# How much do you really "harm" web sites with adblocker software? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 12, 2015, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-really-harm-web-sites-with-adblocker-software/717496 "2015-04-12T15:43:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2015, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-really-harm-web-sites-with-adblocker-software/717496/41 "2015-04-15T22:16:44Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > Magazines, cable, the internet. I pay for all of these and they’re full of ads. You’re telling me ads are _necessary_ to pay for things that I already pay for? No, ads are parasites that infect every form of broadcast messaging. It has nothing to do with free services, it has everything to do with psychological warfare on the part of sellers against consumers. You have money, I want it, here’s some propaganda and lies to smooth over the process of taking your money and giving it to me. > > Webmasters, networks and publishers try and take morality out of it by saying “it’s how I make money” but that’s no excuse. Find another way to make money. Here, I’ll help you by opting out of the ads you serve me. Once a critical mass does the same, we’ll force your hand. Or you can do the right thing and stop before it gets to that point. What a weirdly hostile stance. Ads _are_ a necessary part of the way things balance out at the moment. If you succeed in leading a significant boycott against them, the money to fund the services you are using will need to come from elsewhere - or those services will wither and disappear. Ads are even part of the way this board is funded. Members (and anyone who cares to block them) don’t see them. If every single visitor blocks them, the revenue will dry up and one of two things will happen; either: Our subscription charges will increase or The SDMB will run at a loss, and will close down It’s not morally wrong to block ads (any more than it’s morally wrong to walk out and make a cup of tea when the ads come on TV), but ads themselves are not necessarily a purely evil thing either. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2015, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-really-harm-web-sites-with-adblocker-software/717496/42 "2015-04-15T22:31:10Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > What a weirdly hostile stance. > > Ads _are_ a necessary part of the way things balance out at the moment. If you succeed in leading a significant boycott against them, the money to fund the services you are using will need to come from elsewhere - or those services will wither and disappear. > > Ads are even part of the way this board is funded. Members (and anyone who cares to block them) don’t see them. If every single visitor blocks them, the revenue will dry up and one of two things will happen; either: > Our subscription charges will increase > or > The SDMB will run at a loss, and will close down > > **It’s not morally wrong to block ads (any more than it’s morally wrong to walk out and make a cup of tea when the ads come on TV), but ads themselves are not necessarily a purely evil thing either.** I don’t always find myself agreeing with you, mostly because your media experience is radically different than mine (and my experience of both the Internet and of media are pretty old-fashioned)… but I’ve **bolded** the main thing I DO agree with you on. The moral effect of adblocking is the same as the moral effect of commercial-skipping (by fast-forward on a DVR, by walking out of the room, by changing the channel, etc.). But, admittedly, because of the less robust economy of Internet media, adblocking probably has greater economic affect. There’s no Nielsen for the internet; it’s direct instrumentation of impression counts, and those are susceptible to adblocking. (I really don’t think Nielsen for TV advertising is as susceptible to the more primitive anti-commercial techniques used for live TV. I also wonder if Nielsen surveyees tend to be less resistant to advertising.) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2015, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-really-harm-web-sites-with-adblocker-software/717496/43 "2015-04-15T22:46:32Z")
I run a website - for fun and to share information more than profit. It’s self-funding due to the ads (which I keep separate from content and try to filter to keep out objectionable ad types). I don’t object to the idea of people blocking ads when they visit my site (in fact if someone wanted to block them and didn’t know how, I would happily help them). I guess if the ad revenue dried up completely, I would have to decide whether to fund the thing out of my own pocket, or let it die. I imagine the same is true of many other personal websites such as the hugely interesting woodgears.ca - if ads are the cost we must pay to continue to have quirky, useful, interesting little websites like that, I think they’re worth tolerating. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-really-harm-web-sites-with-adblocker-software/717496/44 "2015-04-16T02:39:29Z")
I didn’t mind ads too much in the early days of the internet. Then they started getting obnoxious and obscured the content, and that crossed a line. Bye-bye ads. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-really-harm-web-sites-with-adblocker-software/717496/45 "2015-04-16T05:08:22Z")
I think content providers deserve to get paid. I’m happy to view non-intrusive ads, i.e. non moving, non clickbait. So in Adblock Plus I check the allow non-intrusive ad box, uncheck the Easy List box and check the malware domains box. Then I use Flash Control to block flash. Finally I use Ghostery to block Doubleclick and Adblade. That takes care of the clickbait. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-really-harm-web-sites-with-adblocker-software/717496/46 "2015-04-16T06:10:54Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](#): > > According to a cite on Wikipedia’s Online Advertising article, in 2012 about 1/3rd of all online advertising was paid on a cost per impression basis, and 2/3rds on a cost per click basis. So for about 1/3rd of ads, the “I wasn’t going to click it anyway” argument doesn’t hold any water. They were going to be paid just for displaying it. > > I’m agreeing with **Coriolanus** completely, in case that’s not clear. I just wanted to add a statistic with respect to the large portion of Internet advertising that is cost per impression. And I can tell you even that isn’t accurate because many ads don’t pay per click or impression. My best performing websites are paid for action (sale/lead), and the most relevantly monetized ones are more profitable being a buyer/owner rather than the seller of the adspace. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-really-harm-web-sites-with-adblocker-software/717496/47 "2015-04-16T07:24:27Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > I think content providers deserve to get paid. I’m happy to view non-intrusive ads, i.e. non moving, non clickbait. > > So in Adblock Plus I check the allow non-intrusive ad box, uncheck the Easy List box and check the malware domains box. Then I use Flash Control to block flash. Finally I use Ghostery to block Doubleclick and Adblade. That takes care of the clickbait. Ads really don’t pay much, unless you’re rolling in hits. Especially as far as video making goes. [Here’s one video maker going in gory detail about her ad revenue](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsg8HhM_k00). (And I think that’s raw income/expeses. Remember that in the US [Ad/Patreon income is taxed as if you were self-employed which means you pay around double the normal rate](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jO56WtEv4eE)) Now, it’s not like just because it’s a big company they deserve to get stiffed, but a few loads isn’t worth much. Her naive estimate (watch the video for more info on why it’s naive) is that she gets about US$1.70 per 1000 ads. Ads seem to only really be sustainable (except for things like paying for cheap web hosting) if you’ve already hit a critical mass where one person using adblock doesn’t really matter. I’ve seen people gripe time and again, from webcomic artists to video creators. If they’re full time, it’s almost certain that they did it by either merchandising their work, commissions, or via donations/Patreon/Subabble. I’m sure there are still people relying almost purely on ads for income, and in a real danger zone with rent and other living expenses. In fact, this was true of many video makers before the advent of Patreon. You specifically aren’t really hurting these people, because the worth of your ad is extremely low, but if their audience is composed of demographics such that 20% of them use adblock, it could be an issue. I normally just whitelist sites I trust with people I like (unless I’m directly supporting them some other way), and leave it on as a shield otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-really-harm-web-sites-with-adblocker-software/717496/48 "2015-04-16T08:33:47Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Do you demand that everyone look away from you every time you pick up groceries? Yes, I do! :mad: The ADA requires it!! “I-am-in-a-wheelchair!!”. The 5 magic words that must be yelled at full volume upon entering any place of public accommodation. Everyone there must look away from the person in the wheechair, and not look at them for the duration of their time there. It’s called equality. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-really-harm-web-sites-with-adblocker-software/717496/49 "2015-04-18T03:30:32Z")
I use Adblock Plus. One site I frequently visit took countermeasures. Instead of the page, I got ‘Unless you turn off Adblock, we won’t show you the page’. I turned off ABP for that site. As that particular site is dedicated to illegally copying and translating manga, I don’t feel they really have the moral high ground. > [@Ambivalid](#): > > Everyone there must look away from the person in the wheechair, and not look at them for the duration of their time there. It’s called equality. What if the person in the wheelchair is a hot chick with nice tits? Am I allowed to look then? I think equality demands I try to pick her up while speaking directly into her cleavage, just as I would with any other woman. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-really-harm-web-sites-with-adblocker-software/717496.md?page=2)