Who else feels bad using adblock?

[Scia]

I do use Ad Block on my PCs, my tablets and my phone. I really really do hate the relentless exposure to ads everywhere. I do not want to be flamed non-stop by some random company. And advertising has gottem to a point where it is actually everywhere, so at least in the environments I can control, there isn't any.

 

I do not mind donating / subscribing to Linus for example, neither do I mind ads like his Intel / CM / Nvidia / Kingston spots, cause I know that money he needs. But I really despise 3rd party companies trying to play Gestapo and spam me with targeted ads.

 

Same as for the new smart TVs said to be able to monitor you while you are infront of your TV. Or the rumors of an always on kinect on the 720, just no.

/rant

[W-Junk]

I use adblock due to annoying popup and sites that are crowded with ads. but i have it disabled on a few sites like youtube, twitch and other sites that i do enjoy.

[xr7cat]

I used to use Adblock back in the day. However now I just don't bother. As others have said if the ad is intrusive I just leave the site.

 

The only annoying ads I encounter are on YouTube anyways, most of them are configured for my location so I don't mind to much. I only mind that I get ads when switching videos almost all the time, not just every x amount of videos watched.

[tito]

Depends on the site, but I mostly have it enables. As I see using ad-block instead of not using it would be like cooking your own meal instead of ordering something an making someone earn a few bucks.

[Bubben]

People don't seem to be aware that you can add exceptions to adblock? I have it disabled for any site I frequently visit.

[snes]

The only annoying ads I encounter are on YouTube anyways, ...

 

Like the one for the LG phone with the dubstep kicking in just before it can be skipped? God, I really ha.. ... I mean, I don't enjoy watching that one. Especially, when I can't sleep at night and am just trying to watch a few videos until I finally doze off.

[TechTheWorld]

I do not use adblock. I think that is kind of cheating...

[Puppet]

I don't use it at all, fair enough you are probably lining the pockets of massive corporations, but at the same time you may be helping some small companies who would really struggle otherwise.

 

Adverts aren't that bad anyway, it's not like 10 years ago when you would click on a website and literally a million pop ups would come and destroy your life.

 

I think businesses have realised if the ad is too intrusive it will actually put people off the product or service.

[Agons]

I use ad-block, its a right as a consumer to sue whatever options are available to make content more enjoyable. I do watch a lot of streamers on twitch.tv but i don't feel bad because if i watch someones stream i donate(most streamers have that option) and if Linus did i would as well. My way of supporting directly without twitch getting a cut and i don't deal with ads :)

[Squid]

I don't on my computer, but was kind of forced to on my Tab because adverts only play in HD on the YouTube app - my internet is too slow to play them and they can't be skipped. 

[Toby]

I use adblock, noscript and ghostery.

 

I don't feel bad, because I tend to support/promote anyone I like. I've probably gotten more ad revenue for Linus by linking his videos elsewhere, for example, than if I'd never linked to him and had adblock turned off.

[brownninja97]

In my opinion i think that adblock users are the bane of the universe. Your not helping anyone and helping yourself or in other words being selfish so that you can save 5 seconds in your life 

[Esivo]

I use adblock and feel perfectly fine. If you feel bad, delete it /facepalm 

[Toby]

In my opinion i think that adblock users are the bane of the universe. Your not helping anyone and helping yourself or in other words being selfish so that you can save 5 seconds in your life

You'd be correct if people only ever watched a single Youtube video in their entire lives, or only visited Youtube. As it is, you save 5 seconds per video. In the space of three days, it's saved me 8 minutes and 45 seconds of ad-watching. That's 1 hour and 27 minutes a month, or 17 hours and 24 minutes a year.

Now lets say you only watched half as many videos as I do, that's still 8 hours and 42 minutes a year of watching ads. If it's selfish to not want to do that, then I'm quite happy being selfish.

However, you then have the fact that Youtube isn't the only site on the internet with advertisements. What if you don't want to financially support certain sites merely by being there? Or what if you enjoy the site, but don't want to support the especially obnoxious ads they happen to employ?

[brownninja97]

You'd be correct if people only ever watched a single Youtube video in their entire lives, or only visited Youtube. As it is, you save 5 seconds per video. In the space of three days, it's saved me 8 minutes and 45 seconds of ad-watching. That's 1 hour and 27 minutes a month, or 17 hours and 24 minutes a year.

Now lets say you only watched half as many videos as I do, that's still 8 hours and 42 minutes a year of watching ads. If it's selfish to not want to do that, then I'm quite happy being selfish.

However, you then have the fact that Youtube isn't the only site on the internet with advertisements. What if you don't want to financially support certain sites merely by being there? Or what if you enjoy the site, but don't want to support the especially obnoxious ads they happen to employ?

So you could lower someones salary so you could save about 17.5hours in a year i guess thats your opinon but i would be pissed if someone came to by job and was like i want to save 17hours in a year so **** you and somehow your salary is less. Anyways when im on youtube it takes me like a minute to get comfortable because im weird and upside down sometimes or side ways. Its your opinion and your in-titled to think as you do but remember that those 17hours accumulates to a lot of money to some people and to me it doesn't matter who it is(unless its apple or korea).

[Toby]

So you could lower someones salary so you could save about 17.5hours in a year i guess thats your opinon but i would be pissed if someone came to by job and was like i want to save 17hours in a year so **** you and somehow your salary is less. Anyways when im on youtube it takes me like a minute to get comfortable because im weird and upside down sometimes or side ways. Its your opinion and your in-titled to think as you do but remember that those 17hours accumulates to a lot of money to some people and to me it doesn't matter who it is(unless its apple or korea).

Again, a valid point if I only watched a single channel, but those 17.5 hours are spread among hundreds of channels. If you then take into account that each view is worth less than half a cent? I'm not denting anyone's paycheck. Even the channels I watch most maybe lose out on...20 cents a year? And they tend to be the more popular ones too, making my paltry 1.6 cents-a-month even less significant.

[Villain]

Anyone who doesn't show sympathy towards those who make their living off of ad revenue more than likely don't realize the value of money or working. I disable my ad blocker for websites that I feel deserve the money.

 

One thing that a lot of people do, including me on several occasions, is to have two separate browsers, one with and one without an ad blocker. That way, if you ever watch a TwitchTV stream or a YouTube video you can watch it on one browser and then have your second browser viewing the ad.

[brownninja97]

Again, a valid point if I only watched a single channel, but those 17.5 hours are spread among hundreds of channels. If you then take into account that each view is worth less than half a cent? I'm not denting anyone's paycheck. Even the channels I watch most maybe lose out on...20 cents a year? And they tend to be the more popular ones too, making my paltry 1.6 cents-a-month even less significant.

a classic case of apathy where you think that your not really that important but that means more people will think like you. My problem is that say 100 people do adblock what if it was 1000 or 10000 and it may get to the point where the you tubers will not get enough money and quit it altogether or YouTube may turn into a paid format and no one would like that.

[TheYonderGod]

I use it because It's not going to make an tangible difference if I use it or not. If I remember I disable it on sites that I really care about like this one, not that it's going to make a difference.

a classic case of apathy where you think that your not really that important but that means more people will think like you.

What I think doesn't have an effect on what other people think.

[Toby]

a classic case of apathy where you think that your not really that important but that means more people will think like you. My problem is that say 100 people do adblock what if it was 1000 or 10000 and it may get to the point where the you tubers will not get enough money and quit it altogether or YouTube may turn into a paid format and no one would like that.

 

Every time you reply, you make an assumption that has no basis in reality.

 

Firstly, outside of topics like this that specifically mention adblock, I never mention I use it and I never advocate it to others. Nothing I do results in more people thinking like me.

 

Secondly, I've already said I try to support/promote channels I like in other ways. If other people thought like me specifically? They'd probably be helping the channels they like make more money than if they enabled their ad blocker and did nothing.

[FireFox]

I'm pretty sure these companies are making quite a large amount of money, I'm sure they'll live

 

 

[Blade of Grass]

To be honest, I don't even think about it. The revenue lost from me using ad blocker probably wouldn't cover the cost of electricity for the server to send me the page.

[Toby]

My problem is that say 100 people do adblock what if it was 1000 or 10000 and it may get to the point where the you tubers will not get enough money and quit it altogether or YouTube may turn into a paid format and no one would like that.

 

Actually, I'm going to make a separate post to reply to this notion specifically.

 

What you're saying reminds me of an argument that's commonly presented in regard to music piracy. "If the musicians don't get paid, they won't be able to afford to be musicians!". The thing is, that's not a problem with the pirates, it's a problem with an inadequate system. With music having been digitized, supply and demand gets kicked in the balls, because the supply is infinite. Now, there's no solid solution to it yet, but you see people trying things that make an impact, be it Spotify and whoever else making things convenient enough that people are willing to pay for it, or Amanda Palmer who essentially said "pay for it and then it'll exist". When the actual thing no longer holds value, you need things that do (be it convenience, the promise of more, or whatever).

 

Similarly, in regards to Youtube monetization, the current ad system is an inadequate system...Adverts are considered to be an inconvenience you have to "endure" in order for the system to work. Maybe the advert system can be improved somehow, or maybe adverts are not the answer.

 

I was reminded of the Amanda Palmer thing and realized the parallel with the current flaws in the music industry by a Youtuber named Nilesy. Recently he's been making Minesweeper videos, which are no more entertaining than anything else he makes, but they've been getting far more likes than any other series he produces. Why? Because rather than making them and asking "please click like", he says "get this video to 40,000 likes and I'll make another one". Now imagine this was done with adverts, or donations..."click this ad or donate this much and I'll make another video". You might have people who did neither, but then you might have the wealthy, or big fans donating significantly more than their views would be worth now.

 

Fact is, if people are popular enough that they should be able to make a living off something, but the monetization system is disliked to the point that they can't make a living off something? It's not the peoples' fault, it's the system's.

[eshbop]

This all wouldn't be a problem if ads were structured in a way that meant they were non intrusive. Having to watch a 5 second clip (yeah, I suppose it's only 5 seconds) or those non-skippable ones they throw in every now and again is just annoying more than anything and this was the sole reason I installed Adblock. I'm just too lazy to so configure it so it stays on across the board.

As I said, the ads themselves aren't the problem, just how they're forced upon you. Get that right and this would be a non issue.