I whitelist sites I think deserve the revenue, such as Steamgifts and TVTropes (since I think TVTropes is getting ad revenue). I also make sure to disable ABP temporarily on YouTube channels who deserve the revenue, such as Cr1TiKaL (penguniz0) who donates to charity, along with TotalBiscuit, boogie2988 and the other mature gaming figureheads.
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Adblock is a must for me, even when I go to other people houses and get my hands on their computer, first thing I do before using their internet, I install Adblock. Just some sites are too loaded with ads, have to scroll through 100 ads before you reach the information you need, and old/slow PC can't handle it sometimes, browser freezes for a minute or 2...
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Something to add to your Edit (again) you say it takes nothing except space and tolerance, do you even realize that the vast majority of viruses and spyware that people get come from ads?
What doesn't come from ads is mostly people being stupid or doing something illegal and then the rare legit site got hacked and got a virus planted on it.
So yeah, even if I could tolerate looking at ads, I'm not turning off adblock and noscript. I care about my computer and my time and don't want to be spending a bunch of time trying to remove a virus or malware. I have gotten zero viruses or spyware since I started using adblock and noscript. Before that I got loads. Nothing about my behavior changed other than getting noscript and adblock.
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Ads are taking my bandwith.
Ads embedded in a video is more evil. It's eating bandwith from the get-go simply because it's unblockable. And if the content I want to see is listed 1 minute after the video starts (60 secs of ads worth), then it's simply mind boggling why people are doing video ads. It's essentially stealing for me. I don't care of what people say about revenue to keep alive yadda yadda. GTFO and earn your living properly.
Not even Steamgifts have the right to display ads in my browser. I block each and every ads mercilessly regardless the sites and reputations.
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When there is a 2 and a half minutes commercial playing before the new Godzillas 13 seconds tease, youre glad you have ad-block. Un-whitelist that youtube channel and refresh.
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^ a thousand times this.
Also, annoying flashing ads sometimes with sound that are way too distracting for me to read articles and such.
Let the ignorant plebs suffer through the ads. I'm not up for it.
Of course it's disabled here since the ads aren't intrusive at all.
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I prefer using ad-block since most of the websites in my country tend to show lots and lots of ads with half naked women. (plastic surgery and adult product ads)
For Youtube, I don't really have an opinion. If the ads help the content provider, well I guess it might be good to click it sometimes.
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I use adblock because I'm fed up with ads that have sound which you can't turn off and pop-ups. I may want to read an interesting article with some background music, or watch a video, and I don't want to hear raucous ads.
Also, as other people said, whitelist sites or channels that you wish to support.
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/sigh
It's like this. When the Internet was new, ads were unobtrusive. Due to no regulation or threat, advertisers got greedy. We went from a single banner at the top or bottom, to both. Then popups, popunders, clickjacks (popups that open where they think you're going to click), and later Flash ads and animated gifs that would flash at you. IE 6 and others added a basic popup blocker, but it didn't do much. Users got nothing from the ads; they were yet another toll on the Internet highway in addition to your hardware and software costs, and your ISP bill.
Then Adblock came around, and advertisers started noticing. Adblock needed a filter, so a lot of advertisers (Yahoo was one) just paid off the guy who made the biggest filter. Adblock Plus changed that, and now we can block damn near every ad on the Internet.
But should we? Adblock Plus addresses this as well. Advertisers who can demonstrate that their ads are not annoying can be whitelisted. Even though this can be disabled, it is the default setting (that is, to allow unobtrusive ads), and because of this, another ad blocker, Adblock Edge, was created. Edge lacks the ability to whitelist.
Adblock Plus is currently the 'right' solution. Advertisers can apply to be whitelisted, not by paying money, but by making ads that are not annoying.
There was a time when advertisers paid people to look at ads. NetZero and similar ISPs would give you free (albeit dial-up) Internet access in exchange for having a rotating banner ad enabled all the time. They weren't making enough money, so the free, ad-supported Internet model died quickly. Before that, and since then, advertisers have only paid the websites that host the ads, not the people who view them. As an Internet user, you have a contract to your ISP to abide by certain regulations (no hacking), and you must abide by the laws in your area (no downloading child porn). You also may have agreements with the people who make your software. Windows, Firefox/Chrome, etc. But you have no contract with the advertisers. Their contracts are with website owners. It's got nothing to do with you. Now if a site wants to say, "Click my ads and I will pay/give you X," that's one thing—you'd better not be blocking their ads. If you really like the site and the ads don't bother you—whitelist the site. It's not hard at all. Simply right-click the ABP stop sign icon, and click, "Disable on Steamgifts.com" or whatever site.
But look—I've been on the Internet 21 years now. I've never been paid a dirty red cent by advertisers. Way I see it, they can kiss my ass. They haven't given me a thing, I don't owe them a thing, and I'm pretty sure they live a more comfortable life than I do, for much less work. Way I see it, not using an ad blocker is a kindness I can choose, at my discretion, to bestow upon a site, to let them advertise their sponsors to me just because I like 'em. And I'm generally a kind person. I may be a dick on some forums, but I give better than I get, and I like to keep the ratio up there.
Honestly, I don't care if you install Adblock Plus or not. Fact is, the choice is yours. You have control over your Internet experience. You can choose between a sleek, fast web browser that is probably spying on you for Google; and a feature-loaded one that is a hair slower (Chrome and Firefox). You can choose your smartphone, internet phone, or flip phone. And you can choose whether or not you want to see ads. By not using Adblock Plus, you're saying all ads are welcome, and that's fine if that's what you want. By using Adblock Plus, you're saying ads aren't welcome unless you give the go-ahead. Lastly, by using Adblock Edge, you're saying no ads are welcome whatsoever. Up to you what you wanna say. But don't be afraid to speak up, and you shouldn't have to ask us, either.
Still reading? Thank an English teacher.
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Personally I love it, I was getting really tired of seeing ads EVERYWHERE. If you do want it, I recommend Adblock+ on the Chrome webstore.
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The internet is probably the best example of democracy so far. You do what you want, you choose the content you want to see/consume without bringing serious repercussions uppon yourself. If you like watching adds before every video, on every site, then it's your choice.
Same goes if you do not want to be bothered with such content, partly because you simply hate it, partly because the content of the ad is irrelevant to you or the region you live in.
Not to mention the fact that, lately, we've been forced to put up with all kind of stupid ads that keep repeating themselves "to infinity and beyond".
As a conclusion, I'd say that AdBlock isn't a bad thing since you do have a choice ( at least theoretically ) on what type of content you want and like to consume.
( I apologise if I mispelled something. )
Have a great day !
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Well, you can decide for yourself whether something affects you or not. Isn't that enough ? As in making the internet a more democratic environment, that would require an intervention of the masses in order to change something, or at least try to.
Sure, there is anarchy as well, but we mostly enjoy every single bit.
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ABP is my personal savior of Internet browsing experience. I hate ads and I really couldn't care less if they make someone money. Whenever I use a PC that doesn't have ABP (at college, for example), I want to stab my eyes with a rusty screwdriver from all the ads that plague almost every website. Not only are they annoying, but they make everything go slower as well. Not to mention unskippable ads before videos, what's the point of wasting my time on a product I'll never buy?
ABP all day, every day.
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Adblock Edge is better than Adblock plus since it blocks all adds by default instead of that acceptable list that you can pay to be on.
But i prefer to use an ip blacklist directly at the host level rather than in my browser.
Most websites i really care about live from donations and i am happy to donate to them.
And yes, its too much for me to see adds everywhere, i'll do without thank you very much. If you need money for your website ask me, i'll give you some ( wikipedia, autistici/inventati, cryptome for example ), but brainwashing me with consumerism at every step, nah, if i can avoid it, i'll avoid it.
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For your edit. Adblock is a showings of how arrogant people on the internet really have gotten. Though many people here will admit that they know that sites need money to run and that anti virus' do/can find the viruses and malware that they speak of: they feel that because they are inconvenienced by advertising it is their duty to use Adblock.
Sadly, many people will not agree with this, yet it is true. Like people who pirate games because they want to "try the game before they buy" argument these people fail to see that they are denying people money even though they are using their entertainment. . . while actually finding some form of way to place the fault on the creator:
You didn't make a Demo so I pirated your game. I'm not too sure that I like your site/ I don't like adds so I'm running adblock.
Case and point every hypocrite here who says they run adblock, but not here. They know they are doing something harmful, but they will not do it here.
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I disagree with both your arguments.
I've pirated games before for as demos multiple reasons. I pirated Hotline Miami to be sure that it wouldn't make me feel sick when playing it (which it did, but I bought it anyways). I also pirated Rome II: Total War to be sure that my PC could handle it. Both of these games I wouldn't have bought without pirating them first. Your argument that by pirating games for a demo is denying people money for using their entertainment is irrelevant imo. You aren't playing for entertainment if you download a game as a demo - you're downloading it (at least in my case) to see if it works. You don't pay companies to test drive cars, why should you pay for a $60 game without knowing if it will even work on your computer?
As for adblock, there are some viruses that will mess up your PC even if you have an antivirus software. While you may be able to get rid of them, they can still do permanent damage to your files. Whenever I visit a website that I consider trustworthy, I whitelist them on my adblock. If there were no intrusive viruses I wouldn't bother, but I have to because some websites will run them.
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case and point. You try to justify pirating a game like you are obligated to do so, do to the fact that you have to pay for it? Hiding under the false statement that it is a $60 game. I mean yes when a game does come out that may be true but they do go down in price. That and there is there is the sheer fact that you are also hiding behind the false pretenses that all games hold the onus of being enjoyed by all.
You are not denying my statement, though are stating that you disagree with what I've stated. . . but are just proving my point of the level of mindset that I was stating exists. You think that it is your duty to rob Peter to pay Paul. I'm not calling anyone names just a statement of fact. Piracy is honestly a crime, even if you buy it after. . . you are still taking something without paying for it. . .no matter what you say you are still not going to pay for a game you don't like thus justifying theft via your tastes, though it may be selective . . . It is still stating that you should have the right to take for free and only pay when you feel like it. . . which isn't your fault mind you, it is a shared arrogance that has been birthed over a decade.
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So because I argued with you, my argument is invalid? Did you even read it? I said that the reason I pirate games is to test if they function correctly, not if I like them or not. That's what reviews are for. I do this because unlike most goods you can't return a game once you buy it. I wouldn't walk into a store and take a blender, test it out, then pay for it later if it works because I am able to return it to the store. Your argument is irrelevant.
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How is that still not a testimony of the arrogance of self-righteous testimonials of your feeling the right to not pay someone for their work?
No game operates at 100%. Many games have bugs that make them unplayable. . . many daifferent people post reviews of said games. . . most of them you can find on YouTube. You can do some research to find out if a game is functioning or not. . . That or you based your argument on your system specs. One way or another you are pirating a game due to your faults. Sure there are games that are unplayable due to bad programming most those games are hit hard via game reviewers. . . most of the Honest ones are on YouTube or one of the many other little guy sites( if you don't like IGN's or PCgamer's due to bias).
How is my argument irrelevant. . . In fact that if everyone used adblock would ensure that these third party sites that post the honest reviews . . nvm snowball arguments just suck.
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Not all PC's are the same. I've had certain games (such as Bioshock Infinite) not work on my PC when I meet the recommended specs and have not seen anyone else with similar problems. If you bothered to read my original post you would have seen that I downloaded Hotline Miami to see if it wouldn't make me sick, which is a personal medical issue. I did this because reviews said that the game may give motion sickness and I wouldn't have bought it without knowing if it did for me or did not. If you bothered to read my arguments you'd see why your responses are irrelevant.
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you are still advocating piracy. . . proving my point. I never said piracy/good bad. . . more that the mindset of people like you. . . again not calling you the scum of the earth. . . rather point out that you people actually believe that you are god's gift to the universe. . . or something I uno but you feel that you are right to do so. Which you are saying. Doesn't matter if you are right/ wrong. . . just you feel justified in do so. Which you feel so strongly here you are actually continuing to justify your activities. Totally missing that your are proving my point.
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I'm not sure how your getting from the fact that I decided to argue with you alone that I believe myself to be "god's gift to the universe". I really don't see how I am proving your point because due to your horrible grammar it's almost impossible to tell what your point even is. Maybe I am justifying what your intended point is, but I'm countering what you've written here.
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la la la la I can't hear you. . . is what i got from that. . . that's ok.
But still you are justifying piracy. Meaning that you feel that you have the right to not pay people for they create. You may choose to pay for it later it don't really matter. You are still holding the same mindset as people using adblock. There is still a denial of payment of service with the tied self righteous nature of justification that occurs with both scenario. . the nature of if one is right or one is wrong doesn't apply. The mindsets do.
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You are not addressing my arguments at all, and you believe I'm the one saying "la la la la I can't hear you". I'm not going to bother responding anymore until you bother to address what I wrote.
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what you want me a validate you pirating games? No matter what your reasoning you are still, as my statement stands. . . rationalizing piracy. How is this hard to understand?
From what I get from you you just keep justifying you pirating games. . . Which was what I stated in my first post. You disagreed with my saying people pirate games with an argument of trying to buy by saying you pirate games to try before you buy. not only proving my core point. . . but even furthering it buy showing that the people who make this claim are so arrogantly blind they will prove this point by refuting it. . . using the very statement that I had laid claim to you people using. Honestly how can you really not see that you are doing this.
This a term for this: Priggish.
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"I'm not justifying piracy guys, but I'm justifying piracy."
I understand what you're trying to say, and it could be a valid argument toward the marketing of digital products. But, you must still acknowledge the fact that "trying out" as you do is, at this point, illegal in most countries. I pirate occasionally, but I don't kid myself into thinking I'm being altruistic about not purchasing for some self-benefiting reason.
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I know it's illegal, but not all laws make sense. I have yet to pirate a game that I haven't bought, but I just want to make sure that I don't drop $60 on a game I can't play and can't return.
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I'm justifying piracy when used with specific purposes. Happy?
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Maybe if you explained what you were trying to say in proper English, I would understand how this is true.
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People who pirate games and people who use adblock use the same type of justifications for their use of said systems.
Edit: I know this is a really weak, dumbed down version of what I said. It doesn't do any validity to itself as per my first post but it is only the root of my prior statement nor does it give the statement that I was saying that this fact is not a good thing nor a bad thing but is just a thing. Nor does it touch on the idea of a correlative nature of my first post.
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In my honest opinion, some sites do need ads to function properly, but there are certain limits to what kind of ads should be allowed.
I am highly against ads that lowers the enjoyment of people using the internet.
Such ads are things like flash ads, ads playing a sound and ads you have to close before you can visit a certain page.
Adblock Plus recently added a new feature, that allows you to view acceptable ads that do not disrupt you while surfing sites.
This is why adblock is a good thing in my opinion because indeed sites do need ads, but the creators of said ads need to know their limits and by this way we are able to help websites by viewing text ads and such, while not getting annoyed.
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without adblock I get tons of animated ads,many of them with sound too.
Adblock is the result of the abuse consumers get.
The site owners and advertisers who are complaining about adblock need discipline.
As about Youtube,I just don't feel that I should give anyone 30 seconds of my life.If someone wants to make money on videos just use PPV ,or payed subscription...oh,that's right,no one is going to pay to see your crappy videos.
For those of you who are worried about Youtube/Google profits going down..screw you and YouTube .
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As long as are free and ad-free,some of them are ok. Hell,I would go so far ,if would be possible ,to enable ads to my subscribed channels. but to have all videos ads-enabled,means that every loser who's doing a biased review,or expresses his/hers opinion,witch has no link with the title's video ; all these people are monetizing at my expense.
and if youtube will be forcing ads,I'm sure we will find ways to bypass them.
Fatta la legge,trovato l'inganno ,we say in my language.
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No,ads are there to abuse me.And ,at least for now there is no law that makes it mandatory to watch/click-on ads.
There are people who are doing videos for passion,for activism,without monetizing.There always will be.Those are the ones I want to watch and follow.
The ones who are making a living off Youtube ,should have a separate space,like the sponsored links on Google search.
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what because I think that people getting paid for their efforts and work to entertain me outweighs 30s of my time?
I honestly believe that people putting up advertising to pay for their supplying us entertainment is the best system in place right now. I do not agree with maleware viruses, something not provided with youtube. You are just honestly pissed because what I am saying is right. An entertainer deserves to be paid for their work just as much as you do for you and you working.
I'll take on any snob who thinks that They have the right to refuse people their entitlement that is what adblock does. If you think otherwise you are just wrong. Yes there are annoying ads but if you don't like them: Easy fix don't go. . . but don't go on lying to yourself thinking that you are doing the world a favor by refusing to support the places you go to. People choose to go to sites with ads that have viruses and most of these sites reside in grey areas. . . most browsers, search anyway provide information to tell you if sites are safe or not.
Do I feel good about supporting places like this site and the people who provide entertainment? yes. Am I wrong for doing so. . . I would hope not.
Edit: BTW nice Roger B. Taney approach there.
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I have adblock for use on websites that have absolutely annoying obnoxious and/or offensive ads. Sites that have video ads that auto play immediately come to mind. Those are awful. Yes it does take away from that particular site's revenue but maybe they should learn from that and tone down the advertisements a bit. For sites that I like enough and are not obnoxious with their ads I turn off adblock. This site for example only has that one little ad at the bottom so it doesn't bother me at all. To sum this up adblock isn't a bad thing if used right, but many many MANY people on the internet give no fucks about someone else earning money and have zero patience on anything.
Also I never use adblock on youtube and stuff like that because a 30 second video on a video is nothing. That's 30 seconds that I can go do something else.
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AD don't work against me so it's only a loss of time... thx god there is ad block
btw if you force me to see your shitty 30 second AD im going to be pissed and not buy your shit even if i was interested :D
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I use it because I'm extremely picky about my music and youtube insists on advertising music I cannot stand/don't support before I can watch the video I intended to. Also, a lot of other sites are packed with tricky fake download links in forms of adverts that lead to malware.
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It was mentioned in the "PSA YouTube is saying a big FU to gamers" thread but the whole thread was so chaotic that I had a really hard time following people's opinion.
Personally I have never used adblock before not because I hate it but more like I never care to get it or look up where can I get the app. Now I have seen so many arguments about adblock being the paladin of the internet protecting users from harmful entities called ads, I'm getting really curious about adblock now. So...is adblock bad or good? A little more details about what it does and how it does would be helpful too.
I know this thread might appear redundant since the issue was also discussed in the other thread so I am willing to remove this one if the majority are not comfortable with my thread.
Edit: also, is 30s of ad before a youtube video that bad? I sometimes enjoy those ads too. I do not defend advertisements in general but it ain't that atrocious.
Edit (again): A piece of my mind, could be wrong but I love to hear your point on this: ads take from users nothing except space on the website + tolerance so there is zero monetary value a user have to pay from seeing an app but the website owner(s) would get some. It is not bad of a deal if you ask me but is it still too much for internet users?
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