On the topic of ad blockers

Texashiker

Lifer
Dec 18, 2010
18,811
198
106
Destructoid posted an article saying around half their traffic uses ad blocker.

http://www.destructoid.com/half-of-destructoid-s-readers-block-our-ads-now-what--247904.phtml

A lot of people here promote ad blockers. Are the people who run ad blockers willing to work twice as hard to make the same amount of money?

If you run ad blocker, and your boss told you you were going to have to work 80 hours a week because your pay was going to be cut in half, how do you think you would feel?
 

Pheran

Diamond Member
Apr 26, 2001
5,740
35
91
It's easy enough to disable them on the domains you care about supporting. I've got mine disabled for AT.
 

ShawnD1

Lifer
May 24, 2003
15,987
2
81
Sympathy not found. Companies fucked up by accepting money for ads that were malicious. Ads would generate new windows, create fake errors, resize windows, move windows, crash windows, or make the page unreadable. Some pages have so many gif and flash ads that I can't view the page on my laptop without major screen tearing.

You've brought this on yourselves. You accepted money for ads that were intolerable, then you cry when people block those ads. If ads were just simple images that didn't lag or crash the browser, most of us would not be using adblock.
 

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
59,401
9,925
126
Guess how many shits I give? I don't care about ads per se. If they were just advertising a product, I'd leave them alone. As it stands hijacked adservers serve up malware, and trackers follow you around the web. That being the case, ads are verboten on my system.
 

mmntech

Lifer
Sep 20, 2007
17,501
12
0
People started using ad blockers when online ads became obnoxious. Same reason why all browsers come with popup blockers. Remember popups, what a delight. Oh you're reading that news article, lets put a huge flash popup in the middle of the screen because I think you really need a new Camry. Or worse the videos with the 30 second unskippable ads at the beginning.

Ironically, my company's revenue is made from advertising so technically I am one of those people who makes their salary off them. I think a lot of people use them though because they're sick of being bombarded 24/7, wherever they go.
 

Texashiker

Lifer
Dec 18, 2010
18,811
198
106
Sympathy not found. Companies fucked up by accepting money for ads that were malicious. Ads would generate new windows, create fake errors, resize windows, move windows, crash windows, or make the page unreadable. Some pages have so many gif and flash ads that I can't view the page on my laptop without major screen tearing.

You are grouping all sites together, and that is not fair to sites who try to keep things nice for the visitor.

Even google was conned into running malicious ads a few times. Because of that all sites should be punished?
 

Anubis

No Lifer
Aug 31, 2001
78,712
427
126
tbqhwy.com
Sympathy not found. Companies fucked up by accepting money for ads that were malicious. Ads would generate new windows, create fake errors, resize windows, move windows, crash windows, or make the page unreadable. Some pages have so many gif and flash ads that I can't view the page on my laptop without major screen tearing.

You've brought this on yourselves. You accepted money for ads that were intolerable, then you cry when people block those ads. If ads were just simple images that didn't lag or crash the browser, most of us would not be using adblock.

well said
 

nehalem256

Lifer
Apr 13, 2012
15,669
8
0
I started running adblock after I sited I visited would get stuck displaying only half the page while it waited for the ad to load.
 

child of wonder

Diamond Member
Aug 31, 2006
8,307
176
106
How many of you use that signal blocking chip to prevent ads from being broadcast directly into the neural interface device that links to your cerebral cortex? Now the ad makers have to work twice as hard.

You bastards.
 

bonkers325

Lifer
Mar 9, 2000
13,076
1
0
Most ads I see now fall into the following category:

1. really bright colors with flashing text/background
2. is a video ad that you cannot turn off
3. is a scam ad, i.e. "MOM DISCOVERS BRILLIANT WAY TO REDUCE DEBT USING THIS ONE SIMPLE TRICK!!!!!"
4. it pops up and takes over your screen whenever you mouse over it

At this point, ads are just a distraction and an annoyance and that is why they get disabled.
 

CycloWizard

Lifer
Sep 10, 2001
12,348
1
81
You are grouping all sites together, and that is not fair to sites who try to keep things nice for the visitor.

Even google was conned into running malicious ads a few times. Because of that all sites should be punished?
You're naive. Who is going to go through site-by-site to verify that the ads served by one site are ok? No one - it's totally impractical.
 

crashtestdummy

Platinum Member
Feb 18, 2010
2,893
0
0
The whole ad landscape that is currently supporting most of the internet feels like a bubble that's going to burst. It's too easy to remove them, and I can't see the demand for advertising space continuing to grow exponentially. At some point, companies are going to realize that the return for their advertising dollar is beginning to diminish.

I can also say that I'd be more than willing to pay some amount of money for content I appreciate (NY Times, AT, Grantland, Wikipedia*, my favorite podcasts, etc.) if it meant minimal or no ads. The problem, of course is that much of the diversity of the web is low quality stuff (the Demand Media empire, for example) that I don't think anyone wants to pay for.

*Yes, I know wikipedia has no ads, but it's an example of something I'm willing to (and do) support with my wallet.
 

Jimzz

Diamond Member
Oct 23, 2012
4,399
190
106
It's easy enough to disable them on the domains you care about supporting. I've got mine disabled for AT.


THIS.

I have it for sites that have pop ups, over bearing ads, ads that cause the site to come to a crawl/stop, etc...
 

Slew Foot

Lifer
Sep 22, 2005
12,379
96
86
Most ads I see now fall into the following category:

1. really bright colors with flashing text/background
2. is a video ad that you cannot turn off
3. is a scam ad, i.e. "MOM DISCOVERS BRILLIANT WAY TO REDUCE DEBT USING THIS ONE SIMPLE TRICK!!!!!"
4. it pops up and takes over your screen whenever you mouse over it

At this point, ads are just a distraction and an annoyance and that is why they get disabled.



this, ads on the internet are a nuisance. and with isps beginning to cap your data, i aint wasting my bandwidth loading that crap.
 

ShawnD1

Lifer
May 24, 2003
15,987
2
81
3. is a scam ad, i.e. "MOM DISCOVERS BRILLIANT WAY TO REDUCE DEBT USING THIS ONE SIMPLE TRICK!!!!!"
I should turn off adblock and try to figure out what those are selling. Maybe it's a real ad, and that one simple trick is to paying your bills on time instead of paying them 60 days late.
 

crashtestdummy

Platinum Member
Feb 18, 2010
2,893
0
0
I should turn off adblock and try to figure out what those are selling. Maybe it's a real ad, and that one simple trick is to paying your bills on time instead of paying them 60 days late.

On a slight tangent, Planet Money (NPR podcast) decided to look into what was on the other end of all those emails advertising CHEAP VIAGRA and PERSCRIPTION-FREE LIPITOR, and it turns out they really are just trying to sell you illegal generics. I always just assumed they were an elaborate phishing scheme. Who knew?
 

AstroManLuca

Lifer
Jun 24, 2004
15,628
5
81
The whole ad landscape that is currently supporting most of the internet feels like a bubble that's going to burst. It's too easy to remove them, and I can't see the demand for advertising space continuing to grow exponentially. At some point, companies are going to realize that the return for their advertising dollar is beginning to diminish.

I can also say that I'd be more than willing to pay some amount of money for content I appreciate (NY Times, AT, Grantland, Wikipedia*, my favorite podcasts, etc.) if it meant minimal or no ads. The problem, of course is that much of the diversity of the web is low quality stuff (the Demand Media empire, for example) that I don't think anyone wants to pay for.

*Yes, I know wikipedia has no ads, but it's an example of something I'm willing to (and do) support with my wallet.

I've often wondered the same thing. My only guess is that it must not really cost that much to run a website, relatively speaking (i.e., compared with running a TV or radio station). So with relatively low operating costs, sites can afford to stay online even with low ad revenue.

But yes, I do feel like internet advertising is in a bubble. I don't see how companies can get enough actual money (from sales) for it to be worth spending money to support websites. A lot of the most popular companies like Facebook and Google have alternate revenue streams - instead of making all their money from ads, they also are in the business of owning people's personal information, which they can then sell. But even that just ties right back into advertising.

this, ads on the internet are a nuisance. and with isps beginning to cap your data, i aint wasting my bandwidth loading that crap.

It's easy enough to disable them on the domains you care about supporting. I've got mine disabled for AT.

And these too. I disable ads on AnandTech, 4chan, and numerous other websites that are worth supporting. If I visit a site a lot, I'll give it a chance by disabling adblock for that site. If the ads are too irritating, with sound, auto-playing videos, shit that pops up, or shit that completely messes with the layout, I'll turn the ad blocker back on. If websites want to put up annoying ads, I'll block them. Google's text ads aren't annoying so I don't block them.

Then again, I don't read or look at any ads even if they're unblocked, so I'm not sure how my having them unblocked actually helps anyone.
 

edro

Lifer
Apr 5, 2002
24,326
68
91
They should make them unblockable if it's that important to them.
If there is a way around an annoyance, people will find it.
 

dabuddha

Lifer
Apr 10, 2000
19,579
17
81
You are grouping all sites together, and that is not fair to sites who try to keep things nice for the visitor.

Even google was conned into running malicious ads a few times. Because of that all sites should be punished?

Yes. Unless you're volunteering to create a customized list for folks to use with their adblocking software. Also I'll need you to keep it up to date as well.
 

ShawnD1

Lifer
May 24, 2003
15,987
2
81
On a slight tangent, Planet Money (NPR podcast) decided to look into what was on the other end of all those emails advertising CHEAP VIAGRA and PERSCRIPTION-FREE LIPITOR, and it turns out they really are just trying to sell you illegal generics. I always just assumed they were an elaborate phishing scheme. Who knew?
Ha, I found out those were real by watching a quick Youtube documentary. These 3 guys were going to test modafinil (Provigil) to see how it improves cognition. That's a prescription drug, so they ordered it from some Asian country. The pills came in ziplock bags inside of a letter envelope.

I was googling around and I found an entire website devoted to reviewing those sites. Americans on that forum were saying some drugs are like $20 per pill, so getting them for $1 is a killer deal. Most of the stores are located in India.
 

AstroManLuca

Lifer
Jun 24, 2004
15,628
5
81
One other thing - I was hearing an interview on the radio the other day where they were discussing internet ads (specifically ads in smartphone apps), and they found that people are much more accepting of, say, ads in the middle of videos on Hulu, or ads between songs on Pandora, than they are of ads inside apps. In-app ads get ignored and are almost never clicked on by anyone. But when your phone is in your pocket and you're just listening to music, you are more likely to hear AND REMEMBER the ads that play between songs.

I think people are just used to ads coming up for "passive" mediums. That's understood and expected. Pandora ads don't bother me.
 

Jeeebus

Diamond Member
Aug 29, 2006
9,181
901
126
Destructoid posted an article saying around half their traffic uses ad blocker.

http://www.destructoid.com/half-of-destructoid-s-readers-block-our-ads-now-what--247904.phtml

A lot of people here promote ad blockers. Are the people who run ad blockers willing to work twice as hard to make the same amount of money?

If you run ad blocker, and your boss told you you were going to have to work 80 hours a week because your pay was going to be cut in half, how do you think you would feel?

Serious question - do you use a DVR/Tivo at home? Do you fast forward through commercials on your recorded shows?

Do you have Netflix? Do you watch all the ads for everything before your movie starts?
 

AstroManLuca

Lifer
Jun 24, 2004
15,628
5
81
Serious question - do you use a DVR/Tivo at home? Do you fast forward through commercials on your recorded shows?

Do you have Netflix? Do you watch all the ads for everything before your movie starts?

Wait, does Netflix have ads? Or are you referring to the previews that play before the menus come up on DVDs? I haven't ever seen an ad in Netflix streaming.

Oh and to add to that question, Texashiker, do you ever change the channel when ads come on the TV? Do you ever leave the room? Do you ever zone out or do something else?