Why Ad Blocking is devastating to the sites you love [Ars]

[FiXT]

Imagine running a restaurant where 40% of the people who came and ate didn't pay. In a way, that's what ad blocking is doing to us.

Did you know that blocking ads truly hurts the websites you visit? We recently learned that many of our readers did not know this, so I'm going to explain why.

Why Ad Blocking is devastating to the sites you love


Great article by Ars. A highly recommended read, decently written and gives you a new perspective on the whole situation, especially those hardcore ad haters.

[Lpfan4ever]

Never had ABP installed until it started slowing down my browsing of this site. If the top ad didn't cause me problems I'd uninstall ABP in a heartbeat.

[belgolas]

I have never used an ad blocker before. I know that it hurts websites and I want some stuff to remain free like news websites and the like. Besides it never really bothers me unless it is one of those ads that shoots across the screen.

[chrisk]

I turned off my ad-blocker for HWC and the other sites I visit 1-2 times a week. Does not make it right, but I have been burned often by sites that bombard me with ads to the point that the enjoyment from the 'content' I want to see is greatly diminished.

I do support the notion of blocking some content for people who use ad-blockers. You just have to have some message displayed to these users why the content is not appearing as it happens. I would also support a 'subscription' linked to my login that would allow me to see this site ad-free.

I also like to think that HWC makes some money from the 2-3 t-shirts, 2-3 hats, 2 mugs, mouse pad etc. that I purchase from the store.

[Polygon]

I agree, adblockers should only be turned on when ads are intrusive.

However, I thought most ads were on a "per click" basis, or atleast the majority. Maybe it depends. Either way, don't block ads unless you want the website to go bankrupt! Unless if they have stupid unrelated ads (like viagra ads on a tech site) or pop ups or something, in which case they have it coming!

[Jake_HT]

I have yet to ever click on an ad anyways. Might as well not be there.

[Polygon]

Originally Posted by Jake_HT

I have yet to ever click on an ad anyways. Might as well not be there.

some are based on the views, not hits. If you block it they don't get the view and therefor the money they would have got.

[Perineum]

Well, didn't know I could whitelist sites. I've done so for HWC and ARS now.....

The ads, which I now see, aren't all that intrusive in my opinion....

[SugarJ]

There have been issues in the past with certain ads taking up to 30 seconds to let the page load. That's when I started using an adblocker. The problem has since been fixed, and I don't use it anymore. But it's loaded in the system and ready.

[Lpfan4ever]

Originally Posted by SugarJ

The problem has since been fixed

Oh, really? Guess I'll have to test my luck with these new ads then. ABP gets uninstalled today, hopefully it doesn't have to come back.