Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Poll: Do you use an adblocker?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

111–120 of 218 posts

Re: Poll: Do you use an adblocker?

#111

Post by eli »

maggit wrote: post #66
byrneseyeview wrote: post #20

Banner ads pay my salary, so out of professional courtesy, no. It's very easy to voluntarily blind yourself to ads. Plus, if I see something egregious on my employer's site, I can let them know. I use Ghostery to see who's buying data from whom.

> It's very easy to voluntarily blind yourself to ads. So you do block ads, only with your brain ;) Fair enough, but can I ask why this is more courteous than blocking them in the browser? Are ad loads generally causing money to flow? I was under the impression that click-throughs cause revenue, rather than ad loads?

That's what lots of advertisers are pushing for. It makes in some cases, but in others it's a bit disingenuous. Lexus doesn't really care how many people click through to its landing page; they want to get their logo in front of your eyes as often as possible so that when it's time to buy a car, their brand is fresh in your mind.

Re: Poll: Do you use an adblocker?

#112

Post by dlikhten »

byrneseyeview wrote: post #20

Banner ads pay my salary, so out of professional courtesy, no. It's very easy to voluntarily blind yourself to ads. Plus, if I see something egregious on my employer's site, I can let them know. I use Ghostery to see who's buying data from whom.

My thought is: If you can't afford me blocking ads then do one of two things:

1) No flashing ads. No flash ads (cpu time is mine!) No ads that blur content with ads. And I will turn off ad blocking on your site. If ads have sound and I can't block it I will never visit the site. This is why arstechnica has ads turned off for me, autoplaying video and sound.

BTW I will not turn off blocking of the +1 button or Like or whatever. I just don't wanna be tracked.

2) Don't give free content. Make me pay for it. If I like it I would.

Re: Poll: Do you use an adblocker?

#114

Post by brianobush »

byrneseyeview wrote: post #20

Banner ads pay my salary, so out of professional courtesy, no. It's very easy to voluntarily blind yourself to ads. Plus, if I see something egregious on my employer's site, I can let them know. I use Ghostery to see who's buying data from whom.

I write porn blocking software, so should I view porn out of professional courtesy?

Re: Poll: Do you use an adblocker?

#115

Post by grecy »

byrneseyeview wrote: post #20

Banner ads pay my salary, so out of professional courtesy, no. It's very easy to voluntarily blind yourself to ads. Plus, if I see something egregious on my employer's site, I can let them know. I use Ghostery to see who's buying data from whom.

> Banner ads pay my salary

Do you mind if I ask which companies are your favorite?

Re: Poll: Do you use an adblocker?

#116

Post by huhtenberg »

aaaron wrote: post #100
huhtenberg wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't touch Ghostery with a long pole. Their parent company - Evidon - is suspicious. The FAQ on the site is choke-full of weasel words and wishy-washy statements on how they are not an "ad company" but rather an "ad assurance company". Skimpy on actual details too. They have changed their About summary now, but not long ago it basically said that they are in business of delivering better advertisement experienc…

Ghostery has a secondary purpose. It's also "the eyes in the sky" that the ad industry will use to monitor and enforce self-regulation. In other words, it will collect data to ensure that ad companies are complying and affixing proper opt-out mechanisms to behaviorally-targeted ads.

Riiight.

Re: Poll: Do you use an adblocker?

#117

Post by rgb411 »

paulhauggis wrote: post #96
gnosis wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hate ads with a passion. If I had the power, I'd make unsolicited advertising illegal. If I hear or see an ad, I often make a mental note not to buy that product.

I hope you also enjoy paying a fee for every single website you enjoy, because without ads, this would be the only way anyone would be able to keep the lights on.

I offered to pay a higher monthly fee in order to watch content on Hulu commercial free. There's no commercial free option, so I cancelled. Bottom line is I hate being exposed to commercials and am happy to pay for content.

Re: Poll: Do you use an adblocker?

#118

Post by T-hawk »

I voted yes although it's not strictly true since I don't use an adblocker per se. I browse mostly in Opera, with plugins and images turned off. I have toolbar buttons to turn them on in one click when needed, but on 90% of sites that works fine and gets me just the text. Turning off Javascript is also one click away on the F12 menu for difficult sites. I also have a custom style sheet in Opera to force all text to black-on-white at a reasonable size and my choice of font. This makes the web pretty manageable, without depending on browser extensions or addons.
Post reply on HN