bluey Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 I want your opinion on this, first from a technical point of view, but also from a *moral* point of view... A short while ago, i was complaining on facebook about badly aimed adverts on my newsfeed: i installed the advert blocking extension that my friend suggested and was really pleased with it - in a single session on facebook the little widget often tells me it's blocked over 100 adverts, youtube videos play straight away and other websites that are otherwise horribly advert heavy, almost to the point of being unusable, are now completely ad-free! great! HOWEVER... this morning, while i was watching a new vlog from a youtuber i follow...it hit me. i wasn't seeing adverts on their videos... i wondered if that meant that my view of their video didn't count towards their rating - if the advert revenue was still being counted, or if adblock negated that completely... i was then hit by tremendous guilt, because - youtubers use that advert revenue to make their money. i've since disabled adblock for youtube only.. my questions to the group are ~ (heheh) 1. TECHNICAL - does anyone know if advert revenue is still collected by Youtubers from people viewing while adblocking extensions are active? 2. MORAL - how do you feel about adblock software - do you think it's right or wrong of me to use it? do you think i'm being hypocritical turning off adblock for youtube and not for facebook? 3. BONUS - do you use adblocking software? : peace: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goafer Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 1. Not sure. 2. Don't care about the morals of it. Adverts really annoy me and I think they're getting a bit out of hand. I can't stand having to wait however long before every single YouTube video. This image sums up my opinion on adverts quite well. 3. Yes. Yes I do. I hate using browsers without some sort of ad block. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheikah Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 That image is brilliant Goafer. I've got no problems with blocking adverts to be honest. They're annoying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoogleViper Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 You can set certain websites and domains as exempt on adblock. I've done this on a few websites that I like and care to support (such as n-europe, not that ads feature any more). I certainly don't feel guilty about not seeing them on fb and other sites like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 (edited) Ads are definitely annoying, don't think anyone can debate that. The issue I have with ad blocking is a lot of online content creators rely on ad revenue to enable them to continue producing content in an environment populated by people who have grown used to getting absolutely everything for free with no hassle. What's more, online content creators are also at constant risk of their work being stolen and used elsewhere with no recognition or revenue granted to them whatsoever. YouTubers and webcomic creators are two of the main ones I can think of in this situation, but pretty much all the websites we view on a daily basis lean heavily on ad revenue to keep the lights on. I've never actually been bothered enough by adverts to implement an ad blocker. However, the Internet is gonna change a lot in the next few years and I'm sure lots of the stuff we enjoy for free at the moment will be put behind some form of pay/advert wall. Just... do whatever feels okay to you, I guess. Ads are inescapable. If you really stop and think about it, most of us in here are directly advertising something (a show or even a product) in our signatures and avatars. Edited November 10, 2013 by Guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cube Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 Adblock does affect revenue. I do whitelisting. If there's a website I want to support (for example, the one we're posting on now) and their adverts aren't too intrusive, then I'll disable AdBlock for them. I'll also pause AdBlock before watching a video of someone I like to support. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happenstance Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 Ive disabled adblocker on Youtube recently. It took me a while but im not too bothered by the adverts now and I dont feel like im screwing my favourite Youtubers out of their living anymore. The only other site I would probably disable adblocker for would be Giant Bomb but I already pay their subscription fee so no adverts anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashley Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 We rely on advertising, fyi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheikah Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 I only browse N-E on Tapatalk really and that automatically doesn't display ads... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoogleViper Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 We rely on advertising, fyi You can set certain websites and domains as exempt on adblock. I've done this on a few websites that I like and care to support (such as n-europe, not that ads feature any more). I never see them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serebii Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 We rely on advertising, fyi Same. Without it, my site wouldn't be able to be kept up. Its servers aren't cheap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debug Mode Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 It's funny, the temptation to start using AdBlocker for some sites has only kicked in recently for me. I know full well it is definitely going to affect some revenue streams, but some of the advertisements available on the internet these days are really fucking intrusive. So many advertisements on the net these days are ramping up on the idea of picking apart the person browsing and hope they're insecure enough to follow the links, and I don't want to see that shit and I'm not fond of the sites that allow that shit to go on. The ones that really fuck me off are the ad boxes with audio and video, like shit, I'm trying to listen to music or multi-task whilst watching a video, it's real fucking distracting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cube Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 I only browse N-E on Tapatalk really and that automatically doesn't display ads... Tapatalk are by far the very worst company for advertising (including on this forum). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheikah Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 They don't have any adverts @Cube. Only a typical signature which you can disable straight away (the same thing happens in other apps like AquaMail). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cube Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 They don't have any adverts @Cube. Only a typical signature which you can disable straight away (the same thing happens in other apps like AquaMail). The forum plugins create advertising when you visit one that uses it for the first time, usually in the form of a pop-up (the very worst kind). If wouldn't be a problem if there was an opt-out for their entire thing, but when you're researching computer problems it becomes rather annoying. Even more so since they made a Chrome plugin. And then you clear your cookies and it all starts again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rummy Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 I'm with Goafer on this. You hurting the internet? No. Ads came along and THEY hurt the internet. Someone else out to commercialise another product. BAH HUMBUGS. (I'm not being totally serious, but I am still a little bit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheikah Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 The forum plugins create advertising when you visit one that uses it for the first time, usually in the form of a pop-up (the very worst kind). If wouldn't be a problem if there was an opt-out for their entire thing, but when you're researching computer problems it becomes rather annoying. Even more so since they made a Chrome plugin. And then you clear your cookies and it all starts again. Ohh gotcha. On the web browser yeah, but it creates a cookie when you tell it you don't want to. The app is nicely as free. Basically people browsing porn and clearing all their cookies will continuously get this 'popup'. :p I think it can be disabled by staff though nay? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rizz Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 Things have changed a lot. Adverts used to just be annoying with an endless stream of pop-ups that covered what you were trying to browse and played horrible music. If those kinds of adverts were trimmed down, and it was just a small and silent related advert at the bottom or side of the page then I wouldn't really be that bothered. But now many use personal information to try and tailor the adverts, and then try and convince you that's a good thing. They will be blocked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dannyboy-the-Dane Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 I've been in the exact same situation as you, @bluey; I used to use an adblocker and then later realised it was preventing the YouTubers I was following from gaining ad revenue. Since then I have disabled it again because, frankly, I'm not that bothered by ads. The only ads I'm bothered by are the long ones before YouTube videos (though as long as they're skippable after 5 seconds it's fine) and particularly the ones that start playing audio - those I actively use adblocker against, ad revenue be damned. If you do choose advertising as a form of income, don't use advertising that will actively interfere with your audience's enjoyment of your work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 I'm with Goafer on this. You hurting the internet? No. Ads came along and THEY hurt the internet. Someone else out to commercialise another product. BAH HUMBUGS. (I'm not being totally serious, but I am still a little bit) Without adverts websites that you use on a daily basis (Facebook and Google) would not be around. All these fantastic products wouldn't exist or you would have to pay for them. Using Adblock is wrong unless you want to start paying for services that you use online. If you don't want to view adverts on certain websites then don't go on those websites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rummy Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 Without adverts websites that you use on a daily basis (Facebook and Google) would not be around. All these fantastic products wouldn't exist or you would have to pay for them. Using Adblock is wrong unless you want to start paying for services that you use online. If you don't want to view adverts on certain websites then don't go on those websites. Well now you've just made me feel like a total dick. Yet not enough for me to change, but I'll feel a bit bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbob Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 Never used an Ad-blocker with Chrome, the only website that i would block ads on would be Youtube as some of them video ads are not skippable and annoy me, the skippable ones are fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daft Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 I Adblock everything and I don't care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arab_freak Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 I ad-block everything as well. I'm actually very tempted to "advertise" the existence of Adblock in my part of the world because very few people even know you can block ads on the internet, but I figured getting the ball rolling on such a thing would negate the purpose of having access to websites in the first place. If I want my favorite websites to remain free and open, sacrifices must be made. And by sacrifices I mean letting other people suffer obnoxious ads while I freely browse the internet at my leisure. FYI, blocking ads like this isn't going to last. At least not in its current form. Here in Egypt, when someone creates a partnered YouTube channel they're hardly doing it in order to make a living off of it. Internet penetration rates in the Middle East are laughable, and the money you can make off ads on your channel hardly amounts to anything significant. The reason some channels still exist, however, is because they're a platform to give the content creators some clout and get on TV (where the real money is made). I worked for a TV show that started off as an online spin-off of The Daily Show during the early days of the Arab Spring. It was only after the show struck gold online that TV producers started calling in and negotiating contracts. I don't care about supporting these channels anymore because I know they're not really in it for the money, and 99% of the content out there is absolute garbage anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bard Posted November 12, 2013 Share Posted November 12, 2013 I read a lot of websites whose editorial content I like and admire, and have no way of supporting them other than clicks. I also have a frontal cortex so I can choose what in my visual field I attend to. I got adblock built in, bitches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts