Ad Block. Why i think Ad-Block is a great invention.

[Sheratan]

I don't mind visiting a forum/web with ads, as long as I can still see the content, not only ads (like @Sador said, not "overkill", the amount is right)

 

[FredC]

I have some ads here and there but compared to my competitor Vertical scope who even serve ads on their captcha forms you wouldn't even know they exist.

 

[Walter]

If the site is enjoyable enough to visit and read it's offering content, then you should in return not block said site's in most cases, only source of revenue. If you truly believe "I think Ad-Block is one of the greatest tools that i've found on the internet", you have most likely never run even a mid-size community, let alone a big board.

I wholeheartedly agree.

 

[AdamD]

I started using adblock plus years ago, when the sites I visited, started adding more and more obtrusive and annoying adverts
When they started using adverts with flash, combined with loud, annoying sounds, is when I never looked back.
Does anyone remember those "1000 free smileys!" ads? The one where if you moved your mouse over it, it screamed "HELLOOOOOOO!"..yea, that's why I never looked back.
Plus there's the issue of flash ads through third parties being loaded with viruses, it just isn't worth the risk or hassle.
I don't mind Google adsense text ads, just nothing flash based or ads that flash to get your attention.

 

[Hentai]

I started using adblock years ago as internet ads started getting more and more obnoxious. Pop ups, page overs, roll overs, ads with video, ads with autoplay sounds, internet advertising just started getting more and more obtrusive. Installed adblock and never looked back. I must say as a webmaster it sucks but we have to pay the price for other, less scrupulous webmasters.

For my own sites I politely ask my visitors to whitelist my site. Usually with a background image that only displays if the ad above it is blocked. Its a bit tacky but I sometimes forget that I have adblock running and if another webmaster politely asks me to stop, and their ads aren't too intrusive I don't mind whitelisting them.

 

[Mr Lucky]

The ads on my site fund the server costs, however I wouldn't install Adblock. I only show ads to unregistered and I think that is where the majority of the clickthroughs come from.

The ads have text beneath "join the forum and lose these ads"

I think this works really well as people who don't like aren't put off joining.

 

[z3r010]

Blocking ads is nothing more than theft of service, no different from software piracy.

It's all well and good you hobbyists folks that play at forums saying how good it is to block ads, but what about those of us that do it for a living that have thousands of dollars a month server and running costs, how do you expect us to pay the bills?

I've measured ad blocking on my network with pagefair and it's around 25%, now due 25% of the folks that access my sites are stealing the service I need to increase the the ads for the other folks to make up the short fall.

I don't block anybody from my site for using adblockers, but those of you that say they would never go back to a site that did - well so what!! you are leaching the service anyway and bring nothing to the table, just taking what you can and giving nothing in return.

 

[Russ]

Blocking ads is nothing more than theft of service, no different from software piracy.

It's all well and good you hobbyists folks that play at forums saying how good it is to block ads, but what about those of us that do it for a living that have thousands of dollars a month server and running costs, how do you expect us to pay the bills?

I've measured ad blocking on my network with pagefair and it's around 25%, now due 25% of the folks that access my sites are stealing the service I need to increase the the ads for the other folks to make up the short fall.

I don't block anybody from my site for using adblockers, but those of you that say they would never go back to a site that did - well so what!! you are leaching the service anyway and bring nothing to the table, just taking what you can and giving nothing in return.

To refer to it as stealing services is just a tad bit silly in my opinion. I'd look at a new approach such as premium memberships or other benefits outside ads if you think it's such a crime for users to want to browse your site with no interruptions or distractions.

 

[Mr Lucky]

To refer to it as stealing services is just a tad bit silly in my opinion.

I think it depends what is presented to the user. If they are made aware that a site needs the ad revenue or subscriptions or doantions to survive, then even if people can't or won't subscribe or donate, the least they can do is "suffer" the payment of having ads.

But there are many people who just think that, like music, everything on the internet should be free. As if it's their right to be given free stuff.

 

[BirdOPrey5]

This is an incredibly tough topic and I am have come to no more a conclusion than last time it was brought up here.

I agree 100% with all the arguments against ad-block. If you don't like the ads don't browse the site- you should see the site how the administrator intended it to look, if that includes ads so be it.

That said some ad networks let viruses/malware/hijacking ads in... and the risk of being infected from even ONE of these seems to outweight anything I can say in defense of ads.

Although I hate myself for doing it when I setup a computer now for a family member/friend ad-block gets installed- for their own safety.

I wish there was an ad-network that allowed only JPG/GIF/PNG ads so they couldn't contain viruses or hijacking potential and that such ad-network was white listed by default in ad-blocking software. Perhaps could even be served instead of traditional flash/html5 ads when ad block is detected.

 

[Sador]

Blocking ads is nothing more than theft of service, no different from software piracy.

It's all well and good you hobbyists folks that play at forums saying how good it is to block ads, but what about those of us that do it for a living that have thousands of dollars a month server and running costs, how do you expect us to pay the bills?

I've measured ad blocking on my network with pagefair and it's around 25%, now due 25% of the folks that access my sites are stealing the service I need to increase the the ads for the other folks to make up the short fall.

I don't block anybody from my site for using adblockers, but those of you that say they would never go back to a site that did - well so what!! you are leaching the service anyway and bring nothing to the table, just taking what you can and giving nothing in return.

I don't know your site and I don't know the ads running on it. I feel like the majority of the people posting here don't have a problem with ads - just with specific types of ads that have started taking over a lot of websites. Now, maybe you only have very limited, very non-intrusive ads. In which case, sorry that your ads might get blocked by people, you probably don't deserve that.

However, a lot of the ads are very much intrusive and mostly just a pain to the users. As long as a lot of companies / websites keep using those, a lot of people will keep trying to block them. And maybe you feel it's theft, but would you honestly feel better if all those people would stop visiting your website?

Ultimately, I think it's the piracy in games / movies argument; the people that are currently 'stealing' access to your website were likely never gonna use it without the adblock anyway. I know I would have stopped using youtube a long time ago due to the stupid amount of honestly very frustrating ads.

P.s.: users leaching but giving nothing in return? For a forum? How about all the free content your users have provided you with over the years which you didn't pay them for?

I think it depends what is presented to the user. If they are made aware that a site needs the ad revenue or subscriptions or doantions to survive, then even if people can't or won't subscribe or donate, the least they can do is "suffer" the payment of having ads.

But there are many people who just think that, like music, everything on the internet should be free. As if it's their right to be given free stuff.

But if this is true, then why are (most) website not 'paid to access'? You wouldn't have to put up ads (which in turn can't be blocked so your income in unaffected), and people would pay fairly for your content. And if they don't see the value, they can simply not visit, no harm done. Seems like it would solve all the issues, so why do you think this doesn't happen?

 

[FredC]

I've never ever ever got a virus from any site that wasn't adult related. Don't visit those sites anymore and haven't had a virus in years. As a technician my advice to my clients was to simply avoid porn sites. Problem solved.

 

[BirdOPrey5]

I've never ever ever got a virus from any site that wasn't adult related. Don't visit those sites anymore and haven't had a virus in years. As a technician my advice to my clients was to simply avoid porn sites. Problem solved.

Avod porn? Might as well just scrap the Internet and go back to reading books and searching in libraries!

 

[FredC]

Avod porn? Might as well just scrap the Internet and go back to reading books and searching in libraries!

Lol well i never said anyone ever took my advice.

I just hate ad block software mostly because it can have un intended side effects and cause a sites webmaster a lot of unnecessary headaches.

 

[AdamD]

I've never ever ever got a virus from any site that wasn't adult related. Don't visit those sites anymore and haven't had a virus in years. As a technician my advice to my clients was to simply avoid porn sites. Problem solved.

Well the site I used to frequent quite often, was a gaming forum, no porn or adult content at all
It was always due to the ads which weren't properly vetted by their ad provider.

 

[=MGN=RedEagle]

The thing is, advertisement isn't too bad. However, just like on television it's becoming more and more overkill and some sort of advertisements are more annoying than others (looking at you popups & youtube ads).

When I first installed adblock plus and compared the sites I frequently visit to how they were before I was shocked, the difference is huge. Suddenly the websites were clean, no annoying ads everywhere, nothing. Advertisement is okay, the amount, the places and the kind of advertisement is just annoying.

I think offers like Spotify and Netflix are the future. No advertisement, just paying a dedicated amount to use the service and be done with it.

It's just not the reality for anyone outside the "rich" part of the world. Kids too would never be able to use the services.

Without being insulting to those who contributed in favor of adblock, you can not have ever run a 20,000 user/day website. Ever.

 

[FredC]

Well the site I used to frequent quite often, was a gaming forum, no porn or adult content at all
It was always due to the ads which weren't properly vetted by their ad provider.

Fair enough. I just have never personally seen a need for it myself. I actually enjoy a site with properly set up targeted advertising of course that's as long as the webmaster isn't to greedy.

 

[FredC]

Err actually now that ya mention it I do particularly hate some download blogs where it's difficult to know which download button is legit and which is an advertisement. However I just block those sites and never bother with them again.

 

[z3r010]

P.s.: users leaching but giving nothing in return? For a forum? How about all the free content your users have provided you with over the years which you didn't pay them for?

That's why I never show any ads to members or charge them for any extra premium features, the guests who just come to take are shown ads to pay for the experience of those that create the content.

 

[=MGN=RedEagle]

That's why I never show any ads to members or charge them for any extra premium features, the guests who just come to take are shown ads to pay for the experience of those that create the content.

Does depend if your community is marketed via SEO and Google or is just about people hanging out.