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What we break when we fix ad blocking

tonyhaile.com

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Re: What we break when we fix ad blocking

#31

Post by click170 »

lmm wrote: post #5
larrik wrote: post #2

Ad blocking is really a war between regular users and criminals, with ad networks as the battlefield (and sometimes the criminals themselves) and content producers/publishers as the civilians caught in the crossfire. It's not the users' fault that not running ad-blocking is outright dangerous and stupid, and it's not always the website operators fault that their "trusted" ad networks let terrible things through const…

Oh but it is. The publishers went to the networks because they paid better, and never wondered where they were getting their advantages from.

Couldn't agree more. The fault for the state of web advertising these days lies squarely on advertising networks that do not vet their content.

For a long time I used but did not recommend adblock to my trogladite friends and family. Sadly its gotten so bad that I've begun installing it on their machines on their behalf when they ask me for help with their computer because ad blockers are today what antivirus was 10 years ago. They're how you keep yourself safe online.

Adblock usage won't change until the networks do.

Re: What we break when we fix ad blocking

#32

Post by mordocai »

munificent wrote: post #24
bittercynic wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think good content necessarily needs to be paid for. Much of the best content on the web is created as a hobby, with no attempt to monetize, like dr-iguana.com (and countless others.) Other awesome ad-free content is created to promote retail within the same company, like sparkfun.com. It seems to me the ease of monetization with ad-networks drive ultra-low quality content like about.com, though even I must a…

> I don't think good content necessarily needs to be paid for. Much of the best content on the web is created as a hobby, with no attempt to monetize, like dr-iguana.com (and countless others.) I felt that way for a long time. I am basically living that philosophy. My blog[1] has always been free to read and free from ads. I wrote a book[2], and you can read the entire thing online for free, again with no ads. Almost…

First off, I agree with your comment. I think basic income will go a way toward solving the issues you brought up, but that's not why I commented.

I'm about to start my own Forever Project where I'm going to write a game(with no actual game programming experience) and http://gameprogrammingpatterns.com looks like an excellent book for me to read in order to try to not make some really stupid mistakes in basic architecture when starting out. Thanks!

Re: What we break when we fix ad blocking

#33

Post by jdp23 »

The condescending attitude of "users don't understand the consequences of their actions" -- which I've also seen from several other people raising red flags about the consequences of ad-blocking -- really bugs me a lot.

A different way of looking at it is that many users do understand the consequences and either disagree with the author about the likely outcomes or have a different set of priorities than the author.

Re: What we break when we fix ad blocking

#34

Post by JulianMorrison »

There is an alternative to adverts. Its real, it's here, it works. That alternative is Patreon.

In the Patreon model, you can support the creator directly, and their ability to produce content scales with that support. It's like a subscription, except you allow anyone else to free ride.

A Patreon supported site could run no ads at all and still make a stable income. It would no longer be fighting its readers to force them to view manipulative nonsense. It would no longer be answerable to pushy, content-controlling advertisers. It would have more editorial freedom, bounded only by the willingness of people to pay.

IMO the Patreon model answers all the problems of the advertising model and I'd like to see it becoming the norm.

Re: What we break when we fix ad blocking

#35

Post by sbov »

JulianMorrison wrote: post #20

This article assumes that advertisers can get more sophisticated than blockers - I don't agree. With good enough technology, any logo can be snipped out or scribbled over. Any inline, self hosted image can be recognized and removed. Perhaps in future, adblockers will comb through the text of pages and the frames of video and your hero will be drinking "soda" instead of . Heck, one of these days, I want ad blocking gl…

Ads tend to be in private spaces though. You can just see it from public space.

Another way to achieve your goal is for the glasses to render giant walls around all private spaces. All cities would look like Manhattan then.

Re: What we break when we fix ad blocking

#36

Post by burger_moon »

I'm curious now after reading the mobile gaming post that's also on the front page. If everyone paid for the content on the big news sites, would it even be more profitable than selling ads and mining user data?

How much would sites have to charge to make up for the loss of ads and user data?

Also what are the chances publishers to ever get rid of tracking and mining data?

Re: What we break when we fix ad blocking

#37

Post by briffle »

giancarlostoro wrote: post #7

My issue is with advertisements that break web pages, or slow them down dramatically. Or even worse, take up real estate on my phone, and just plain break my mobile experience further. Sometimes I forget to install an adblocker whenever I do a fresh OS install and forget just how bad things can be without an adblocker (well really my biggest peeve is pop ups, just why are they still around?) and they get worse when s…

There is a sports related web site I often read (friends link to it from facebook, and other sites I visit).. When reading it on mobile, almost the entire page will load, then my whole phone (LG G4) freezes up completely for about 8 seconds, then a full page add appears over the screen. Sometimes the "X" is in the upper right, sometimes below, etc, and if you are off even the slightest amount, you get a new chrome tab opened, to a site that also freezes up your whole phone again for a few seconds..

If it wasn't for adds the cover the whole text, I would probably not run an ad blocker (and really need to find one for android that doesn't suck)

Re: What we break when we fix ad blocking

#38

Post by civilian »

rm999 wrote: post #17
jordigh wrote: post #4

I'm going to keep repeating this because everyone seems to frame the debate in the wrong terms. Ad blocking for me is not about speed or security. Those are just nice side effects. It is also not because I do not want to pay. I don't mind paying. It is because when I'm in the middle of something I do not want to be told to pay someone else for goods I do not need. I don't care how unobtrusive it is (well, if it's onl…

>everyone seems to frame the debate in the wrong terms ... when I'm in the middle of something I do not want to be told to pay someone else for goods I do not need ... I flat out refuse consumerist society whenever possible. I don't think this is a great way to frame the debate - we've been a consumerist society full of billboards and sales people for 100s of years before the internet was even invented. There has bee…

But ad blockers are a recent innovation in controlling advertising. Billboards... you can lobby your local city or state to pass laws against obnoxious billboards, but at some point it is someone else's property, and they'll be able to put some kind of advertisement there.

Ad blockers let you edit your reality, immediately and easily. It's a big change and our historical acceptance doesn't carry over.

Re: What we break when we fix ad blocking

#39

Post by click170 »

markyc wrote: post #15

in trying to be more private we may be more transparent I think that's one thing people don't account for. once most content is behind paywalls you leave much more of a trace than on the ad-ridden web now

I don't disagree but I think an important distinction is that when you provide your credit card there is an expectation that they will be able to track you based on that.

A big problem with ad tracking these days is that its entirely out-of-site-out-of-mind, nontechy people don't expect to be tracked across the internet as much as when they buy something online with a credit card.

Re: What we break when we fix ad blocking

#40

Post by Boxbot »

harryf wrote: post #8

> If the content that best informs our thinking is increasingly only available to those willing to pay then it has troubling impacts for those living in poverty or countries for whom a $9.95 monthly subscription is out of reach. ...including children and teenagers, who are unlikely to want to get approval from their parents for everything they read

You prefer targeted advertising to and data collection from children and teenagers to having them get parental approval for what they do online?
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