ads?

#93

Post by cameronbrown »

centimeter wrote: post #62
cameronbrown wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(Disclosure: I work for Google, but not in Ads) Micropayments are generally considered to be unviable for the general population (edit: business model wise, not tech). People are unwilling to pay even pennies for an article[0], because now users are facing the burden of choice, constantly thinking about how their browsing is racking up pennies. Not to mention, it boxes you into the pay-per-article model. Sites like T…

> micropayments aren't accessible, at all, to younger people, or the poor. This is a purely technological problem, not some sort of fundamental problem with the concept of micropayments. If advertising were really the only way young or poor people could generate value (this is not actually true, but for the sake of argument I'll go along with it), there could be dedicated websites where people intentionally look at a…

> People intentionally look at ads in exchange for credit in their micropayment accounts.

> It's better to have people perform mechanical turk style tasks.

I do like the idea, but I still think the barriers to entry are way too high. I'm worried that what will really happen is people will just download content via other means, which will start publishers off the deep end putting DRM into their webpages. Just look at Steam as an example - it very much reduced piracy rates because it lowered the barrier to entry.

> As a parent, I'd be happy to put a few cents in my child's micropayment account so they don't have to get their brain flooded with garbage whenever they use the internet.

Easy enough for someone living in a 1st world country. A child in Bangladesh who just wants to read about maths or video games however... Not to mention, your child is now directly linked to your bank account, whereas before you had pseudo-anonymity.

Re: Should I Block Ads?

#94

Post by 908087 »

paulcole wrote: post #30

Can I possibly be the only person here who doesn’t use an adblocker? I like buying things. I like seeing ads that interest me. I don’t care who tracks me or monetizes data about me that is 100% worthless to me. I like not paying money out of my own wallet to read websites and watch videos.

You are the ad-tech Manchurian Candidate.

Re: Should I Block Ads?

#95

Post by mharroun »

quadrangle wrote: post #65
paulcole wrote: post #26

> Do ad blockers stop sites from making money? The honest answer to this is “Yes!”, not a 7-paragraph non-answer.

Adblockers stop sites from making money from those third-party ads . They obviously don't stop a shopping site from selling products or from GitLab.com registering users for GitLab services etc. If the way a site makes money is by abusing the visitors, adblockers stop the abuse and the money from that * side of things, which may be all the income they get, but not necessarily. So, this is not a simple yes/no situatio…

So they need a set bushiness and tech teams to build an internal ad stack, and try to get advertisers... many who wont buy in without 3rd party tracking to mitigate fraud.

Re: Should I Block Ads?

#96

Post by cameronbrown »

ViViDboarder wrote: post #74
cameronbrown wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(Disclosure: I work for Google, but not in Ads) Micropayments are generally considered to be unviable for the general population (edit: business model wise, not tech). People are unwilling to pay even pennies for an article[0], because now users are facing the burden of choice, constantly thinking about how their browsing is racking up pennies. Not to mention, it boxes you into the pay-per-article model. Sites like T…

> For the news at least, it'll likely just be the expensive megacorp publications that survive. Says the guy working for one of the largest megacorps that would be most impacted...

Totally fair point, but just because I work for a big company doesn't mean I'm not worried about smaller companies. I care about the health of the internet and have spent a lot of time thinking about advertising, micropayments, free speech etc.. this is an important topic for me.

Re: Should I Block Ads?

#97

Post by Hamuko »

madeofpalk wrote: post #57
Hamuko wrote: post #2

How many people actually disable their adblockers when sites don't allow you to access them if you have one enabled? It's just much easier to close the tab.

Today i finally disabled Adblock for Twitter.com because scrolling the Timeline is way too wonky as Twitter and Adblock fight over dynamically adding and removing ads as I scroll.

Really? I've never noticed any issues with uBlock Origin and Twitter.com.

Re: Should I Block Ads?

#98

Post by slowmovintarget »

Hamuko wrote: post #2

How many people actually disable their adblockers when sites don't allow you to access them if you have one enabled? It's just much easier to close the tab.

It depends. If I'm trying to refill my prescription on my pharmacy's web-site, or complete the paying of road tolls through my state government site, I turn it off... Temporarily... for that site.

If it's to read an article, see a video, or find information: never.

Also: Firefox with Multi-Account Containers is great.

Re: Should I Block Ads?

#99

Post by thewebcount »

This is a really well put-together site with very reasonable arguments describing the problem with web ads. I'm glad they put this together. It's refreshing to see something in this space that just has the facts without being preachy or screechy.

Re: Should I Block Ads?

#100

Post by cpill »

collyw wrote: post #86
sergiotapia wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's our responsibility as parents in tech to teach our children to block all ads. My son hasn't browser the web without an adblocker, ever. I showed him what his favorite sites look like without an adblocker and he was really surprised.

Is it? Who will pay for the internet then? I almost feel guilty for blocking them in a way, I appreciate that we need to have some naive users to fund stuff. Some smarter sites ask you to voluntarily unblock their site. If its something I value I will actually do that. If it's forced upon my often I'll try and work my way around it.

yeah the old argument: this is the current pricing model how will we survive without it. see Netflix and Spotify for examples of how that works out i.e. there will be a new model once the old fat cats roll over and are replaced with new ones. The internet existed before it had ads, it will survive again without them. note that all this malicious activity is _because_ money has been introduced to the ecosystem.
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