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

It’s OK to block ads (2015)

blog.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 114 posts

Re: It’s OK to block ads (2015)

#51

Post by ndriscoll »

cm2012 wrote: post #33
martin-t wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Out of curiosity, how do you feel working on something that is zero-sum (does not produce positive value for society, only changes where the money goes)? Would you change jobs if a positive-sum job became available? And to risk being seen as preaching, have you read https://drewdevault.com/2025/04/20/2025-04-20-Tech-sector-re... ?

It produces a lot of value when products are actually used as opposed to unused

It's easy to find plenty of counterexamples: cigarettes, Teflon pans, soda, cheap children's clothing with elevated lead, etc. And that's before we get into crypto scams, MLM schemes, etc.

Re: It’s OK to block ads (2015)

#52

Post by al_borland »

charcircuit wrote: post #26
al_borland wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To take this a step further, I have had people argue with me that tracking and profiling online is a good thing, because it provides more relevant ads for things they want to buy. There are people who actively want ads that can better target and manipulate them into giving up their money. I would like to say I've only run into one person like this, but no. I've lost count of how many of these people I've run into. I…

People paying money for things is a win win situation. People are not just "manipulated into giving up their money", they get something they value more than money in return.

The advertisements convince them it is something they value. Most of what people buy becomes clutter and trash almost instantly.

A lot of this stuff is being purchased with debt. People aren’t happy about their debt, their inability to buy a house, or all the clutter that consumes their home. Yet, in the moment, they are led to believe that a Labubu is what they really desire. It’s not.

Re: It’s OK to block ads (2015)

#53

Post by ndriscoll »

shortrounddev2 wrote: post #22
martin-t wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Out of curiosity, how do you feel working on something that is zero-sum (does not produce positive value for society, only changes where the money goes)? Would you change jobs if a positive-sum job became available? And to risk being seen as preaching, have you read https://drewdevault.com/2025/04/20/2025-04-20-Tech-sector-re... ?

I work in retail media. There is a large difference in the kind of value we capture - rather than creating incentives for annoying or addictive behavior, we only show advertisements on ecommerce pages. If you are seeing our ads, you already have the intent to buy a kind of product, but the kinds of ads we show are trying to convince you to buy a specific brand of product. Perhaps you searched "laptops". You see a han…

If you're taking money from X to try to push people to buy X instead of saying "our honest opinion is that Y is the best-value product and we recommend it" and putting that front and center, it's safe to say that you are manipulating people. The non-manipulative use of that real estate is showcasing high value products such that you feel it reflects well on your business to point them out. If they were organically there already, they wouldn't need to pay you.

Re: It’s OK to block ads (2015)

#54

Post by charcircuit »

martin-t wrote: post #48
charcircuit wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Connecting people with goods or services they may find valuable provides a positive value to society.

Products should compete on their cost vs value for the customer, not on which is better known. Yes, advertisements make customers aware of a particular category of product but by pushing one specific brand instead of the whole category. I would OK with advertisements which push the whole category, that is positive-sum. But currently we have an arms race where you have to invest in ads to compete with other products o…

>I would OK with advertisements which push the whole category, that is positive-sum.

This doesn't get rid of people buying what is most well known. In fact without the possibility of being exposed to more niche options people will just go with the incumbents. Advertising allows new competitors in a space to be able to acquire customers based off their value for customers instead of being a wellknown thing.

Re: It’s OK to block ads (2015)

#55

Post by waste_monk »

busymom0 wrote: post #42
JdeBP wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And a year or so later, the article's author went on to write this: * https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108453004

What is it? The website doesn't say much other than the name of the book.

It's an open access book, you should have a "open full book pdf" button (a couple down from the blue "export citation" button).

I haven't the time to read it myself at the moment, but the gist appears to be about "attention economy" and how technology affects our lives. There's a blurb and some discussion on goodreads [1].

[1] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38364667-stand-out-of-ou...

Re: It’s OK to block ads (2015)

#56

Post by bee_rider »

honeybadger1 wrote: post #45

every website that stops me from viewing it because i am blocking ads will never get a visit from me again. i don't watch television because of unavoidable advertisements. i will never accept advertisements as anything other than deception.

I have a lot more respect for pages that block me outright than those that try to circumvent my blocking or whine about it.

The standard on the internet is that people send what they want and the recipients render it however they want. That’s how it’s always been, and how it always will be. That includes the possibility that they won’t want to send me anything. But once it is sent, it is my bits in my RAM, to do with what I will.

Re: It’s OK to block ads (2015)

#57

Post by nrds »

shortrounddev2 wrote: post #22
martin-t wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Out of curiosity, how do you feel working on something that is zero-sum (does not produce positive value for society, only changes where the money goes)? Would you change jobs if a positive-sum job became available? And to risk being seen as preaching, have you read https://drewdevault.com/2025/04/20/2025-04-20-Tech-sector-re... ?

I work in retail media. There is a large difference in the kind of value we capture - rather than creating incentives for annoying or addictive behavior, we only show advertisements on ecommerce pages. If you are seeing our ads, you already have the intent to buy a kind of product, but the kinds of ads we show are trying to convince you to buy a specific brand of product. Perhaps you searched "laptops". You see a han…

This is the worst kind of advertisement.

Other ads just take up screen space and bandwidth: they displace more useful uses of these scarce resources, but they don't cause any direct harm. By contrast, ads targeting people in the market for a good or service actively displace quality signals. In doing so they make quality uneconomical and thus destroy it. They make the world a worse place.

Re: It’s OK to block ads (2015)

#58

Post by j780 »

nosioptar wrote: post #32
shortrounddev2 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to subscribe to the washington post before the most recent election. Im willing to pay for the content I see or read, but I can't possibly pay for ALL the content that crosses my vision. Like streaming services, I used to have just one, and now there are like 100. If I paid for every show I watched I'd be paying over $100/mo in streaming services. Now I pay for NPR'S premium subscription. If every writer on th…

I'd love a Netflix for newspapers. I'd pay to be able to read a bunch of local papers' content if the site was good.

Get a library card! My local library card includes free digital access to newspapers " from 100 countries in 60 languages" as well as streaming video, audiobooks etc. They also have a makerspace with 3d printing, green screen, recording studios, video games, tool rental etc. all at low or no cost. I let my card expire but I see it's still free in my city.

Re: It’s OK to block ads (2015)

#59

Post by freeopinion »

shortrounddev2 wrote: post #27
moritzwarhier wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe they lost sleep over it, thinking Wait, these people are clearly not just saying: Do Not Track me, they're also saying: Don't show me ads! Which is a demand that any ad-tech company must take very seriously! We can't ignore the privacy implications of our ad networks. We better avoid any such privacy concerns and comply with the user's expressed priorities.

That's exactly how the meeting went. The CTO agreed that the best thing we can do is help comply with user's wishes about ads and privacy as best we can, so we are in the process of adding our domains to the block lists of common ad blockers

I'm beginning to suspect there isn't even a princess in your version of the story.

Re: It’s OK to block ads (2015)

#60

Post by lelandbatey »

Applying ads to the real world makes it clear: blocking ads is always ok.

If you were given free pizza and a stack of ad flyers, do you have to read the ads? Do you have to even acknowledge them? Can you accept the free food while putting the flyers directly in the trash?

Obviously yes you would toss those ads in the garbage, because what fool would give away food and expect you to look at ads in exchange? So it is with ads online: their business model is not your responsibility and you can ignore stuff (even automatically) if you want, they're your eyes.

Post reply on HN