Ethics of Ad-Blocking on the Internet

[Twisted Crow]

Ads suck. Are ad blockers worse?

Made me think about this on both sides. The revenue ads generate for content creators, yet the intrusive aspects of some of these ads.

I wanted to get to know thoughts on this from fellow Elliers?

[AmberStarfire]

I have one approach when it comes to ads and ad-blocking:

Block 'em and don't feel guilty about it.

That said, I pay for advertising for certain things of mine (newsletters, AMS etc). It doesn't stop me using an ad-blocker though.

[Tolvo]

It's generally better to support people in other ways than ad based incentives. Depending on the site and companies ads can also carry malicious programs, for that reason alone adblocker is a must have in my opinion. At the same time one should if possible find ways to support sites and people they enjoy, donating to their patreon, subscribing to them, giving them tips, even sharing links to them.

It is also something to consider that depending on where you live and your internet provider, ads will actually cut into your allowed data to use the internet, so you are in essence paying to see the ads on pages at that point.

[Callie Del Noire]

Depends on the content and aggression level. Normal ads, no big, huge scam ads that pop in while I’m reading up on a game (I’m looking at you wowhead).

Yeah, I don’t shed many tears.

[Sara Nilsson]

Depends on the content and aggression level. Normal ads, no big, huge scam ads that pop in while I’m reading up on a game (I’m looking at you wowhead).

Yeah, I don’t shed many tears.

Or like Fallout/skyrim nexus and many others with autoplaying videos.

Fuck em.

If a site has a few ads that don't bother me, Ill think of turning it off. But with so many being used to insert malicious code even that is something Ill have to ponder. Also, many many sites use ads that lead to illegal sites, game sites with clearly pirated games turned into browser games infected with malware. Why would I support a site that has those kind of ads? No I dont feel bad for one second. Ill gladly throw money directly to sites/creators I use. Wikipedia, Jim Sterling, various webcomics. And even a dollar a month is MORE than they would get from me watching the ads anyway.

[Regina Minx]

I find the concept that I have an ethical obligation to spend my time and attention watching ads dubious at best. And, in fact, the advertiser-supported model is not different, new, or unique to the Internet. Print newspapers were never subsidized by the price of the newspaper itself; journalism has always been funded by selling ad space inside the paper. Network television is totally free to the consumer with a TV and antenna, HD or otherwise, with the networks making money by selling time to advertisers to run commercials.

And yet, I doubt there's a person in the world that would tell me that I have an ethical obligation to read the ads in a newspaper, or sit through a TV commercial instead of going to the kitchen and making a cup of coffee.

[AmberStarfire]

I find the concept that I have an ethical obligation to spend my time and attention watching ads dubious at best. And, in fact, the advertiser-supported model is not different, new, or unique to the Internet. Print newspapers were never subsidized by the price of the newspaper itself; journalism has always been funded by selling ad space inside the paper. Network television is totally free to the consumer with a TV and antenna, HD or otherwise, with the networks making money by selling time to advertisers to run commercials.

And yet, I doubt there's a person in the world that would tell me that I have an ethical obligation to read the ads in a newspaper, or sit through a TV commercial instead of going to the kitchen and making a cup of coffee.

Agreed.

Life is short and time is precious. It's a waste sitting there watching ads if you've got better ways you could be spending that time.

Personally, I think ads are bad for you and your mindset too. For instance, ads are designed to be 'aspirational' and make you want things. If you're not watching all that advertising, I think you're more likely to be happy with what you have.

Something to bear in mind as well is if you see Sponsored links on Google, Facebook or Amazon, clicking those isn't useful to the people advertising - it costs them money. It could easily be $0.50 to $2.00 cost to them just for clicking that link instead of using a regular link. That's the cost of trying to get more sales for your products. That's why I only usually click those if I'm genuinely interested in whatever it is.

As for popup ads and things, even on the main sites, you see ads for things like 'free download now'. A lot of those probably have malware in them and yet they make it through. Free stuff like that isn't trustworthy anymore.