Why is there so much hostility over ad blockers?

It's not as if this is a new concept... Ever since advertising arrived people have sought ways to avoid it. Yes, I understand that some websites rely on the revenue generated from their ads. Yes, I understand that some websites would shut down if everyone used ad blockers. But there's no reasonable justification for banners such as these, and no reasonable outrage about "killing a site". You can always implement something to ban clients using adblock, if you're sufficiently cylever. (Though there would probably be a workaround if your site was popular..)

Anyway, the rage over adblockers is almost equivalent to the rage over ads. I have no problems with ads themselves, but I prefer not to see them, so I use AdBlock Plus. I recently had the joy of browsing Youtube without AdBlock, and it amazed me how the rest of the internet puts up with all those ads. Youtube was nearly unusable for me.

What advertisers should realize is that we users are under no obligation to even look at ads, let alone click them, and there's nothing wrong with the internet equivalent of muting, turning off, or changing channels on the t.v. during commercials. And what users should realize is that advertisers aren't obligated to give you free content, nor are they obligated to treat ad blockers with the same respect as non ad blockers. If a site that survived on ads dies because everyone blocks the ads, and the owners can't make money through other means, was it really that important in the first place? Are people so focused on profit that they'll put a paywall up if ads don't work? My estimates lean heavily in the "No" direction.

So by all means, try to advertise. Just don't expect me to even look at them.

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Posted on 2010-09-13 by Jach

Tags: thought

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