Ask HN: How many of you use ad blocking on most websites?

#1

Post by tokenadult » Thu, Apr 16, 2009, 11:56 PM UTC

I keep seeing threads in which people refer to online ads, and I realize that I hardly ever see online ads anymore. I've been running an ad-blocking add-on for Firefox for a long time, and it seems to work pretty well at keeping ads invisible from me. I also do various forms of cookie clean-up periodically to keep my browsing behavior from being tracked by advertisers, and use multiple layers of email spam filtering.

Do you like to read advertisements on websites? Do you click through on them from time to time? What ads do you like best? What ads am I missing that I should know about?

Re: Ask HN: How many of you use ad blocking on most websites?

#2

Post by mcav » Thu, Apr 16, 2009, 11:58 PM UTC

I have ClickToFlash, which almost amounts to complete ad blocking nowadays. The rest I don't mind, though I don't often see an ad worth clicking on.

Re: Ask HN: How many of you use ad blocking on most websites?

#3

Post by visdo » Fri, Apr 17, 2009, 12:12 AM UTC

Never use ad blocker. As an entrepreneur, you should keep your market sense(IMO, blocking ads is against it.).

Re: Ask HN: How many of you use ad blocking on most websites?

#4

Post by makecheck » Fri, Apr 17, 2009, 12:14 AM UTC

I use fairly sophisticated filtering to block things that are shaped like ads, to block URLs matching certain patterns, and to control JavaScript behavior.

I honestly don't mind ads if they're sane, which is probably why Google is successful (their text ads tend not to be annoying at all). I understand the need for ads, to give sites revenue for the content they produce.

The problem I have is advertisers who are so eager to push their message on me, that they have absolutely no respect at all for me. Shoving things in my face, making loud, constantly animating, colorful abominations? That gets you on my permanent ban list, and may ensure that I never, ever return to your web site.

Re: Ask HN: How many of you use ad blocking on most websites?

#5

Post by RobGR » Fri, Apr 17, 2009, 1:37 AM UTC

I aggressively block all the ads I can, with the exception of the google text ads. I might start blocking those too.

I have different browsers I use at my client's offices, on which ads are not blocked, so I see the ads then. I occasionally unblock ads specifically, if I want to see what types of ads and how many are running on a specific google search. Almost all ad-clicking I do is "market research" and does not result in me buying anything.

Re: Ask HN: How many of you use ad blocking on most websites?

#6

Post by thorax » Fri, Apr 17, 2009, 1:44 AM UTC

I read advertisements from time to time. I click on them from time to time, especially on Google searches when I'm looking for a company/service that solves a particular problem. I almost never click them on any other site.

Re: Ask HN: How many of you use ad blocking on most websites?

#7

Post by RobGR » Fri, Apr 17, 2009, 1:53 AM UTC

visdo wrote: post #3

Never use ad blocker. As an entrepreneur, you should keep your market sense(IMO, blocking ads is against it.).

I don't think seeing ads helps your "market sense" or any other type of good sense. The ads are generally designed to make you spend money, and usually that doesn't involve making you smarter.

That would be like watching television commercials to learn how to make cars. It's not even good information on how to sell cars; most of car commercials are for cars made by companies going bankrupt, the last thing you want to do is copy them.

That doesn't mean that you might not want to monitor the ads your competitors are running and occasionally survey what else is out there; but in general, if an advertisement is spread across part of your computer screen, thebn fewer brain cells are working to make you money. Unless it is YOUR advertisement that you are working on, of course.

Re: Ask HN: How many of you use ad blocking on most websites?

#8

Post by tokenadult » Fri, Apr 17, 2009, 2:54 AM UTC

RobGR wrote: post #7

visdo wrote: post #3

Never use ad blocker. As an entrepreneur, you should keep your market sense(IMO, blocking ads is against it.).

I don't think seeing ads helps your "market sense" or any other type of good sense. The ads are generally designed to make you spend money, and usually that doesn't involve making you smarter. That would be like watching television commercials to learn how to make cars. It's not even good information on how to sell cars; most of car commercials are for cars made by companies going bankrupt, the last thing you want to…

That would be like watching television commercials to learn how to make cars.

Well, it might be a little more like watching television commercials to be aware of what the typical experience of watching broadcast TV is like. A producer of television programs might do that from time to time, although perhaps not all of the time.

Re: Ask HN: How many of you use ad blocking on most websites?

#9

Post by tokenadult » Fri, Apr 17, 2009, 2:55 AM UTC

mcav wrote: post #2

I have ClickToFlash, which almost amounts to complete ad blocking nowadays. The rest I don't mind, though I don't often see an ad worth clicking on.

Thanks for mentioning that specific brand name.

Re: Ask HN: How many of you use ad blocking on most websites?

#10

Post by nopassrecover » Fri, Apr 17, 2009, 5:30 AM UTC

Heh strange seeing people like Google ads - I tend to view them as the graffiti of the web.

They are nearly always irrelevant, have a very high proportion of spam/scam associated sellers and don't have enough information or value for me to click them.