# Websites asking me to turn off ad blocker **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 12, 2017, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-asking-me-to-turn-off-ad-blocker/782035 "2017-03-12T22:44:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-asking-me-to-turn-off-ad-blocker/782035/41 "2017-03-13T12:31:01Z")
For what it’s worth, I tried having a Very Serious Conversation around adblocking technologies with some of the advertising folks at a newspaper I used to work at - and their view was “We don’t know how to use it (ie, how to install AdBlock or UBlock Origin), therefore none of our readers do either, so we can continue to make our ads annoying and intrusive and high five ourselves for being trendy and innovative”. And then wondered why readership figures and advertising revenue was in freefall. :smack: No-one really has a massive problem with static ads like in a newspaper or a magazine - it’s the fact internet ads are all-singing, all-dancing, all annoying potential security issues that’s the problem. If a website said “We swear our ads are hosted by us and they’re static jpeg images; we don’t track you and we’re not up to anything suss but we would like to pay our bills and eat something that wasn’t two minute noodles for lunch” then I think more people - including me - would be happy to whitelist the sites. As it is, it’s not worth the risk. ---
**Author:** ![jjakucyk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3d9bf3/32.png) [@jjakucyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjakucyk)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-asking-me-to-turn-off-ad-blocker/782035/42 "2017-03-13T12:38:17Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > So you guys realise that big corporate sites and the big ad networks are very very quick to take down ads that are against the terms of service or that contain malware. > If you’re getting popups, auto playing music and malware so much that you need an adblocker then you’re either going to pirate sites, illegal streaming sites, or porn sites. > > Just saying… That’s actually not true. You’re much more likely to get infected from online shopping, blog, and moderately sized special interest sites (religion, guns, cats, whatever). Porn sites are so big and have such a bad reputation that they can’t afford to allow malware through. These other sites which are too small to have someone on staff watching them full time but which are large enough to have good traffic and ads are more risky. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-asking-me-to-turn-off-ad-blocker/782035/43 "2017-03-13T12:50:36Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > You don’t like my ad blocker? Fuck you, with hundreds of other news sites, most with the same news feeds, I’ll just avoid yours and look at another. How are they going to make a profit, if you leave, taking your “I’m going to block your every attempt to make a profit” technology with you? That said, I use adblocker half-heartedly. If someone shows me a warning, I’ll turn it off. With one exception: I love the game KenKen and play a round or two of it most days. Their website won’t allow the game to load with adblocker turned on; but once I turn it off, it serves me several DOZEN ads, so many that it slows the (timed) game to a crawl and makes it unplayable. So I turn adblocker off just until the game (and usually a half-dozen ads) load, then turn it back on. ---
**Author:** ![txjim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f07891/32.png) [@txjim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/txjim)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-asking-me-to-turn-off-ad-blocker/782035/44 "2017-03-13T14:01:04Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > So you guys realise that big corporate sites and the big ad networks are very very quick to take down ads that are against the terms of service or that contain malware. > If you’re getting popups, auto playing music and malware so much that you need an adblocker then you’re either going to pirate sites, illegal streaming sites, or porn sites. > > Just saying… A month ago, this site had the same problem and took a lot of (much appreciated) work by the mods to identify the source. So, is the SDMB a pirate site, streaming source or (as many have suspected) porn? ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-asking-me-to-turn-off-ad-blocker/782035/45 "2017-03-13T14:12:16Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-asking-me-to-turn-off-ad-blocker/782035/46 "2017-03-13T15:30:51Z")
Let’s move this over to IMHO. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-asking-me-to-turn-off-ad-blocker/782035/47 "2017-03-13T15:51:14Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > If you only consume “junk food” eg trash articles that are just recycled from other websites that’s because of your choice in media. There are plenty of news sites doing real investigative journalism with original content. So if you choose to block their ads fine, but in that case either buy a subscription or don’t read their content. When they are printing their “high quality journalism” on _my_ paper, _I_ get to decide what bullshit scribbles, if any, go in the margins. And lies and manipulative psyops designed to part me from my money are right out, not to mention virtual dancing strippers and animated growing boners. They can draw those offensive and user-hostile scribbles elsewhere. It’s like people forgot that my computer is _my_ property. I decide what goes on it. This isn’t like you printed a pamphlet and I can take it or leave it. You’re attempting to place your content on my machine. I am 100% in charge of what gets put there. Don’t like it? Go back to printing on dead trees which you personally own and stay off the internet. ---
**Author:** ![CoastalMaineiac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@CoastalMaineiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoastalMaineiac)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-asking-me-to-turn-off-ad-blocker/782035/48 "2017-03-13T15:55:55Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > It seems fairly new to me, though _Forbes_ annoyed me a while ago by forbidding access unless they were whitelisted. > > Personally, I don’t see the point. If someone has an ad blocker, they are very unlikely to click on ads. FYI, while they seem to block users of AdBlock+, I use uBlock Origin and have no problem gaining access on the rare occasion Forbes has something I want to read. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-asking-me-to-turn-off-ad-blocker/782035/49 "2017-03-13T16:06:10Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > My point is that if people are using an ad blocker, it is reasonable to presume they do not want to see ads. If they do not want to see ads, it is reasonable to presume that they will not click on an ad. So not having the popup still allows them to reach the ‘average’ user, and also not annoy people who use ad blockers. There are two advertising statistics which websites get revenue for (or I should say, at least two, these are the ones I know about). 1. Number of people to whom they have served/shown the ad. If the website had only one ad, and if no-one had ad blockers, this would be every visitor to the website. If some visitors (like you) have an ad blocker, then this number is every visitor minus those visitors with an ad blocker. You can perhaps see why they would want the largest number possible to get served their ads (to get more revenue), which translates to the fewest possible with an ad blocker. 2. Click-throughs, i.e. occasions when someone clicks on an ad for any reason. Assuming your will is strong, this would not be affected by whether or not you have an ad blocker, so to that extent you are correct. However, this is not the only way websites make money. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-asking-me-to-turn-off-ad-blocker/782035/50 "2017-03-13T16:20:02Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > When they are printing their “high quality journalism” on _my_ paper, _I_ get to decide what bullshit scribbles, if any, go in the margins. And lies and manipulative psyops designed to part me from my money are right out, not to mention virtual dancing strippers and animated growing boners. They can draw those offensive and user-hostile scribbles elsewhere. > > It’s like people forgot that my computer is _my_ property. I decide what goes on it. This isn’t like you printed a pamphlet and I can take it or leave it. You’re attempting to place your content on my machine. I am 100% in charge of what gets put there. Don’t like it? Go back to printing on dead trees which you personally own and stay off the internet. I understand-You want to peruse the largest newsstand in the world for free without viewing the adverts that pay for that privilege. Now, all those websites you want to view for free cost money to operate, which they can get from either subscription(oops-not free), contributions(oops-not free, either), or adverts(annoying, but free). TANSTAAFL, dude. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-asking-me-to-turn-off-ad-blocker/782035/51 "2017-03-13T16:20:28Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > When people complain about the death of a high-quality, independent media, they’ll only have themselves to blame. We used to have to pay a quarter or whatever and flip pages and pages of ads to get our news. Now everyone expects all this for free, and it’s no wonder why the industry is, for the most part, dying. I don’t recall any instances of someone contracting anthrax from a newspaper ad. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-asking-me-to-turn-off-ad-blocker/782035/52 "2017-03-13T16:28:27Z")
Are there adblockers that run that will bypass the adchecks that deny access with blockers turned on? Will Ublock Origin do this? ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-asking-me-to-turn-off-ad-blocker/782035/53 "2017-03-13T16:29:17Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > TANSTAAFL, dude. Maybe they should stop offering free lunches, then? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-asking-me-to-turn-off-ad-blocker/782035/54 "2017-03-13T16:30:20Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > Are there adblockers that run that will bypass the adchecks that deny access with blockers turned on? Will Ublock Origin do this? uBlock Origin attempts this, but it is, as you might imagine, an arms race. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-asking-me-to-turn-off-ad-blocker/782035/55 "2017-03-13T16:31:37Z")
I haven’t noticed this from Business Insider but Forbes has been doing it for probably a year now, at least. I’ve realized that not reading Forbes’ glorified blog postings hasn’t left any holes in my life so I guess we get along without one another just fine. Sites I use enough to warrant it, I tend to subscribe to (which blocks their ads) unless some other circumstances are there. Sites I use casually, I can just skip if they’re trying to keep me out. Very little on the internet that all that unique and, right now, I can’t think of a single topic that I was _supposed_ to read about on Forbes but couldn’t so I guess I didn’t miss it much. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-asking-me-to-turn-off-ad-blocker/782035/56 "2017-03-13T16:37:12Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > Maybe they should stop offering free lunches, then? They aren’t. None of are saying “Ad-Free content at no cost!” ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-asking-me-to-turn-off-ad-blocker/782035/57 "2017-03-13T16:38:07Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I understand-You want to peruse the largest newsstand in the world for free without viewing the adverts that pay for that privilege. Now, all those websites you want to view for free cost money to operate, which they can get from either subscription(oops-not free), contributions(oops-not free, either), or adverts(annoying, but free). > TANSTAAFL, dude. When the lunch is poisoned it’s not much of a temptation. Simply put, the advertisements are obnoxious enough and dangerous enough that they make any site where I can’t block those advertisements have _negative value;_ I just won’t go there. Nothing they can supply is worth the aggravation and the danger to my computer. It’s like trying to tempt someone with their favorite food after you’ve just dribbled poison and raw sewage all over it; it doesn’t matter how good the food _was,_ now it’s ruined. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-asking-me-to-turn-off-ad-blocker/782035/58 "2017-03-13T16:41:28Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > When the lunch is poisoned it’s not much of a temptation. > > Simply put, the advertisements are obnoxious enough and dangerous enough that they make any site where I can’t block those advertisements have _negative value;_ I just won’t go there. Fair enough, and no harm there! It’s the anger at those sites that I don’t get. They’re trying to make money; you’re choosing not to participate in that; that’s how the game is played. Getting angry because they’re trying to make money, you’re trying to circumvent their means of making money, and they’re preventing you from circumventing their means of making money strikes me as weird. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-asking-me-to-turn-off-ad-blocker/782035/59 "2017-03-13T16:42:18Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > When the lunch is poisoned it’s not much of a temptation. > > Simply put, the advertisements are obnoxious enough and dangerous enough that they make any site where I can’t block those advertisements have _negative value;_ I just won’t go there. Nothing they can supply is worth the aggravation and the danger to my computer. It’s like trying to tempt someone with their favorite food after you’ve just dribbled poison and raw sewage all over it; it doesn’t matter how good the food _was,_ now it’s ruined. Pray tell us-What sort of revenue-gathering advertising _wouldn’t_ fall under this category? ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-asking-me-to-turn-off-ad-blocker/782035/60 "2017-03-13T16:57:59Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Pray tell us-What sort of revenue-gathering advertising _wouldn’t_ fall under this category? Sponsored content might not. At least they wouldn’t be pulling in code from God-knows-where like they currently do. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-asking-me-to-turn-off-ad-blocker/782035.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-asking-me-to-turn-off-ad-blocker/782035.md?page=4)