Why Ad Blocking is devastating to the sites you love - Polidicks

If I have tech available to help me avoid ads, any ads anywhere, I'll be using it thank you very much. Websites have plenty of suckers to watch their ads anyways. People still cruise online with Internet Explorer!

[QUOTE=Kybalt;20623479]I adblock. I know it hurts the sites. I don't care.[/QUOTE] It doesn't even hurt sites except those with no real revenue stream to begin with. If your site subsists entirely on advertising money, people don't view the advertisements, and you've no method of enforcing their doing so, welp, guess you're going under, thanks for playing. You failed to understand how the medium works and used a flawed business model, you deserve what you get. That they don't enforce viewing as they say they can and still complain is asinine. They're not victims and you're not a villain. Eat the loss or don't, but don't guilt trip people not going with your bullshit so you can maximize profit.

[QUOTE=Xenocidebot;20623768]It doesn't even hurt sites except those with no real revenue stream to begin with.[/QUOTE] They make less money. How does this not hurt? You never explained how it doesn't. Okay yes, they can enforce it, if they know how. But so what? That doesn't make it NOT hurt them.

[QUOTE=OutOfExile;20622728]I don't see what's so bad about ads like the ones on Facepunch, they don't seem annoying enough to block.[/QUOTE] Really? I keep getting talking ads.

Ads are a source of viruses/malware/spyware/trojans/ect. You're safer using an adblocker

I block any ad that Hinders me seeing the web page, like if the ad pops out and i can't fucking scroll away or close it Or if it has audio "CONGRATULATIONS YOU WON A FREE BAG OF SHIT! IT'S NICE BECAUSE WE'RE LOOKING FOR BETA-TESTERS FOR OUR NEW BAG OF SHIT! IF YOU TEST IT, YOU KEEP IT! THIS IS A BLAH BLAH BLAH" I [B]HATE [/B]this because I'm normally listening to my music when I'm surfin the nets

I started blocking ads because advertisement companies started thinking "Hmm, people aren't clicking our highly obnoxious seizure-inducing flash ads enough, maybe they're just not being noticed... I've GOT IT! We'll put SOUNDS in the ads! Oh ho ho ho, I'm SO getting a promotion for this!" Aaaaaand god-damn ninjas. :/

[QUOTE=TweakGuides][URL="https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/1865"]Adblock Plus[/URL] - This extension allows you to block specific ad elements on any web page, preventing them from loading in the future. Remember however that if you block all ads you will eventually contribute to the demise of your favorite sites. Ads are essentially what makes the Internet free to browse, so be cautious with what you block, or alternatively consider donating to sites which you like but for which you block all ads. [/QUOTE]

I do the fuck I want

What the fuck is this bullshit? I went to [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adblock[/url] and went to the Controversy section, and it's full of bullshit... [quote=Wikipedia]The assumption that users can visit a website for free, with advertisements to pay for the hosting, has led some[who?] operators to go as far as to call the use of Adblock tantamount to theft. [B]This attitude overlooks the fact that AdBlock does not profit from its users.[/B][/quote] What the flying fuck does that have to do with anything? Wikipedia has many Firefox users, so more AB users who have to defend themselves. AB users are just looking for bullshit reasons to justify it, because they hear the webmasters screaming and they feel guilty, but they do it anyway. Fuck.

[QUOTE=Elecbullet;20624156]What the fuck is this bullshit? I went to [URL]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adblock[/URL] and went to the Controversy section, and it's full of bullshit... What the flying fuck does that have to do with anything? Wikipedia has many Firefox users, so more AB users who have to defend themselves. AB users are just looking for bullshit reasons to justify it, because they hear the webmasters screaming and they feel guilty, but they do it anyway.[/QUOTE] Um what? People say that ABP is stealing their revenue, however ABP is free and so it isn't stealing their revenue, just preventing the site from making money. That's all that the bolded part says.

Well maybe you shouldn't have annoying fucking ads on your website.

I don't have adblock or anything. I just block pop-ups as actual ads don't bother me at all. Kind of like when Youtube started having ads and people started whining. How else do you expect them to stay up?

I just use Opera to selectively block the ads that really annoy me.

I don't block ads

[QUOTE=sloppy_joes;20624193]Um what? People say that ABP is stealing their revenue, however ABP is free and so it isn't stealing their revenue, just preventing the site from making money. That's all that the bolded part says.[/QUOTE] Okay, I see. I didn't see that at first. However, it's still [I]really[/I] bullshitty, as even if Adblock isn't making money, it does not absolve YOU from blame if YOU use Adblock and YOU prevent sites from gaining advertising revenue.

As long as ads can still give you viruses and block your screen with shitty popups, i'm blocking them [editline]08:13PM[/editline] also privoxy ftw

[QUOTE=Elecbullet;20624380]Okay, I see. I didn't see that at first. However, it's still [I]really[/I] bullshitty, as even if Adblock isn't making money, it does not absolve YOU from blame if YOU use Adblock and YOU prevent sites from gaining advertising revenue.[/QUOTE] I will prevent people from making money off me all I want.

Ads are fucking annoying, and I will continue to block them.

[QUOTE=Zeke129;20622636]Sites only get ad revenue if you click on the ads. I never would click on the ads, so it is absolute bullshit to think that I'm costing them any money. Ars Technica can go fuck a rake.[/QUOTE] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6NVJQUWPiE[/media]

[QUOTE=Elecbullet;20623870]They make less money. How does this not hurt?[/QUOTE] You explained it yourself. They make [I]less than they could,[/I], voluntarily. There is no such thing as a [I]right[/I] to maximum profit- or profit, period. It has to be [I]earned[/I] via a smart business plan. If you [I]willingly lose money[/I] on part of your business, you obviously intend on doing so, either for longevity reasons or because you compensate for it elsewhere. This is basic business. Stop getting excited and look at it as such.

ads would be OK and wouldn't need to be blocked if, you know, they weren't caked in even the slightest ability for you to get a virus from them long story short web site -- it's your fault for having a shitty ad provider, not us for being smart and using ad blockers

[QUOTE=Xenocidebot;20624536]You explained it yourself. They make [I]less than they could,[/I], voluntarily. There is no such thing as a [I]right[/I] to maximum profit- or profit, period. It has to be [I]earned[/I] via a smart business plan. If you [I]willingly lose money[/I] on part of your business, you obviously intend on doing so, either for longevity reasons or because you compensate for it elsewhere. This is basic business. Stop getting excited and look at it as such.[/QUOTE] This bullshit? I'm going to use your same logic here. Let's say that you were in a store, and you realized that, because the store does not employ strict security measures, you have the [I]perfect[/I] opportunity to steal a $20 dollar item. Does that mean that if you do, the owners [I]obviously intended[/I] to let you steal it? Should we not look down on it? Should we condone it? It's the same logic. Also, the methods of getting around Adblock include: [list][b]Blocking Firefox users[/b][/list] And that's about it, because if there are ways to detect just Adblock, Adblock fixes itself to get around it. So basically, the enhanced security measures mean blocking 30% of the Internet. Smart huh?

[QUOTE=Elecbullet;20624644]This bullshit? I'm going to use your same logic here. Let's say that you were in a store, and you realized that, because the store does not employ strict security measures, you have the [I]perfect[/I] opportunity to steal a $20 dollar item. Does that mean that if you do, the owners [I]obviously intended[/I] to let you steal it? It's the same logic. Also, the methods of getting around Adblock include: [LIST] [*][B]Blocking Firefox users[/B] [/LIST] And that's about it, because if there are ways to detect just Adblock, Adblock fixes itself to get around it. So basically, the enhanced security measures mean blocking 30% of the Internet. Smart huh?[/QUOTE] The example you gave is somewhat of a logical fallacy. Websites aren't leaving out money, or having poor security measures so you can steal stuff, they just have ads to make money. If every store in the world had the option of paying, but if you pay you get spammed with flashing pictures, annoying sounds and other things, how many people would pay? Adblock basically just has a list of things it thinks are an ad then prevents them from being loaded. If it thinks the whole page is an ad, the page won't be loaded. All you have to do is rename things so that everything is on the 'ad blacklist' and then nothing will be loaded. It's not really detecting ABP.

[QUOTE=69105;20624566]long story short web site -- it's your fault for having a shitty ad provider, not us for being smart and using ad blockers[/QUOTE] [B]PROBLEM:[/B] some websites have shitty ad providers [B]SOLUTION:[/B] block pretty much all ad providers and deprive websites of revenue, claim it's their fault makes sense

[QUOTE=Elecbullet;20624673][B]PROBLEM:[/B] some websites have shitty ad providers [B]SOLUTION:[/B] block pretty much all ad providers and deprive websites of revenue, claim it's their fault makes sense[/QUOTE] How can you tell what's a good or bad ad provider?

Lets all unblock the ads and one day go on a random website that has trojans embedded in the banners (FPSBanana) and deal with popups and flashing shit and annoying sounds. Instead we could keep them blocked and donate if we feel the site deserves it.

I'm not taking issue with that, I'm taking issue with the way he says it's their fault.

I unblock all my favorite sites.

[QUOTE=Elecbullet;20624156]What the fuck is this bullshit? I went to [URL]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adblock[/URL] and went to the Controversy section, and it's full of bullshit... What the flying fuck does that have to do with anything? Wikipedia has many Firefox users, so more AB users who have to defend themselves. AB users are just looking for bullshit reasons to justify it, because they hear the webmasters screaming and they feel guilty, but they do it anyway. Fuck.[/QUOTE] So the controversy behind a FIREFOX plugin is that it doesn't profit?