Why Ad Blocking is devastating to the sites you love

[Redmak Administrators]

What we need is adblockers to have a button that says 'Whitelist all my bookmarks'. I can't be bothered to go to every tab in my bookmarks and whitelist everything after installing an adblocker.

That would be a great feature :)

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

I did have Neowin whitelisted a few weeks ago, but the news-page in-text ads are simply too much. I do not mind the ads I see on the forums, but I have a tendency to follow my reading with my mouse cursor.....as such, in-text ads pop up all over the place and get in the way.

So, either Neowin loses in-text ads on the news pages, or I keep blocking ads on Neowin, not trying to sound rude but in-text ads are the ONLY reason I block ads on Neowin, the only way its going to change is if those ads disappear.

Read Redmak's post in this thread - in-text ads are disabled for members.

[i_was_here]

All I can say is that webmasters should not be overly dependent on ads for revenue. If you want a predictable income, then do something that will get you predictable income.

[Redmak Administrators]

I did have Neowin whitelisted a few weeks ago, but the news-page in-text ads are simply too much. I do not mind the ads I see on the forums, but I have a tendency to follow my reading with my mouse cursor.....as such, in-text ads pop up all over the place and get in the way.

So, either Neowin loses in-text ads on the news pages, or I keep blocking ads on Neowin, not trying to sound rude but in-text ads are the ONLY reason I block ads on Neowin, the only way its going to change is if those ads disappear.

EDIT: And the above is true for all sites I visit in general, not simply Neowin.....if I visit a site frequently and they suddenly add in-text ads, you can bet I'm going to block ads on that site.

The In Text ads are gone

[Nagisan]

Read Redmak's post in this thread - in-text ads are disabled for members.

When did that happen? I saw in-text ads all the time as of a few days ago when I wasn't blocking ads on Neowin, even when logged in.

EDIT: Ok, in that case, time to gain a small amount of extra revenue, Neowin. :P

[Neoauld]

The In Text ads are gone

those ads really sucked, neowin imo has the perfect type of advertising. Its there, it loads, its viewed, and if i dont want to interact with it i dont have to. Text ad's drive me nuts, and any sort of flash/popup does to.

I absolutely love the adbot though saying 'We love your monies'...epic

[wahoospa]

Can a website tell if an ad is blocked? If so how?

Also, I don't block ads on here or a number of sites I visit. In fact, when on here, from time to time I click on several ads that take me to their website just to help my share on Neowin. I don't know if Neowin gets credit for actually clicking on the ads and going to the advertisers website or not but it don't hurt.

[bjoswald]

This again? I thought we've beaten, resurrected, then beaten this dead horse enough! Well, since it's certainly a hot topic (and one I'm involved in) I guess I'll toss in another two cents. I block ads. I always have and I always will. Why? Because they're annoying, distracting, and I'll never, ever visit the originating site or buy their products. I don't feel guilty for this and I never will. Why should I? If I went into Best Buy and was looking at a specific DVD or game, why would I want some idiot dressed up like the a giant Valtrex hopping around in front of me, yelling: "Buy me for cheap! Today only!" Of course it's an extremely obnoxious example, but it's still the same principle. If webmasters can't pay their bills, then that's their problem. I am not responsible for it. I shouldn't be "taxed" because I want to know what Bill Gates is doing, what version of CCleaner is out or where I can find the latest news about Ubuntu or whatever.

[zhangm Supervisor]

The current model doesn't work. Webmasters aren't being paid enough for ad space thanks to the launch of spam sites dedicated to hosting ads (that drive down the price). To support themselves, they need to sell more ad space, leading to dilution of branding on each page. Advertisers respond by making ads more intrusive. Webmasters respond by paginating every single article in an effort to make users click through pages full of ads.

The end user gets punked by this, and I'm not playing.

Some mild examples of what this has gotten to:

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9152078/Top_10_Super_Bowl_tech_ads

http://adtmag.com/articles/2007/10/05/top-10-overlooked-features-of-windows-server-2008--part-1.aspx

http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/cityofate/2009/09/top_10_foods_better_than_corn.php

http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/hemizygotic

[Shadrack]

I wonder how many of these webmasters upset about revenue lost due to adblocking, run an adblocker on their web browser. Ads are just plain annoying to everyone, even the benefactors of them.

[PreKe]

They are only going to hurt themselves if they do that. Many of us are on limited bandwidth every month and all the bandwidth consumed by ads takes away from us.

They are hurting themselves by saving bandwidth on people who block ads and therefore cost them money?

I block ads. I always have and I always will. Why? Because they're annoying, distracting, and I'll never, ever visit the originating site or buy their products.

Someone didn't RTFA... Figures. "Me, me, me!"

[tsupersonic]

Well if they weren't so god damn annoying, flashy, I might not use an adblocker, but 99% of them are, so adblock plus ftw!

[+Warwagon MVC]

Well if they weren't so god damn annoying, flashy, I might not use an adblocker, but 99% of them are, so adblock plus ftw!

Yep, I even block all flash content using flashblock, also a security risk.

[metallithrax]

The In Text ads are gone

Thats good to know. Neowin is now "totally" whitelisted. They were the only ones I actually had blocked.

[The_Observer]

people have been blocking ads, since they started! how many people change the tv channel, or turn down the volume! there is nothing new about this, and you can go on forever about how it hurts site and people! I think the main reason people block them, is cause of the 90s and over amount of pop-ups, on the internet. I block every site, and i dont care what people think!

[SyntaxError]

I use Adblock Plus, Flashblock, and NoScript and I'm not going to stop using them, no matter how much money it denies to the sites I visit. It's my right to not have all that intrusive, ugly **** on my screen, not to mention the damned pop-ups and pop-unders that some sites use. Plus the fact that ads can carry infections and simply letting them load, whether you click them or not, can infect your system.

Until something is done to stop all that crap internet-wide, I'll keep blocking. The hell with the internet. I grew up without it and I'll continue to live without it if need be.

[+Warwagon MVC]

Plus the fact that ads can carry infections and simply letting them load, whether you click them or not, can infect your system.

Amen!

[Petvas]

I hate ads! Just make the sites worth the money for a subscription!

Intrusive, flash based apps are really bad and I would never ever enable them! Ad Muncher takes care of all this junk..

I like supporting the sites I like and I prefer to pay than having to endure all these bad ads...

I don't even understand how Google makes money with it...most people I know disable ads...Of course I know that normal people don't know how to disable ads, but maybe someday a browser will come with an integrated ad blocker! It certainly won't be from Google :)

[WigglesTheFish]

I did have Neowin whitelisted a few weeks ago, but the news-page in-text ads are simply too much. I do not mind the ads I see on the forums, but I have a tendency to follow my reading with my mouse cursor.....as such, in-text ads pop up all over the place and get in the way.

So, either Neowin loses in-text ads on the news pages, or I keep blocking ads on Neowin, not trying to sound rude but in-text ads are the ONLY reason I block ads on Neowin, the only way its going to change is if those ads disappear.

EDIT: And the above is true for all sites I visit in general, not simply Neowin.....if I visit a site frequently and they suddenly add in-text ads, you can bet I'm going to block ads on that site.

Kontera ads are one of the main reasons that I block ads. I have absolutely no issue with whitelisting sites that I like and frequent daily. I do have an issue when those sites make me have to play a game trying to avoid the ads with my mouse while simply trying to read the content on the site. Currently I am woefully unemployed but as soon as I have extra income I am going to purchase a Subscriber? membership mainly because I so want to support Neowin, which is one of my favorite sites, but I cannot stand Kontera ads.

[iamwhoiam]

ps. we disabled the Kontera In Text ads on the main page for members :)

I could live with pretty much all other types of ads (except flashy ones), but those inline ads get under my skin.

[team_NOOB]

I'm sorry but I don't agree with this. Ads are obtrusive I dnt need HP banners flickering at the top of my screen - if there is something I need/want I'm sure I'll look for it.

For me Ads are a lazy way to make money - I have no problems donating to websites and I do.. When Neowin gives me a reason to donate or pay for a service I like, trust me I'll be the first to cough up the cash and I'm not talking about $5 or $10. If they brought out something worth while I would pay $50+

Also you all seem to forget a vital bit of information.. Ads are always placed in the same areas on a site. We have become so accustomed to these positions that our sub-conciousness just blocks them out anyway. Yeh ok it's not exactly the same as Ad Blocking them through your browser but it still highlights a larger issue here. Ads need to go.

[boogerjones]

I think it's funny that some people are blaming websites that run annoying ads. Adblockers would be just as popular even if ads weren't so intrusive. Why? Because it's a better experience without them. Users don't care if Ars starts posting low-quality content because of lost revenue; they'll just visit the next site that becomes popular.

Look at the problems newspapers are facing. It won't be long before most of them are subscription based. That will signal their death, because people will migrate to sites that give them something similar for free.

Bottom-line: websites like Ars are trying to fix a problem that cannot be fixed. Unless you're Google, betting on ad-revenue is generally a bad business model. Unfortunately, most websites don't have a choice.

[.Markus]

I'm happy to whitelist sites I use commonly and which deserve it, i.e. Neowin, Engadget etc.

On a side note I'd like sites which block content due to the Adblock software, to actually show a message regarding this!

Happened on a few occasions where a page loads only halfways and I have to go problem solving for a few minutes, and in the end find out it was my adblocker which blocked the article.

I know that was/is a common query with Neowin's minispy.. :)

[Nagisan]

Kontera ads are one of the main reasons that I block ads. I have absolutely no issue with whitelisting sites that I like and frequent daily. I do have an issue when those sites make me have to play a game trying to avoid the ads with my mouse while simply trying to read the content on the site. Currently I am woefully unemployed but as soon as I have extra income I am going to purchase a Subscriber? membership mainly because I so want to support Neowin, which is one of my favorite sites, but I cannot stand Kontera ads.

Then you will be happy to hear (just like I was) that Neowin now disables Kontera in-text ads for members. Such a better experience with those alone gone that I have whitelisted Neowin.

I know that was/is a common query with Neowin's minispy.. :)

What exactly do you mean by that? I remember them talking about the possibility to disable content if a user blocks ads, but minispy has always been active on mine (once they added it, that is) even when I was blocking ads.

[.Markus]

Then you will be happy to hear (just like I was) that Neowin now disables Kontera in-text ads for members. Such a better experience with those alone gone that I have whitelisted Neowin.

What exactly do you mean by that? I remember them talking about the possibility to disable content if a user blocks ads, but minispy has always been active on mine (once they added it, that is) even when I was blocking ads.

I'm not sure if it was a so-called 'feature' for the Atlas upgrade, i.e. white list Neowin.net and we will give you the Mini-spy in return, or if it's simply a design flaw, however when you surf with any ad blocker such as adBlock or adThwart the Mini-spy will disappear along with the ads.