Re:Thank you for ad blocking
by unclebucknasty on Sunday March 20, 2016 @02:44PM
(#11324067)
I know this comment will be unpopular here but...
Some of this argument doesn't hold up. Websites are not electrical signals that just enter your space". You're explicitly requesting access to them. And, they are not free to operate. Your requests to view them cost the producer some amount of money.
I'm not a fan of ads myself and think they are frequently outright abusive (even without malware). In fact, I pretty much detest the volume of advertising today.
But, I don't get this idea that we have a right* to consume web content hosted on a private entity's servers. There is a choice not to consume at all. Yes, companies like CNN shove so many ads in their vids that they are now more ads than content. So, I no longer watch vids on CNN.
I also think the analogy between ad blocking and grabbing a snack during TV ads is lacking. In the former case, there is a "set and forget" tech that guarantees that no ads will be seen...ever. In the latter case, one must actively avoid each advertisement, and do so with near perfect timing.
>...business model should take into account that a certain fraction of users are going to block [ads]
The reasoning here reminds me of that employed by people who believe music should be free. But, I can't figure out why people who presumably appreciate an artist, think that artist should work for nothing. The answer is that they don't actually believe that. Instead, it really boils down to "let someone else pay for it".
Some of this argument doesn't hold up. Websites are not electrical signals that just enter your space". You're explicitly requesting access to them. And, they are not free to operate. Your requests to view them cost the producer some amount of money.
I'm not a fan of ads myself and think they are frequently outright abusive (even without malware). In fact, I pretty much detest the volume of advertising today.
But, I don't get this idea that we have a right* to consume web content hosted on a private entity's servers. There is a choice not to consume at all. Yes, companies like CNN shove so many ads in their vids that they are now more ads than content. So, I no longer watch vids on CNN.
I also think the analogy between ad blocking and grabbing a snack during TV ads is lacking. In the former case, there is a "set and forget" tech that guarantees that no ads will be seen...ever. In the latter case, one must actively avoid each advertisement, and do so with near perfect timing.
>...business model should take into account that a certain fraction of users are going to block [ads]
The reasoning here reminds me of that employed by people who believe music should be free. But, I can't figure out why people who presumably appreciate an artist, think that artist should work for nothing. The answer is that they don't actually believe that. Instead, it really boils down to "let someone else pay for it".