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The Devastating Effect of Ad-Blockers for Guru3D.com

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Re: The Devastating Effect of Ad-Blockers for Guru3D.com

#261

Post by malchow »

njharman wrote: post #84

If your business model requires changes to reality, then your business model is probably dead. [If you have lobbying power, you can extend your business model for awhile, perhaps indefinitely ala content industry and copyright.] In other words, adapt your business model to change or die. It's not up to "reality", us, to change to support your business model. If there is demand for whatever you produce, someone will c…

Are you writing about Napster or Ad Blockers? (Seriously; can you articulate a principled differentiation on which your argument legitimates ad blockers but properly censures Napster?)

Re: The Devastating Effect of Ad-Blockers for Guru3D.com

#262

Post by bigbugbag »

jfoutz wrote: post #4
sunni2sunni wrote: post #2

well nkurz pull the plug before it is too late. ads suck, no one ever wants to look at them.

Eh, a better approach is probably to just detect adblock and put up a "please don't use adblock/donate here button". Maybe lightbox you from time to time asking for the same.

Don't we already have adblock detector detector technology that remove those banners ?

Re: The Devastating Effect of Ad-Blockers for Guru3D.com

#263

Post by shabble »

hughperkins wrote: post #60
hcon wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If the only revenue stream you can rely on is ads, > then probably there is a problem with the stuff you > offer not being valuable enough to people. Not quite. What people are willing to pay for has a large social/cultural/conditioned element. It's a crux of the entire problem. The vast majority of people still attribute zero cost to ads. When you start charging $1 for your offering, now you're the one site among…

So what they should do is, what Android apps do: - when you first go to the website, you get the ad-infested website - you can pay for the app, and now, no more ads. In Android apps, the amount tends to be crazy low, like less than a cup of coffee. Pay that and get no ads is a no-brainer really...

This assumes the app isn't ransacking your device for as much personal or saleable information it can find, in addition to the nominal purchase fee.

Information leakage between sites and apps on mobile no doubt varies wildly based on your configuration and willingness to accept apps requesting outrageous permissions, but I'd suspect web-apps to be easier to protect yourself from, as a user.

Re: The Devastating Effect of Ad-Blockers for Guru3D.com

#264

Post by jessaustin »

ac29 wrote: post #77
microtonal wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think we really, really need cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin. Or just something where I could pay, say 10 Euro per year, and every website that participates gets a fraction to my number of visits or reading time. As far as I understand, Google is trying to do this. But it does not provide a 'no ads' guarantee and there are other ad networks with even more obnoxious ads.

> Or just something where I could pay, say 10 Euro per year, and every website that participates gets a fraction to my number of visits or reading time. The problem with this is you must allow a third party to track every page visit and/or page view time, which is unacceptable to many people that use ad blockers. If you are OK with persistent, pervasive tracking, I think this is probably the best solution.

You've described the situation pretty accurately here I think. I wonder, though. What if a browser extension generated tokens and stuck them in headers, and then sites sent those tokens on to the central authority after some appropriate transformation? It seems possible to set it up so the central authority would have enough information to remunerate sites without having enough information to know what users are doing.

Re: The Devastating Effect of Ad-Blockers for Guru3D.com

#265

Post by intrasight »

rasz_pl wrote: post #250
intrasight wrote: post #113

I use uBlock Origin. I don't block ads - I block 3rd party requests. People that complain about ad blocking are indeed missing the mark. I'm fine with ads - really. But if you want them seen, you are going to have to serve them yourself. There is no going backwards - for reasons spelled out by others in this thread. So if your business depends on ads, then you are in the ad business. Web sites are going to have to be…

You describe patronage, sponsored content, product placement. Hey, this gpu shootout brought to you by Nvidia, and ASUS!

Yes. Just as it is now true with other media (TV, Radio, Magazines) it is also true of the web - and largely for the same reasons.

Re: The Devastating Effect of Ad-Blockers for Guru3D.com

#266

Post by bigbugbag »

67726e wrote: post #91
JupiterMoon wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. The security argument would be more analogous to a hypothetical situation whereby listening to legally purchased CDs occasionally resulted in you house keys or credit card details being distributed to criminals.

Or, you know, that time Sony installed a rootkit from music CDs.

Funny thing those were not actuals CDs, Philips asked Sony to stop using the official CD logo on those infected discs or face a lawsuit.

Re: The Devastating Effect of Ad-Blockers for Guru3D.com

#267

Post by hardwaresofton »

While there's obviously nothing wrong with directly asking users to not adblock guru3d, the long-term solution is definitely to find another business model.

I'm not a regular reader of Guru3D, but would it be a stretch to imagine that the community would willingly pay $1 a month to see the content you put on the site? Maybe you can shuffle only people with adblockers to the paid version of the site, and allow people with ads to view for free.

Re: The Devastating Effect of Ad-Blockers for Guru3D.com

#268

Post by bigbugbag »

sputr wrote: post #17
rewqfdsa wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> detect adblock One does not simply "detect adblock". Browsers are user agents. They run code in an environment optimized for user safety and convenience. These environments will always be able to tell your site's server- and client-side code exactly what it wants to hear while showing something different to the user. You can't stop it. The client will always win. We may eventually get to the point where clients use…

Actually, it can (and is routinely) done. https://github.com/brockwhittaker/Detect-Adblockers

Except this will be blocked by script blockers such as noscript which used to #1 most downloaded extension for firefox.

Re: The Devastating Effect of Ad-Blockers for Guru3D.com

#269

Post by rasz_pl »

nekopa wrote: post #89

Can anyone here tell me how much a site like Guru3D makes if I visit and read one article? Is it like a fraction of a cent?

This is a good point and destroys any kind of discussion about micro transactions for me. Micro transactions are NEVER micro. You dont see free games asking you to buy $0.1 worth of gold, they want $10. The same would happen if guru3D wanted to charge individual users. NYTimes made maybe 0.1 out of every user visiting them, but switching to subscription model they milk ~$12 per month minimum.

Re: The Devastating Effect of Ad-Blockers for Guru3D.com

#270

Post by intrasight »

dikaiosune wrote: post #139
intrasight wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just looked at the guru3d site. The content is the ad - there's no need to add more ads. You just need to monetize the "ads" you already have. You are promoting these products. Negotiate with the vendor or reseller directly to get your fair share.

That would have a deleterious effect on the editorial independence of their content, I imagine.

Yes it will. But if they are ad supported in the gaming hardware niche then they probably never had independence.
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