I Oppose Ad Blocking - My Opinion

[ardchoille50]

Number one rule of website design: don't annoy your visitors if you want them to hang around and/or return.

I will happily whitelist any website that displays ads that are done tastefully or that do not annoy me. I see those websites doing what they can to make for an enjoyable visit, and in return I'll whitelist them so their ad impressions are maintained.

On the other hand, in-your-face animated ads, ads inside articles that break up the article content, pop-up ads that I must dismiss before continuing to read what I was previously reading, ads that use JavaScript to send me to the App Store (interrupting my visit), will get blocked. If I have to install several content blockers because a website is trying to circumvent one or two, then so be it.

To everything - turn, turn, turn
There is a season - turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose under heaven
- The Byrds

 

[JackieInCo]

I have been blocking ads since adblockers have been available and will continue to do so. If a site decides to block people using adblockers, I'll just go elsewhere. Most sites though who have tried doing that realize that it's just bad business to block them. It's why Google hasn't done so with YouTube. The Washington post site tried blocking people using blockers and stopped doing that after just a few days. My Adblock Plus blocked 22 ads on one Washington post article page alone.

Forcing people to pay money to visit with no other option is a losing game. I'll continue blocking ads forever. I even block ads in free apps on my iPhone/iPad/Android phones. I started blocking ads in apps when free apps would force me to look at a full screen ad before even getting inside the app.

The three websites that I run myself are also ad free and will always be. The hosting on them is cheap and I would rather pay the price then force people to look at ugly flashing ads.

 

[Jimmy James]

To everything - turn, turn, turn
There is a season - turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose under heaven
- The Byrds

-The Bible

 

[Noble Actual]

And its people like you that make me feel no shame in ad block.

 

[dannyyankou]

Some websites actually can only make money off ads if the ad makes its way to the user. If you have adblock on, and ads don't display on a website like Youtube for example, the views and page clicks won't count and they won't make money from visiting the website. So I agree.

 

[Gunplay]

Ads can FOAD and if sites can't survive without shoving massive flashing seizure inducing ads in my face then they can FOAD too. There will always be another site to get my info/news from.

 

[super chimp]

I present the OP the following example of why I support ad blocking. Recently I visited a mainstream website which because of its infestation of full motion ads on every page in a matter of 30 minutes destroyed 40% of my battery life & absorbed some 500MB of my data allowance. If the OP really thinks that's acceptable then please come & pay my mobile bill.

Also I stopped using that site because of the ads so it was a completely self defeating move by the website. I can see the argument that sites do need ads unfortunately there is an increasing number who appear to be crossing the line in this respect.

 

[dogslobber]

Good riddance to ads. I block 100% of ads except for a couple. If that causes websites to die then so be it. I simply don't care. But as somebody commented, ad hawkers will get creative. E.g. While apple blocks in Safari then that probably won't apply to iOS apps so you'll see less and less content on webpages with exclusive content moving to iOS apps where ads are forced on you.

For that you can't win unless you block at the router like I do.

 

[chatbr]

I am a bit late to the party, but I hope you take your time to read my opinion, which involves a bit more of what others have already mentioned.

Do you remember the days that people thought FLASH was so important that everybody decided to criticize Apple's decision on not allowing FLASH content at all in their browser? Lets make a recap.
The internet was bloated with FLASH content. Every website was not designed to support small mobile screens and their content was horrible to browse. FLASH not only would slow down performance and load times or the already slow websites, but also drain battery and increase data usage. The ones that thought FLASH was too important to be dropped ended up moving to Android devices or wait until the alternative browsers to pop in App Store. Developers probably made a fortune out of those people that demanded FLASH on browsers and would be happy to have slower loading times.

Looking at it now, Apple pushed (most of) the website developers to adapt. Create mobile websites that was easier to navigate and browse content on smaller screens, increasing loading times. Not only that, but also pushing websites to create mobile apps to access those websites' contents in a better way. Almost all websites I browse today either have a mobile version or an App for it.

Please ask around how many people miss FLASH on their mobile device now and how many are downloading alternative web browsers to see content they need.

Lets look at the current ad situation on mobiles:

- Websites that are not adapted to the mobile browser. Some ads that pop on screen and there is no way to remove because they load the desktop version and you cant browse it correctly.
- Websites that have more ads than actual content. ( wasted bandwidth )
- Websites that force you to do anything with the ad itself before being allowed to see the content.
- Websites that show ads that have nothing related with the user nor the information the website provides.
- Ads that track user information or redirect them to other websites/force pop ups.

Lets face it, no one likes those websites. And if those websites failed to see to this point how bad this is for their users, they deserve what they are getting. WHITELISTING MUST BE INCLUDED WITH ALL ADBLOCKS because some websites do it correctly and you should be allowed to support their work. All other websites either will adapt ( making their website better or making Apps to access their content and use iAds to profit ) or eventually will lose their revenue/users.

In the end, all Apple did was provide extensions on Safari, and of course, the adblock was one of the firsts to come. Indirectly Apple will help the internet to adapt to a new era where people need to make ads attractive and smart, not push content into people's face and expect them to accept.

 

[AFEPPL]

Block them all I say... More the better.
Even on videos and YouTube you have to sit through their crap. If I want something I'll buy it, I don't need to be told I need it.

 

[jnpy!$4g3cwk]

I’m not a publisher, an advertiser, a journalist, or a website owner or manager. I’m just an average internet user. When I first learned about ad blocking in iOS 9 I was excited but after the excitement wore off I had a reality check moment. I thought about the consequences of blocking ads and what it could do to free online content and websites that do not deserve to be blocked if ad blocking goes mainstream and adapted by everyone. We all hate intrusive, tracking ads but it’s a small price to pay in exchange for keeping the internet free and open

How are intrusive tracking ads keeping the internet "free and open"? And, no, intrusive tracking ads are not a small price to pay.

Taking a broader view, static ads that don't blink and don't steal your personal data don't bother me -- the eye skips over the ads that don't interest me. But, I seriously object to trackers, and, blinking ads are just stupid and boring, and I would never ever go buy something from some company because I saw their blinking flashing idiotic ad.

with content we enjoy reading and watching when we visit our favorite websites everyday. I do not have nor do I plan to install any ad blocking apps on my iPhone, iMac, or MacBook Pro. Ad blocking will hurt everyone in the long run and it will have a bad domino effect. You know the old saying, "For Every Action There's a Reaction." By blocking ads we will contribute to the slow demise of websites and the internet by jumping on the mob mentality bandwagon. We all deserve a safe and annoyance-free browsing experience but this is not the way to do it, with brute force using a blunt instrument. I agree with Marco Arment and his decision. Lets keep our favorite websites such as this one open for business. I welcome your comments.

I disagree. There are good ways to do ads, and, bad ways. We need to stamp out the bad ways.

 

[GrumpyTrucker]

You know the old saying, "For Every Action There's a Reaction."

I think the saying was "for every action there's an equal and opposite reaction"* and my opinion is that ad blockers are the reaction to the original action of intrusive, overbearing ads and trackers. Things have got way out of control to the point where on some sites you can barely find the content in amongst banner ads, interstitial ads, inter paragraph ads and the like. Yes, there may be some short term pain for some sites, but maybe they'll rethink their ad model and make the web a better place for us all, users, and advertisers alike.

I said it on another thread - until now only iOS users have been unable to block these ads, so ask yourself this: have we been targeted as the only group who have no choice to put up with this obnoxious content?

* Not really a saying as such but a paraphrasing of Newton's third law of motion (sorry, it's all I remember from high school physics )

 

[Supermallet]

I’m not a publisher, an advertiser, a journalist, or a website owner or manager. I’m just an average internet user. When I first learned about ad blocking in iOS 9 I was excited but after the excitement wore off I had a reality check moment. I thought about the consequences of blocking ads and what it could do to free online content and websites that do not deserve to be blocked if ad blocking goes mainstream and adapted by everyone. We all hate intrusive, tracking ads but it’s a small price to pay in exchange for keeping the internet free and open with content we enjoy reading and watching when we visit our favorite websites everyday. I do not have nor do I plan to install any ad blocking apps on my iPhone, iMac, or MacBook Pro. Ad blocking will hurt everyone in the long run and it will have a bad domino effect. You know the old saying, "For Every Action There's a Reaction." By blocking ads we will contribute to the slow demise of websites and the internet by jumping on the mob mentality bandwagon. We all deserve a safe and annoyance-free browsing experience but this is not the way to do it, with brute force using a blunt instrument. I agree with Marco Arment and his decision. Lets keep our favorite websites such as this one open for business. I welcome your comments.

The internet had free content before we had intrusive tracking ads that ruined our internet going experience. Ad blocking was a long time coming and the companies that peddle these awful ads deserve every bad thing coming to them.

Also, here's the thing. No one is forcing you to use ad blockers, but even now on iOS ad blockers aren't all or nothing. Even an app like Crystal, which is just on/off, can be superseded by holding down the refresh button in the Safari address bar. This will bring up two options: Request desktop site and reload without content blockers. That puts the power in our hands, even when using an app without a whitelist option.

Some people will use ad blockers on all sites. Others will pick and choose what sites to allow ads on. Others still won't even know it's an option or won't care and won't use the blockers. The best thing about it to me is that it's giving us options and it's starting a conversation. Until now, ads on websites on your iPhone were an unavoidable given, and publishers got greedy. Now it's not a given and it's going to hurt some people, but it's also going to make some others get creative and HOPEFULLY less intrusive.

If the internet was initially like the Wild West, now it's more like the Industrial Age. We've got these robber barons who are siphoning up our data for their own personal use. We need some protections, and shouldn't just roll over and take the abuse.

 

[bushido]

i for one am glad i no longer have to put up with those damn CLASH OF THE TITANS ads that redirect me to the app store constantly instead of letting me read the actual site i am trying to access. it has gotten out of control

 

[phillytim]

I’m not a publisher, an advertiser, a journalist, or a website owner or manager. I’m just an average internet user. When I first learned about ad blocking in iOS 9 I was excited but after the excitement wore off I had a reality check moment. I thought about the consequences of blocking ads and what it could do to free online content and websites that do not deserve to be blocked if ad blocking goes mainstream and adapted by everyone. We all hate intrusive, tracking ads but it’s a small price to pay in exchange for keeping the internet free and open with content we enjoy reading and watching when we visit our favorite websites everyday. I do not have nor do I plan to install any ad blocking apps on my iPhone, iMac, or MacBook Pro. Ad blocking will hurt everyone in the long run and it will have a bad domino effect. You know the old saying, "For Every Action There's a Reaction." By blocking ads we will contribute to the slow demise of websites and the internet by jumping on the mob mentality bandwagon. We all deserve a safe and annoyance-free browsing experience but this is not the way to do it, with brute force using a blunt instrument. I agree with Marco Arment and his decision. Lets keep our favorite websites such as this one open for business. I welcome your comments.

Well then, publishers better quickly learn to give us more reserved, unobtrusive ads like "The Deck" does. Then perhaps this situation wouldn't have happened and their outrageous ads wouldn't be so quickly blocked by people such as myself.

 

[t0mat0]

I’m not a publisher, an advertiser, a journalist, or a website owner or manager. I’m just an average internet user. When I first learned about ad blocking in iOS 9 I was excited but after the excitement wore off I had a reality check moment. I thought about the consequences of blocking ads and what it could do to free online content and websites that do not deserve to be blocked if ad blocking goes mainstream and adapted by everyone. We all hate intrusive, tracking ads but it’s a small price to pay in exchange for keeping the internet free and open with content we enjoy reading and watching when we visit our favorite websites everyday. I do not have nor do I plan to install any ad blocking apps on my iPhone, iMac, or MacBook Pro. Ad blocking will hurt everyone in the long run and it will have a bad domino effect. You know the old saying, "For Every Action There's a Reaction." By blocking ads we will contribute to the slow demise of websites and the internet by jumping on the mob mentality bandwagon. We all deserve a safe and annoyance-free browsing experience but this is not the way to do it, with brute force using a blunt instrument. I agree with Marco Arment and his decision. Lets keep our favorite websites such as this one open for business. I welcome your comments.

Just wondering - do you have a spam filter?

 

[0007776]

I would never ever go buy something from some company because I saw their blinking flashing idiotic ad.

There have been things in the past that I was considering buying and then I saw a really annoying ad for it and decided to find something else to use instead. There also have been the rare times that I was looking for a specific type of thing and I saw a well done as that got me to look more at their product and go with it.

 

[gaanee]

I don't have issues with unobtrusive ads on sites which I find useful and often read. Ad block is meant for those few sites which you have to visit or redirected, and it just bombards with ads all over and you have to figure out which one is the real content and which one is ad blocking the center of the screen.
But then, once enabled, ad block stays on sites you read and want to support. I think they get punished because of other sites. but tracking without permission is a no no for all sites.

 

[Diego F.]

Well, if you remember a few years ago, popup windows were a constant nightmare. Pop-up blocking in browsers were generalized then and advertisers change the way of ads, being more respectful.

We are suffering the same problems now. I hate loading a website and having my whole screen occupied with an ad with a tiny close button that is almost impossible to click and many times it takes you to the App Store. I'm using a blocker in my iPad Air and I'm planning to get an iPhone 6S where I'd do the same.

 

[LordQ]

I am using Weblock since the 4S does not support content blocking, but God, it's a much cleaner experience everywhere.

Also, only one, one time in my life I've found an useful ad and most of the times they are from the bloody government here so yeah, **** ads

 

[MistrSynistr]

What happened here is sites on the free information highway one day decided they could get filthy rich off of ad marketing and are now simply too deep into the money they're receiving to alter course.

They are not going to tell Jeep to remove their splash page fold down automatic video because their users can't stand it. Jeep will tell them to piss up a rope and just simply not pay for space any longer.

This is where content/ad blockers come in. If it forces a site to re-evaluate their plan of attack so be it, but mostly it's to block the b.s. cluttering our screens we will never click on, nor buy.

 

[CheMillan]

I’m not a publisher, an advertiser, a journalist, or a website owner or manager. I’m just an average internet user. When I first learned about ad blocking in iOS 9 I was excited but after the excitement wore off I had a reality check moment. I thought about the consequences of blocking ads and what it could do to free online content and websites that do not deserve to be blocked if ad blocking goes mainstream and adapted by everyone. We all hate intrusive, tracking ads but it’s a small price to pay in exchange for keeping the internet free and open with content we enjoy reading and watching when we visit our favorite websites everyday. I do not have nor do I plan to install any ad blocking apps on my iPhone, iMac, or MacBook Pro. Ad blocking will hurt everyone in the long run and it will have a bad domino effect. You know the old saying, "For Every Action There's a Reaction." By blocking ads we will contribute to the slow demise of websites and the internet by jumping on the mob mentality bandwagon. We all deserve a safe and annoyance-free browsing experience but this is not the way to do it, with brute force using a blunt instrument. I agree with Marco Arment and his decision. Lets keep our favorite websites such as this one open for business. I welcome your comments.

From all the responses I've been getting it looks like I have the minority opinion in opposing ad blocking. My safety and privacy on the internet is very important just like everyone else. This whole Users-Under-Siege from ads is a big monumental out of control mess with no easy fix. Currently ad blocking is an all-or-nothing nuclear approach. What we need is a better more elegant solution so that everyone benefits. Just to be clear I'm NOT in support for advertisers, I don't give a hoot about ads but it pays the bills for websites who depend on ads revenue.

 

[0007776]

From all the responses I've been getting it looks like I have the minority opinion in opposing ad blocking. My safety and privacy on the internet is very important just like everyone else. This whole Users-Under-Siege from ads is a big monumental out of control mess with no easy fix. Currently ad blocking is an all-or-nothing nuclear approach. What we need is a better more elegant solution so that everyone benefits. Just to be clear I'm NOT in support for advertisers, I don't give a hoot about ads but it pays the bills for websites who depend on ads revenue.

Adblocking isn't an all or nothing approach at least with some programs, for example I block ads most places, but here on macrumors I allow them through as they haven't abused them yet and usually if there are annoying ads that sneak through then they get rid of them once they are brought to the admin's attention.

 

[Supermallet]

From all the responses I've been getting it looks like I have the minority opinion in opposing ad blocking. My safety and privacy on the internet is very important just like everyone else. This whole Users-Under-Siege from ads is a big monumental out of control mess with no easy fix. Currently ad blocking is an all-or-nothing nuclear approach. What we need is a better more elegant solution so that everyone benefits. Just to be clear I'm NOT in support for advertisers, I don't give a hoot about ads but it pays the bills for websites who depend on ads revenue.

I already told you the solution to this. If you like a site, hold down the reload button in the safari address bar and click on "reload without content blockers". Now the sites you want to support will get the ad revenue.

 

[Frosties]

Love adblock, hate autoplay video-ads with sound. Die Die Die.