I use AdBlock. In addition, I use Safari's "Reader" feature which shows the article without ads (but still downloads the ads and thus gives credit to the site creator for eyeballs on ads). This seems reasonable to me since I have literally never in 20 years of browsing the web intentionally clicked on any ad ever.
Poll: Do you use an ad-blocker?
31–40 of 102 posts
Re: Poll: Do you use an ad-blocker?
#32I used to, but then I thought about some of the sites I use with great regularity that are supported by unobtrusive ads, a few of which are interesting to me. I'd hate to reduce their income and contribute to their eventual disappearance; it's worth a few ads to have them stick around.
Sites with obtrusive, annoying ads? Well, I suppose I still use Facebook, but usually they help me avoid content-weak, ad-heavy trash.
Re: Poll: Do you use an ad-blocker?
#33Yes, because I'm pro users rights. I don't believe people should be forced to look at (or sit through 30+second) ads for things they don't want or need, that are bad for them, or that perpetuate unhealthy stereotypes or behavior. People can choose those messages on their own through whatever media they seek out, but it shouldn't be compulsory.
Aside from that, there are too many other ways to monetize in 2014, and this is only growing. I use Ghostery, Disconnect and original AdBlock (getadblock.com) not AdBlock Plus, which has a semi-extortionist ad program that actually showed me ads without realizing it.
If you answered "No" but use Chrome (and probably other modern browsers), you may not realize that it already automatically blocks pop-up ads for you, so to some extent you are already using an AdBlocker. Ads haven't gotten much less annoying than they were in 2008, the browsers just hate them as much as you do.
Re: Poll: Do you use an ad-blocker?
#34Is there any good solution for blocking ads on iOS? Many sites are flat out unusable on my iPhone thanks to the obnoxious ads that take more screen real estate than the content
It's not an ad blocker per se, but the "Reader" feature is awesome. It still downloads the ads, but will display the important content from most sites without them, and in a legible font. It's the icon in the address bar that looks like greeked text. Click it, and it will go into "Reader" mode.
Re: Poll: Do you use an ad-blocker?
#35All of my personal browsers have an adblocker installed. I whitelist sites like Ars or Reddit. I do not use an adblocker at work (web dev), I need to see the real-deal all the time. Try using weather.com with and without an ad blocker.
I just tried it on the weather.com homepage, and it was actually pretty good (though I have no sound... if they have autoplay sound on then I would block them). Looks like 3 ads on the right-hand side which honestly merge on the background, but you can distinctly tell that it's an ad
Re: Poll: Do you use an ad-blocker?
#36I'm this kind of person full of contradictions. I like free stuff, but I hate ads.
I'm still waiting for an other business model to emerge but, easier said than done.
Re: Poll: Do you use an ad-blocker?
#37Used ad blockers for so long that I forgot about animated ads or things hindering content. But then I read: https://blog.mozilla.org/nnethercote/2014/05/14/adblock-plus...
So I have disabled it now and do see a performance improvement. I'll keep researching this to find the optimal solution.
Flash and other plugins are set to click to play though.
Re: Poll: Do you use an ad-blocker?
#38I used to, but then I thought about some of the sites I use with great regularity that are supported by unobtrusive ads, a few of which are interesting to me. I'd hate to reduce their income and contribute to their eventual disappearance; it's worth a few ads to have them stick around. Sites with obtrusive, annoying ads? Well, I suppose I still use Facebook, but usually they help me avoid content-weak, ad-heavy trash…
Do sites get money when they show ads but nobody clicks on them? Or are most ads today only paid if a user clicks on them?
Also, do you feel compelled to watch ads on TV when you have the option of fast-forwarding through them? If not, why is the web different? Just curious - I'm seriously not trying to be inflammatory.
Re: Poll: Do you use an ad-blocker?
#39I used to use Ghostery and AdBlock but it slowed Chrome to a halt.
Re: Poll: Do you use an ad-blocker?
#40Yes, but purely for performance reasons. Ghostery and ABP have drastically improved page load times and reduced resource usage on Chrome. Before I installed ABP, chrome would have a seriously hard time rendering many news sites.