Oh, I. see. an. ad. for. Rogaine! I. feel. oddly. compelled. to. go. out. and. buy. a. bottle. right. this. minute! I. have. no. will. of. my. own. my. own. my. own. my. own…
Thanks for the assumption I didn’t read those and/or have no clue how to avoid malware. Did you read all of my posts I’ve contributed to the malware threads? Have you looked at the history of malware infection from this site?
As for paying for SMDB, if the two choices are paying for SDMB or browsing on a site that doesn’t make any effort to block malware from sleazy content providers, I’ll take option C - ad blocking.
I block every ad I can. There are a very, very few sites that I don’t block.
Fuck advertisers. I pay for my bandwidth, as far as I’m concerned, they’re stealing from me. They also prevent me from getting full enjoyment/benefit from the service I buy.
No because if that were true, a site would block me from viewing the page if I had an ad-blocker on.
I practice both safe sex and safe browsing. Ads are a vector for malware. Always use protection.
As ads got more annoying, I found it necessary (NECESSARY) to install an ad blocker. If it were just in-line ads, similar to print ads, then I honestly wouldn’t mind at all. Worst of all, some sites load the ads first and if there’s something wrong with that connection, your content will never load. Now that is one of my biggest pet peeves.
I have no moral objection to ad blockers. I don’t use one because 1) I don’t know how and 2) I don’t go to many sites that have enough ads to be a problem. My internet world is quite limited. I’m a member here, so no ads.
Always. Not only handy for ads but also any other obnoxious content I come across (disturbing avatars/sigs on forums, auto-play videos in the margins of news sites, etc). I don’t like seeing it? Click 'n block it.
I couldn’t deal with YouTube’s mid-video ads. I downloaded the specific Chrome extension Adblocker for YouTube, which is working beautifully.
I’m a paid member, so I don’t get ads here. But I do allow ads on the SD column page, and several other sites I deem worthy of allowing ads, so long as they are unobtrusive and safe.
Some websites I visit are now routing their menu items and other important navigation links through the ad API so that their websites are very difficult to navigate without turning off ad-block (their menu items are blocked same as the ads since it looks like it’s coming from the same source to ad blockers, if that wasn’t clear). So the whole “if they had such a problem with ad blockers they’d block the website from me for using an ad blocker” is starting to happen.
Websites are not free. Operating them costs money. Ads viewed by visitors often pay for operating costs so viewers can continue having the website served to them for “free”. For a long time a small subset of people could get away with ad blocking and not impact the bottom line dramatically enough for web hosts to care. But if enough people ad block, websites will either shut down or become pay-for sites if advertising does not improve. Operating costs have to come from somewhere and expecting all web hosts to serve their sites to you for free out of the goodness of their hearts has a limit.
I block ads by default to protect my computer, but allow ads on websites I wish to support and which have not served me malware in the past. A well curated website will extend their management to their ads and more often than not serve me ads I am legitimately interested in. Ads are not inherently evil.
I know it’s not the case, but I always imagined that no one anywhere ever actually bought a product based on an internet ad. If I want to buy something on line, I won’t do so via an ad, I google the company I want to buy from. An airline for example, or a company to sell me a spare part for a 1994 washing machine.
I use an ad blocker too and I have no beef with sites that do block me from viewing the page with the ad-blocker on. In most cases I decide to stop visiting the site, because their content isn’t worth seeing ads. In a few cases, I turn it off because I love the site content. Either way it’s all entirely voluntary. Nobody is stealing anything.
Your ads are probably very different from mine, is why. The sites I visit that have well-curated ads that I enjoy often carry ads for artists, games, or other small businesses. Yes, I am interested in a new blacksmith and yes I would like to visit their website and see if they have something I would like. I would not likely find them otherwise, especially if they are new and currently rank low in google. Please, show me more glassblowing artists or potters. An indie jewelry store that now has some jewelry made by a favorite illustrator? A new webcomic I don’t know about? A game I want to know more about? A comic store nearby I didn’t know of? Yes, please, keep serving me these types of ads.
I first started using Adblock years ago because of this very site. After getting infected with malware three times due to ads on the SDMB, I’d had enough.
Or, instead of having to find a sticky on a new message board to learn how to keep it from messing up my computer since said board refuses to fix their problem, I can just block the ads and not worry about it in the first place.
FTR, I started using adblock before ads carried malware to the extent that people did it more for protection. I put it on because I really can’t read a page when ads are blinking or moving. I would try to scroll the blinking ad off the monitor or hold some paper up in front of it, but eventually it got to be annoying enough (on the Howstuffworks website IIRC) that I started blocking them.
So basically it’s about how they moderate their adstream. That’s why I picked this site in particular. Some sites have annoying “One rule <your state>'s insurance companies don’t want you to know.” but for a while this site moderated their ad stream like a cloaca. On other sites ad blocking may be a nice touch but here it was a necessity. NOW go on to a site you know nothing about. What sort of ads do they have?
Advertising is purely psychological manipulation and lies. By definition. You, as a consumer of information, are a victim of constant psychological warfare by hostile parties who want to separate you from your money. Protecting yourself and your family isn’t just acceptable, it is necessary. The annoyance and malware are just extra reasons to avoid advertising of all kinds.
I run several ad blockers. I can’t imagine viewing the internet without them.
I also run Ghostery to block trackers, it’s interesting to see how many different trackers websites throw at you. On this site, there are currently 7.
If a site starts blocking me because I block ads then I’ll have a decision to make. If the site’s content is worth the hassle then I’ll have to unblock them. I have yet to come across a site that I can’t replace.
As much as I love the SDMB I could not put up with the ads. Especially on my iPad.