To use adblockers or not to use adblockers?

[Matthew_Thepc]

Hey!

I've started using some TPLs in IE10, and I really like reading Neowin without those annoying text ads :p I'd install ad blockers on all of my browsers, but (being a web developer myself) I don't entirely feel comfortable with the idea of taking away the major source of income for the sites that I use for free. I understand that my ad views represent a miniscule part of Neowin's (or any sites) overall income, but still, it's the whole 'what if everybody did that?' idea that's got me worried.

what do you guys think? do you use an adblocker, do you think it's ethical, and why?

Thanks ;)

[theyarecomingforyou]

Adverts are not only intrusive but they pose a security risk and have a considerable impact upon browser performance. The best option is to install an ad-blocker and disable it for websites that you want to support.

[Shiranui]

Do you click on them, ever? If not, then block them with a clear conscience. (yes I'm aware you can generate income without clicks too)

Once a month you can turn the ad-blocker off and go on a frenzied clicking spree.

[Matthew_Thepc]

looks like the sentiment here is the same - to use an adblocker :D

but I do think I'll take Shiranui's tip and go on a clicking spree once a month or so ;)

thanks again!

[count0nz]

Same I don't mind the Ad's I unblock Neowin from Time to time and click on a Few Ad's to help out.

But what I HATE...

Those Ad's with Sound.. I visited guildwars2guru the other day and had 2 or 3 playing all at the same time.

I Closed the Tab. and Installed Adblock+...

I also Emailed the Sites contact to let them know how bad my Esperance was. that to me was Unacceptable.

Btw I never received a Reply ..

I love Neowin. I normally Brose here with Ad's enabled.

[giantpotato]

Wow, I'm the only person so far who thinks it's unethical to use an ad blocker? Disappointing that so many people think that way. I guess it's just another sign of the entitlement generation who feel entitled to take anything they want for free, and provide absolutely nothing in return.

[Kondrath]

I disable it on sites I really like, but I keep it up on giant sites like YouTube to avoid sitting through commercials and stuff.

[Xilo]

Wow, I'm the only person so far who thinks it's unethical to use an ad blocker? Disappointing that so many people think that way. I guess it's just another sign of the entitlement generation who feel entitled to take anything they want for free, and provide absolutely nothing in return.

No. Most people are sick of having ads pushed down our throat constantly.

Pay for a blu-ray/dvd. Go through 15 minutes of non-skippable ads. Not to mention many movies are clearly just giant advertisements for certain brands.

Pay for television. Cable isn't cheap nowadays and yet we usually have like 10 minutes of TV and 5 minutes of commercials and repeat.

Pay for services. Still get ads pushed down our throats. XBox Live comes to mind.

And etc.

[SharpGreen]

I use an ad blocker whenever I'm in Chrome, and disable for sites that I find valuable. I say it's unethical because you deprive the website owners of the revenue needed to operate the site. However, on sites that seemingly go out of there way to annoy you with ads, I don't feel bad about blocking because they annoy the hell out of me.

Bandwidth wasting video ads, ads that make noise, ones that cover up content and move when you scroll, are among the ones that get the hosting site not whitelisted in my ad blocker.

Plus as has been stated in this thread, ad blocking carries security benefits as well in the event an ad network gets compromised by malware

[myxomatosis]

I use AdBlocker and I'm not ashamed of using it. Why? I can tolerate jpeg/gif ads... I can't tolerate Flash/Videos Ads using my bandwidth and annoying me. I don't want you to take the right to use my bandwidth and my speakers/headphones without my consent.

Too many sites have exaggerated in the past... now they pay for their decision of pushing intrusive ads and wasting people's bandwidth without any embarassement

[Dot Matrix]

Wow, I'm the only person so far who thinks it's unethical to use an ad blocker? Disappointing that so many people think that way. I guess it's just another sign of the entitlement generation who feel entitled to take anything they want for free, and provide absolutely nothing in return.

There's a fine line when it comes to ads. I was fine with them back in the day when they stayed out of your way. The moment they became "pushy" and "in your face" is the day I had enough. Not to mention they took up an excessive amount of space on certain pages, and for a while became an attack vector for malware. Pop ups, pop unders, flash based, text based, Intellitext (Worst offender, IMO), etc. You name it, I had enough.

Since I pay for Internet service - AKA *CONTENT*, and not advertising services, I had to install an adblocker to take back MY Internet. Of course I'm not above whitelisting sites that play nice with users, Like Neowin, however I still do block a good majority of the sites I go to.

[techbeck]

They are intrusive and a lot of time, buggy as hell and causes issues with the browser. Depends on the kind of ads. Also, a lot of times the link to an ad is down and the page will not load because of it . So I will go in and block the website (normally a site dishing out ads) and then the page will load.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

I use an Ablocker and Ghostery and whitelist any sites/trackers I find useful/support.

[Noir Angel]

No, I don't think using adblocking is unethical. I'm sorry but so many web authors these days pay no attention to the impact their ads have on users. And they increase the loading time of most web pages significantly.

Unless a website specifically implies in it's TOS that you're required to view their ads to use the service then legally there is no wrongdoing if you block them. It's up to the provider of the content to find ways to make their business viable, not me as a user.

[techbeck]

Wow, I'm the only person so far who thinks it's unethical to use an ad blocker? Disappointing that so many people think that way. I guess it's just another sign of the entitlement generation who feel entitled to take anything they want for free, and provide absolutely nothing in return.

When it can infringe on my security, hell ya I will block whatever I want. I block the same things on my familys systems as well. Why? Because I am sick of cleaning up their PCs after they click on adverts that install malware.

[DarkyDan]

I always greenlist neowin, because they had that guilt trip "don't like ads, pay for a subscription" text under any surpressed banner. that was a classy way of getting me to turn their ads back on, they aren't particularly irritating either so that helps.

A lot of sites I find unrecognisable when I first install a browser and haven't installed an ad filtering plugin, it's rather insane on some sites.

I'm in two minds about it.. but if more 'quality' websites inobstrusively pleaded with me to re-enable ads for their benefit, I would do so.

[Julius Caro]

I rarely ever click on ads. 15 years of using the internet makes you immune to most ads. In the rare occasion that I'm interested in whatever the ads are showing, sure, I'll click. But most ads are shady as hell.

That said, I never block ads. I do block the sh*t out of flash though.

[Julius Caro]

Same I don't mind the Ad's I unblock Neowin from Time to time and click on a Few Ad's to help out.

But what I HATE...

Those Ad's with Sound.. I visited guildwars2guru the other day and had 2 or 3 playing all at the same time.

I Closed the Tab. and Installed Adblock+...

I also Emailed the Sites contact to let them know how bad my Esperance was. that to me was Unacceptable.

Btw I never received a Reply ..

I love Neowin. I normally Brose here with Ad's enabled.

ain't that basically click fraud?

[Shiranui]

Wow, I'm the only person so far who thinks it's unethical to use an ad blocker? Disappointing that so many people think that way. I guess it's just another sign of the entitlement generation who feel entitled to take anything they want for free, and provide absolutely nothing in return.

Yes, but do you read all ads on the page? Do you click on any of them? Do you purchase anything after having clicked on them?

If not, please alight from your confused ethical high horse.

[Shiranui]

ain't that basically click fraud?

Well, I was only half serious when suggesting the monthly clicking spree -- I certainly couldn't be bothered to do so -- but I suppose it would be.

One could argue, though, that someone making a point of clicking on ten ads might be more likely to buy something than one person "genuinely" clicking on an ad because they think they might be interested.

To be honest, the whole model is rather flawed, the chances of an ad appearing of something you want to buy, at the time you are interested in buying it and from the shop you would be prepared to buy it from, are slim indeed. Of course, there are always impulse buys.

[cork1958]

looks like the sentiment here is the same - to use an adblocker :D

but I do think I'll take Shiranui's tip and go on a clicking spree once a month or so ;)

thanks again!

It's not sentiment, it's just plain logical

Should add, not only use an adblocker but a good host file too!

[theyarecomingforyou]

Wow, I'm the only person so far who thinks it's unethical to use an ad blocker? Disappointing that so many people think that way. I guess it's just another sign of the entitlement generation who feel entitled to take anything they want for free, and provide absolutely nothing in return.

I don't see how it's unethical to block something that you'd never click on. The last time I checked most ad services - including Google's - operate on a per-click basis, not per-view. I never click on ads, so there is no revenue loss resulting from my actions. More importantly, ads are incredibly intrusive (some even malicious) - before I relied on ad-blocking I would regularly encounter ads that would automatically play audio or block up my entire screen and not allow me to close them (they weren't designed for the browser I was using). Perhaps I'd feel bad if I didn't receive spam emails, spam SMS and phonecalls from random companies intruding upon my free time. Perhaps I'd feel bad if ad-blockers hadn't become necessary because of pop-under and pop-over ads, which at times were virtually impossible to close. Ad-blockers were a direct response to the ad industry and websites abusing users for profit. I don't feel bad about fast-forwarding through adverts on TV either.

Ads aren't the only way to financially support a website. Many - like Neowin - have subscriber perks and merchandise; others allow donations; some are subscriber only. As long as it remains profitable to operate a website despite some users using ad-blockers the ecosystem remains intact. Don't forget that many would consider a website like Neowin to be morally questionable, as by getting your news here that deprives the original content producer of the advertising revenue for visiting their site (ignoring the minority who click through to the original source). Is that not morally dubious?

[Boo Berry]

I use Adblock Plus for Firefox and Adguard for everything else (Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Safari, Opera, Maxthon, etc.). Of course, I do selectively whitelist websites.

[Guest LiquidCrystalMeth]

I rarely see ads.

I am also on a low bandwidth connection, so why should i have my connection used to serve obtrusive things i dont want to see. Ive never clicked on ad online, and i was using the net long before the web when gopher was the primary protocol. So ive avoided clicking on ads for a loooong time.

I have several layers of adblocking.

1) Squid - with ad and malware block lists

2) Admuncher - legal version i might ad :)

3) Adblock plus in Waterfox, on the rare event an ad makes it through Admuncher

[Ryoken]

Yes to both.

I use Adblock, I use TPL, and I also have a hosts file that blocks adds as well as other stuff system wide..

[Velox]

Yes, I will keep using them and keep trying to find ways of elimating ads that slip through. If I like the site I'm visiting and all that I'll just donate to the creators.